Aug 4 2010
Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, a renascent company, has proclaimed its faith in solar power and retaining personnel to expand its Blackburn Industrial Park plant.
The company has recently brought out a new microchip-making instrument named Solion in the manufacture of solar cells. Its functions are similar to that of a machine that embeds ions in computer ships. The Solion is specially manufactured to embed the chips that are used in the solar panels to make them more energy efficient in converting solar energy in to electric power and anticipates an increase in the power producing capability from equivalent measure of sunshine as the existing old photovoltaic cells by at least 4%. The company anticipates achieving a target of $100 million in Solion sales within the next three years.
Currently, the company is still in the exploring stage utilizing $3.2 million stimulus money it received from the government to elicit a new method in manufacturing the silicon cells used in the solar panels cost effectively. Bob Halliday, chief financial officer of Varian, expects a surge in the consumption of electrical energy globally, and he added with cost effective solar products price parity with that of the grid can be achieved in sunny areas before the year 2012 or 2013.
Source: http://www.vsea.com