News Article
IQE announces CPV technology transfer
IQE has announced the achievement of several key technology transfer milestones that represent highly significant progress in its commercial relationship with Solar Junction.
In February 2012, IQE announced an exclusive manufacturing and technology transfer agreement with Solar Junction and laid out a series of milestones. These milestones were designed to culminate in the delivery of full 3Junction (3J) structures to Solar Junction based on successful installation and commissioning of customized production scale MBE tools, and subsequent technology transfer from Solar Junction. Completion of this was planned for the fourth quarter of 2012.
IQE and Solar Junction are pleased to announce the successful completion of these milestones and the delivery of full 3J wafers using the transferred process to Solar Junction. Commercial production is expected to begin in the first half of 2013, initially with customer product qualification quantities, moving to volume production in the second half of the year.
Independently, Solar Junction has successfully qualified its cells to full IEC specifications with several customers, and is strongly engaged with all leading CPV systems houses.
Dr Drew Nelson, IQE Chief Executive, said, "Our deal with Solar Junction earlier this year will significantly accelerate our well established CPV strategy and position us to become the key epiwafer supplier to the CPV market. The combination of Solar Junction's core materials IP and technology, with its recently improved world record efficiencies of 44%, together with our own IP and manufacturing capabilities, provides a compelling route to significantly higher cell efficiency and cost effective, high volume production for the CPV industry. That combination is now all but complete and we are on track to move to commercial volume production during 2013. As we approach the end of our financial year, we are also confident that we will meet our earnings expectations. The transformational deals completed with Solar Junction and RFMD earlier this year are highly complementary and position the Group for accelerating growth in rapidly expanding markets."
