BTU International, a leading supplier of advanced thermal processing equipment and processes to the alternative energy and electronics manufacturing markets, today announced that it has received $5.5 million worth of orders from Asia/Pacific customers for solar processing equipment. Most of the equipment will be for contact formation in a new high-efficiency process for the manufacture of solar cells. The rest of the equipment consists of current-generation metallization systems. Revenue for the orders will be reported during the first half of 2010.
BTU chairman and CEO, Paul Van der Wansem, said, “We are very pleased with these wins for our solar business. Over the past two years BTU has made significant investments in the development of new solar products, and we are encouraged by these orders.”
BTU offers solar processing equipment for the production of photovoltaic cells, both silicon and thin film. For silicon photovoltaic applications, BTU’s systems are used for metallization and in-line diffusion processes. For thin film photovoltaics, BTU’s equipment is used for both CIGS (Copper Indium Gallium Di-Selenide) and CdTe (Cadmium Telluride) processes.
The company recently introduced Perseas™, a product platform designed specifically for the processing of CdTe thin film photovoltaic cells. Perseas is a modular platform featuring configurations with varied throughputs and process capabilities. The platform is scalable from R&D to pilot and production-sized units. The Perseas-CA is designed for the chlorine annealing process while the Perseas-CF is for the contact formation process. In addition, the Perseas platform is compatible with both glass and web substrates.
BTU equipment is used in solar cell, nuclear fuel, and fuel cell manufacturing. It is also used in the production of printed circuit board assemblies and semiconductor packaging. The company has operations in North Billerica, Massachusetts, and Shanghai, China, with direct sales and service operations in the U.S., Asia, and Europe.
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