Applied Materials Opens Solar Research and Customer Demonstration Facility in China

November 3, 2009 – Vol.14 No.33

Applied Materials Opens Solar Research and Customer Demonstration Facility in China.

Applied Materials, Inc. the world's largest supplier of equipment to the solar photovoltaic industry, today opened an advanced solar research and demonstration facility in Xi'an, China. Applied Materials' Solar Technology Center, the largest non-government solar energy research facility in the world, is comprised of laboratory and office buildings covering more than 400,000 square feet and contains an entire Applied SunFabT thin film manufacturing line and a complete crystalline silicon pilot process. These lines are configured to closely simulate customer fabrication (fab) environments.

"Establishing this center in China is an integral part of Applied's global strategy and an important step toward the industrialization of the global solar industry," said Mike Splinter, chairman and CEO of Applied Materials.

Applied Materials is celebrating its 25th anniversary in China this year and today has more than 800 employees and 13 offices in the country, with approximately 300 employees in Xi'an. Applied first broke ground in Xi'an in 2006 and the total investment in the multiphase project is more than $250 million dollars. The completed facility includes a solar technology center for R&D, engineering, product demonstration, testing and training for crystalline silicon and thin film solar module manufacturing equipment and processes. Employees in the center will work closely with local suppliers to test and qualify new materials and tools and evaluate potential new cost saving technologies. The center has the largest solar array in Xi'an, a 56 kW array on a parking lot structure.

Xi'an is located in the Shaanxi province in northwest China and is a growing center of energy technology excellence in China. The local province boasts more than 40 colleges and universities and Xi'an is recognized as one of the leading high-technology research areas in the country.

Applied Materials, Inc. is the global leader in Nanomanufacturing Technology solutions with a broad portfolio of innovative equipment, service and software products for the fabrication of semiconductor chips, flat panel displays, solar photovoltaic cells, flexible electronics and energy efficient glass. (10/26/09)

Links:

Applied Materials
http://www.appliedmaterials.com

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