Apr 22 2009
Abound Solar (formerly AVA Solar), a manufacturer of low-cost, thin-film photovoltaic solar panels and one of Colorado State University's most successful spinoffs, on Tuesday opened its first full-scale production facility in Longmont with about 400 invited guests. Assisting with opening the facility were company founders, including Colorado State Professor W.S. Sampath, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Hermann Scheer, president of EUROSOLAR, and Tony Frank, interim president of Colorado State.
The fully automated facility will create more than 300 new jobs and, at capacity, produce 200 MW of solar modules annually. Its manufacturing process employs Abound Solar's proprietary continuous in-line semiconductor equipment to convert sheets of glass into solar panels in less than two hours. As a leading "next generation" solar panel manufacturer, Abound Solar's manufacturing process simplifies the production of thin-film solar panels, rapidly expands production capability and drives down the cost of solar-generated electricity.
"Today's facility opening represents a milestone for Abound. We have moved into commercial production, which allows us to keep pace with demand from our customers as the market expands," said Pascal Noronha, CEO of Abound Solar. "We are now well positioned to deliver high-performing, cost-effective, solar modules that can accelerate clean energy usage around the world."
"Congratulations to Abound Solar - a true Colorado success story of how renewable energy technologies can move from the lab to the marketplace," Ritter said. "As we see local renewable energy companies expand operations and create jobs, we know that the New Energy Economy is leading Colorado forward, and will help Colorado to have a quick and strong recovery."
"Abound Solar proves that we have the capability here in the United States to cost-effectively meet our energy needs, while protecting our climate," Kennedy said.
Abound Solar was founded in 2007 to commercialize a proprietary process for manufacturing thin-film photovoltaic modules. Built upon 15 years of development at Sampath's Materials Engineering Laboratory at Colorado State University and with support from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Abound Solar has developed a robust, commercial-scale, continuous process for producing solar modules at an industry-leading cost that significantly reduces the cost of generating solar electricity. For additional information, visit http://www.abound.com.