Saint-Gobain has announced
that its subsidiary, Avancis, will build a new plant to produce photovoltaic
(PV) modules to cover the roofs of residential, industrial and commercial
buildings, as well as solar plants. The industrial site will be located in Torgau, Germany,
where the group’s Saint-Gobain Glass (flat glass and coated glass),
Saint-Gobain Sekurit (automotive glass) and Avancis (PV modules) are located.
The new plant will be
Avancis’ second German facility manufacturing thin-film CIGS (copper-indium-gallium-selenide)
PV panels. The facility, to be built near the first Avancis industrial site,
will have a production output of 100 MWp/year, capable of supplying the
electricity needs for cities of 15,000 inhabitants. With a surface area of
25000 square meters, the site is expected to come onstream by the first quarter
of 2012.
“This project marks a new
milestone in Saint-Gobain’s commitment to the renewable energy sector,” said
Jean-Pierre Floris, president of the Innovative Materials Sector and senior
vice president of Saint-Gobain. “With this plant, Saint-Gobain will boost the
industrial development of Avancis and help it become a major reference in the
field of high-efficiency thin-film PV modules. This is an extremely promising
technology, which combines the low production costs associated with all
thin-film-based techniques with efficiencies approaching the higher levels
achieved using polycrystalline silicon cells. While being well-adapted for
solar fields, the Avancis modules are particularly recommended for roof
installation, being simple to mount, stylish and reliable.
For more information, visit
www.saint-gobain.com.
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