Diffusion Order

BTU International has announced that it received a $16 million order for solar cell processing equipment. Revenue recognition for this order is projected to start in the fourth quarter of 2010 and continue through the first half of 2011.

"We are very pleased with this breakthrough win for in-line silicon cell manufacturing," said Paul van der Wansem, chairman and CEO of BTU International. "Our vision--shared by certain key customers --of using in-line thermal processing for the diffusion step in the production of silicon solar cells, has now been validated after several years of development. In particular, BTU's knowhow in precision temperature uniformity and atmosphere control for high volume processing has been a major enabler to achieving the process and cost goals set by our customer. In-line diffusion can significantly reduce the cost per watt while delivering equivalent cell efficiency compared to traditional batch equipment."

BTU offers solar processing equipment for both silicon and thin film photovoltaics. For silicon photovoltaic applications BTU's systems are used for metallization and in-line diffusion processes. For thin film photovoltaics, BTU leverages its technologies and decades of experience to provide scalable, custom, in-line thermal process systems for rigid as well as flexible substrates.