Calyxo Poised To Be Biggest CdTe Player In Europe
Calyxo is investing in a second production line with a
capacity of 60 MW at its home facility in Bitterfeld, Wolfen.
The firm currently operates a 25 MWp production line with over 150 employees at
the manufacturing plant in Germany and will ramp the total capacity at the end
of 2012 to 85 MW.
The capital for the expansion will be provided by a bank loan and cash
contributions from the technology inventor Solar Fields, LLC, who took over
ownership of Calyxo in February 2011 from its former partner Q-Cells SE. Solar
Fields invented the technology while a resident at the University of Toledo
Incubation Centre.
"Based on recent good results in production with modules of 80 Wp
and higher we decided to increase the capacity of our the low-cost atmospheric
deposition process. We are confident, that Calyxo will reach costs clearly
below 0,8 USD/Wp end of 2012 and that a CdTe production in the core of Europe
will make sense for our customers," says Florian Holzapfel, CEO.
The production line will produce the 2011-introduced CX3 product,
which was especially designed for hot and humid environments and differentiates
substantially from competing CdTe offerings, ensuring long-term stable
energy
output even under extreme conditions.
In these conditions, installation of the same size (MWp or KWp)
with the Calyxo technology can provide up to 10% more energy than crystalline
installations, driven by the superior temperature behaviour of Calyxo modules.
"Recently we have published data showing the excellent performance and
stability of the Calyxo product under hot and humid conditions based on our
unique laminate design" adds Michael Bauer, Calyxo's CTO.
These advances will lead to midterm production costs of less than
0.50 USD/Wp which may be the lowest in the world. Costs this low allow for an
LCOE forecast of less than 0.10 USD/KWh for electricity generated by Calyxo PV
systems.
Based on current market information, Calyxo believes it is going to be the only meaningful CdTe
producer in Europe from 2013 on. Besides the anticipated growth, Calyxo will
keep the complete set of services open for all customers (simulations, project
design, planning, installation and after sales services).
