ULVAC - japanischer turn-key Anbieter von a-SI Linien - 500 Beiträge pro Seite

[meinolf67]

...damit Wettbewerb von AMAT und Oerlikon.

Kunden u.a.:

Nexpower
Sunner Solar
Kaneka
China Solar Power

Leider ist die englische IR-Seite auf dem Stand von 2006; alles Neuere ist japanisch. Wer kann helfen?

[meinolf67]

China Solar Power Enters Thin Film Solar Cell Market in China by Forging Strategic Alliance with ULVAC, Inc. of Japan

October 26, 2007　ULVAC, Inc.

China Solar Power (Holdings) Ltd. (“CSP”), a subsidiary of Tano China Capital Management, Inc. (TCCMI), a private equity investment management company focusing on Chinese companies and industries, enters the thin film solar cell market in China by partnering with ULVAC, Inc. of Japan. ULVAC is a leading solar cell manufacturer headquartered in Chigasaki, Japan. ULVAC’s President and CEO is Mr. Hidenori Suwa. TCCMI’s Managing Directors are Messrs. Charles E. Johnson and Chi-Jen Frank Liu.

ULVAC, CSP and its affiliate Tano China Private Equity Fund II signed a Strategic Alliance Agreement in Chigasaki on October 17, 2007. The objective of the Strategic Alliance is to collaborate to enhance ULVAC’s position as a leading provider of thin film photovoltaic (PV) production lines worldwide and CSP’s position as the leading thin film solar cell manufacturer in China. CSP has selected Yantai, in Shandong Province in Northwest China as the site of its first manufacturing facilities.

The PV Production Lines supplied by ULVAC utilize Generation 5 (G5) sized glass substrates (1100 x 1400 mm) designed for full-scale solar power generation plants. The lines are first of a kind large-sized manufacturing lines to be produced in China for the Chinese and worldwide markets. The plant will initially produce modules based on single junction amorphous silicon (a-Si) technology with an annual capacity of about 50 MW. CSP will quickly transition the production lines to produce tandem junction modules with a higher-efficiency rating. The annual capacity for the line with the higher efficiency module is expected to increase from 50 MW to approximately 64MW in 2010.

The lines will incorporate plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PE-CVD) equipment, laser scribers, sputtering equipment and encapsulation equipment. ULVAC will install and commission the production lines at CSP’s Yantai plant and train CSP’s operations personnel.

ULVAC has invested approximately 3,000 million yen to set up a new thin film solar cell manufacturing demonstration line utilizing G5 size substrates at its Chigasaki headquarters. ULVAC has already started experimenting with real substrates and plans to operate fully by November 2007. ULVAC’s demonstration line can manufacture and evaluate a-Si thin film solar cells as well as a-Si/μ-c Si tandem structure thin film solar cells stacked with μ-c Si films. The latter generates higher power generation efficiency of at least 9%.

Since the early 1980s, ULVAC has supplied manufacturing equipment for solar cells largely to domestic Japanese companies. Since 1990, Flat Panel Display (FPD) manufacturing equipment technology and in particular TFT-LCD technology, has rapidly evolved and added value to solar cell manufacturing equipment. This has led to greatly increased market demand worldwide for solar cell manufacturing lines. ULVAC has supplied not only the solar cell manufacturing lines but also installation and commissioning of the lines and training for customer personnel.

[meinolf67]

Sunner Solar Corporation is going to enter the solar energy market. ULVAC made a package contract for the production systems.

August 2, 2007　ULVAC, Inc.

Fortune Group (ex-Infodisc and Infomedia) (in Gueishan, Taoyuan County, Taiwan; President: Mr. Claire Lo) determined to start production of thin-film solar cells at a newly established affiliated company, Sunner Solar Corporation (hereinafter, called Sunner Solar) (in Gueishan, Taoyuan County, Taiwan), and concluded a package contract for the purchase and introduction of production lines for thin-film solar cells with ULVAC, Inc. (hereinafter, called ULVAC), aiming to start production in summer 2008.

Sunner Solar is planning increased production, including production in China, to achieve a total production scale of 100 MW within 3years. ULVAC is going to cooperate on expanding the business of the company.*1

Sunner Solar is going to introduce a set of lines composed of a thin-film formation process, including CVD systems, laser processing systems and sputtering systems, and a subsequent assembly process. ULVAC are also going to give instructions for the production of thin-film solar cells.*2

Sunner Solar is planning to produce solar cells at a scale of 25 MW/year. Sunner Solar is going to enter the rapidly growing solar cell industry, utilizing the latest technologies and experience of ULVAC, which has a track record with many solar cell manufacturers in Japan.

*1 They are considering the production of thin-film solar cells of a tandem structure with a microcrystal (μ-Si) layer.
*2 The size of base glass substrate is in the class of the 5th generation of flat panel displays (FPD).

Sunner Solar Corporation

Sunner Solar Corporation is a company established by Fortune Group (ex-Infodisc and Infomedia) as a dedicated thin-film solar cell manufacturer.
Date of establishment June 25, 2007
Main business Production of thin-film solar cells
Location Taiwan

[meinolf67]

NexPower Technology Corporation is going to enter the solar energy market. ULVAC made a package contract for the production systems.

March 23, 2007　ULVAC, Inc.

NexPower Technology Corporation (in Taiwan; President: Semi Wang), an affiliate company of United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), which is a major semiconductor manufacturer in Taiwan, is going to enter the solar energy market; currently attracting unrivalled attention, with the use of the solar cell production system lines of ULVAC, Inc. (in Chigasaki, Kanagawa; President: Hidenori Suwa). UMC and NexPower Technology Corporation have spent the last two years developing a plan to enter the solar energy market. Having determined the establishment of a new solar cell plant, they concluded a package contract for the purchase of production lines for thin-film solar cells with ULVAC today. The contract line is large-size (substrate size: G5) and designed for a full-scale generation plant, which will be the largest line of its kind used for production in Taiwan. ULVAC will provide production lines for all systems related to solar cell production, including plasma (PE-) CVD systems, laser scribing systems, sputtering systems and sealing arrangements, the start-up of the lines and the instructions for actual productions.

Using compact substrates, ULVAC has been conducting process verifications. Prior to this contract, it established a new related system (for G5) in Chigasaki Plant and already started verifications with actual substrates. Next to the a-Si process, it has also been developing a tandem structure with the μ-c Si process to improve the power generation efficiency to complete in Summer 2007. NexPower Technology Corporation is going to product thin-film solar cells using the production lines provided by ULVAC. The production volume will be 12.5MW/year for a-Si for the first year, but increasing gradually to 100MW/year for a-Si and finally the μ-c tandem structure solar cell. NexPower Technology Corporation is an affiliated company of UMC Group, which is a semiconductor manufacturer in Taiwan, and a new company established to produce thin-film solar cells.

The solar energy is attracting considerable attention as a form of clean energy that is an alternative to fossil energy, along with the expanded energy demands of new developing industrialized companies, such as BRICs, especially China. In 2006, the production volume of the solar energy was 2GW, representing 1% or less of total energy consumption, but it is expected to be about 500GW for the year 2010 and 300GW for the year 2050, representing a quarter of the total energy consumption in the latter case.
On the other hand, European countries promoting environmental policies are establishing new energy policies for clean energies, including solar cell power, such as a preferential treatment of photovoltaic power purchase as a key policy element.
The solar cells currently available usually use silicon crystals. However, due to the insufficient supply of silicon materials, a new device structure is required for the solar cell. With this in mind, thin-film solar cells forming a photoelectric conversion layer on substrate material, such as glass substrate, are now attracting considerable attention.

Accordingly, NexPower Technology Corporation is planning to establish a thin-film solar cell production line in Hsinchu City, Taiwan, and to start its operation in the first quarterly period in the year 2008. The planned production volume is 12.5MW and the amount of capital investment will be 2 billion Taiwan dollars in the initial year.

ULVAC has been providing solar cell production systems, predominantly in Japan, since the early 1980's. Adding the FPD production system technology especially for TFT-LCD, which has been developed rapidly since the 1990s, to the solar cell production systems, we have been further providing a package of thin-film solar cell production lines, due to the multitude of inquiries about this package. Along with the provision of the latter, we have been providing the start-up of the lines and instructions for the actual production.

NexPower Technology Corporation
NexPower Technology Corporation is a thin-film solar cell production company that became independent from United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC).

Date of establishment November 24, 2005
Capital NT$ 800,000,000
President Semi Wang
Main business Production of thin-film solar cells
Address 8F, No.1, Jin-Shan 7th Street, Hsinchu, Taiwan

[meinolf67]

ULVAC and Mitsubishi Materials Corporation jointly developed new TFT wiring technology
–New copper alloy target adopted to the new sputtering technology–

October 27, 2008　ULVAC, Inc. Mitsubishi Materials Corporation

ULVAC, Inc. (hereinafter “ULVAC;” President and CEO: Hidenori Suwa; headquarters: Chigasaki City, Kanagawa, Japan) and Mitsubishi Materials Corporation (hereinafter “Mitsubishi Materials;” President: Akihiko Ide; headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan) announce their joint development and commercialization of a copper (Cu) alloy target to be used for the wiring of TFTs (thin film transistors) for slimline large screen TVs. With this development, the copper wiring process becomes available with low resistance and also at low cost without using expensive molybdenum (Mo), by using a Cu-Ca base and improved Cu-Mg base copper alloy materials developed by Mitsubishi Materials, together with the oxygen mix sputtering technology developed by ULVAC.
The copper wiring process using the new copper alloy target materials is exhibited at the ULVAC exhibition booth at FPD International 2008 held at Pacifico Yokohama from October 29.

[meinolf67]

Ulvac Enables Flexible Li-Ion Battery
Ulvac Inc. said it has developed a process flow for very thin lithium-ion cells, which may be combined with solar cells to create and store electricity in wearable electronics.
Kenji Tsuda, Asia Contributing Editor -- Semiconductor International, 12/22/2008 7:46:00 AM

Ulvac Inc. (Kanagawa, Japan) has developed a manufacturing process flow for very thin (50 μm) lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, using semiconductor process technologies and equipment. The paper-like flexible battery may be applied as the power supply of a wearable computer, or as a medically-implantable battery. And the thin lithium-ion cells may be combined with solar cells to create and store electricity, said Takehito Jimbo, an Ulvac manager.

Ulvac makes chemical and physical vapor deposition tools, etchers, implanters, and ashing systems. The lithium-ion battery technology was developed jointly with Ulvac Materials, which develops sputtering targets.

The flexible battery features a solid-state electrolyte, which the company claims is safer than the conventional liquid electrolyte that can present a fire hazard. The basic structure is similar to that of a planar semiconductor diode; with a bottom substrate, a patterned cathode current collector of MgO/Ti/Pt, a patterned cathode of LiCoO2, a patterned solid-state electrolyte of LiPON, a patterned anode current collector of nickel or copper, and an anode made of lithium. The cathode and anode electrodes react with the electrolyte. In a battery cell, the current collector plays a role similar to the metal electrodes in a semiconductor device.

Ulvac produces manufacturing equipment that can be used for the sputtering and evaporation steps required for the thin-film materials in the battery. Ulvac said its single-wafer sputtering system can be used to form the cathode of LiCoO2, the solid-state electrolyte of LiPON, and the current collector layers. The tool uses DC and RF magnetron sources, and can be configured with five chambers including RTA annealing for the cathode crystallization.

Ulvac Materials developed sputtering targets up to 440 mm in diameter, including a LiCoO3 disk for the cathode, and a Li3PO4 disk for the solid-state electrolyte. The films are chemically reduced with a N2 gas, and the anode Li metal is formed with an evaporator tool called ei-5.

Finally, the flexible cell must be encapsulated with plastic layers, much like a wafer-level package. The encapsulation film consists of the triple layers; an organic layer, a barrier layer and an organic layer formed with a single-wafer evaporator, the Ulvac PME-200. The barrier layer has the role of preventing water vapor from entering the battery.

Thin-film battery manufacturer Nuricell (Seoul, South Korea) produced a prototype lithium-ion cell using the Ulvac turnkey systems. The total thickness is 50 μm, and the cell active area is 20x20 mm. The electrical characteristics include an operating voltage of 3.0-4.1 V, a current capacity of 0.5-1.0 mAh, and a maximum operating current of 15 mA at -20-120 º C.
Ulvac Inc. adapted its semiconductor-processing equipment and sputtering targets to a turnkey process flow for ultra-thin batteries.

Ulvac hopes to sell three turnkey systems in 2009 to produce paper-like batteries, covering sputtering, evaporation and encapsulation.

[meinolf67]

JAPAN NEWS: Ulvac bets on Obama, temps taking brunt of chip slump
Date: Januar, 2009


Jan. 20, 2009 - Scanning recent headlines across Japan: Ulvac is betting on a solar boost from Obama; Japan's temp chip workers are seeing pink as their firms bleed red; and consolidation takes hold in two segments of the domestic semiconductor sector.


Ulvac bets on Obama's green leanings

Ulvac is hoping to make inroads in the US, backing that it will be a beneficiary of new clean energy policies forthcoming from president-elect Barack Obama, according an interview with company president Hidenori Suwa in the Nikkei daily.
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Middle

Solar panel manufacturers are predictably suffering with everyone else during these times of financial crisis and strong yen, and business in Europe in particular seems to be flagging, but he told the paper that "enthusiasm for the technology is mounting in the US." He predicts orders will "soar" once the markets return to normal, and specifically cited Obama's clean energy policies as a catalyst for new orders.

Asked about the likelihood of increased competition in what is universally seen as a high-growth potential market, Suwa pointed to the company's "turnkey" products that will get customers supplying solar cells "as quickly as possible." He acknowledged that solar cell toolmakers' fluctuating earnings are heavily dependent on customers' capex, so to remove that uncertainty "we need to change our business model," including inroads into materials handling (e.g. sealants), and services such as recycling. the goal is to boost these new ventures to 20%-30% of overall sales in five years from the current 10%, he said.