Manufacturer of thin-fi lm silicon solar modules, Oerlikon Solar has announced its 2nd generation of Th inFabTM for the production of thin fi lm silicon modules, which resets the standard for low cost, high quality solar module manufacturing. Th e new design allows a capital expenditure (Capex) reduction of more than 20 percent. Th e estimated price for the complete end-to-end production line is just $1/Wp including engineering support and performance guarantees. Th e production line enables customers to produce high quality thin fi lm silicon modules for a cost of around $0.5/Wp (€ 0.35/Wp), which is a new record-low in the solar industry. Key improvements in the 2nd generation Th inFabTM include increased manufacturing line output, guaranteed higher module effi  ciency and new narrow-gap reactor design for silicon deposition.

The new generation of the Th inFabTM retains all the advantages of Oerlikon Solar’s thin fi lm technology which represents the best in the industry. Th e new Th inFab™ will be offi  cially launched at the World Future Energy Summit 2012 (WFES) in Abu Dhabi. At the same time, Oerlikon Solar will also announce a new high effi  ciency record thin fi lm silicon cell – a result of Oerlikon Solar’s leading thin fi lm silicon R&D capabilities and a clear indicator of the sustainable long-term competitiveness of Oerlikon Solar’s Micromorph® thin fi lm silicon technology.