Jul 17 2008
EPV SOLAR, Inc. a thin-film solar module manufacturer and photovoltaic systems provider headquartered in New Jersey, USA, announced today that it has entered into a long-term solar module supply agreement with City Solar Kraftwerke AG. City Solar, headquartered in Bad Kreuznach, Germany, is a tier-one international developer, installer and operator of large-scale photovoltaic power plants. The framework agreement allows City Solar to purchase 250 megawatts (MW) of amorphous silicon modules over a period of five years. City Solar plans to use EPV modules to further execute its growth strategy in Europe. A first 2 MW project with EPV modules will be realized in Germany before the end of 2008. To meet the project schedule, EPV SOLAR has already begun to ship against this contract from its New Jersey manufacturing facility. Later in the year, product will come from EPV SOLAR's new 30 MW/year thin-film PV products manufacturing facility in Senftenberg, Germany which is scheduled to begin production in the fall of 2008.
Both companies are committed to the wide-scale adoption of solar energy. To date, City Solar has connected to the grid projects with capacity of more than 81 megawatts (MW), including a 20 MW installation in Beneixama (Spain), which is one of the world's largest photovoltaic power plants. Steffen Kammler, CEO of City Solar, commented: "We have selected EPV SOLAR as our commercial partner because of their reliable, low cost amorphous silicon technology. We are confident that EPV SOLAR's PV modules will deliver exceptional performance and value for our customers. City Solar looks forward to a long and prosperous relationship with EPV SOLAR and to expanding our partnership to include joint technology development and joint marketing efforts in other parts of the world."
"We are very pleased with this strong endorsement by City Solar of our thin-film technology and products. This new contract validates our strategy of partnering with tier-one integrators in Europe," stated Mr. Scott T. Massie, CEO of EPV SOLAR. "We are committed to providing thin-film PV modules that achieve the lowest cost PV electricity in the world. Our goal is to help our customers achieve 'grid parity' on an accelerated time scale," Mr. Massie added.
Founded in 1991, EPV SOLAR is expanding its annual module manufacturing capacity to meet increased demand by its customers, including the demand under this contract. In addition to factories in Lawrenceville and Robbinsville, NJ, USA, EPV SOLAR expects to begin production at its Senftenberg facility in the fall of 2008. EPV SOLAR employs a vertically integrated model for the manufacture of thin-film solar modules, using its internally designed production equipment and batch manufacturing process. EPV SOLAR believes it enables a total installed system cost that is among the lowest in the industry.