Commercial production has begun for the Sno2 solar base plate used as an electrode element in thin-film solar cells. China Technology Development Group Corporation (NASDAQ: CTDC) said their plant in Xiamen, China started producing the conductive element to solar cells on Sept. 1. CTDC’s first SnO2 production line expects to produce about 70,000 to 80,000 plates per year once the facility reaches full capacity.

“SnO2 base plate is a type of TCO substrate, which is the key upstream component for a-Si thin-film solar cell to maximize its efficiency,” said a company news release. “In recent years, the photovoltaic industry production has been expanding so fast with yearly growth rates over the last five years [averaging] more than 40 percent.”

Recent improvements include the adoption of a new heating process, which allows the product to meet international standards of high transmission, good conductivity and high-haze to help trap light into the amorphous silicon layer of a-Si solar cells.

“We are excited to have reached this milestone in less than a year,” said CTDC Chairman and CEO Alan Li. “This is a big step towards our goal of reaching the full production capacity of our product in the near term. In addition, the production and sales of SnO2 solar base plates will become a new and stable profit growth point of the company.”

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