Performance with Lower-grade and Poor Quality Silicon Wafers Exceed Expectations
WUXI, China, Jan. 10 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP) one of the world's leading manufacturers of photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules, today announced that the commercial adoption of its latest 18% "semiconductor finger" conversion efficiency technology is proceeding on schedule starting in the fourth quarter of 2006 and that the performance of this technology with respect to lower-grade and poor quality silicon wafers has exceeded the company's expectations.
"We are very pleased with our semiconductor finger technology which has increased the average conversion efficiencies of our best monocrystalline PV cells to 18% -- well above the industry average of 14% to 15%. At the same time, we have maintained the lowest cost production base relative to our peers," said Dr. Zhengrong Shi, Suntech’s chairman and CEO. "I am very pleased that our team has yet again proven that Suntech is the industry leader in combining world class R&D advancements with high quality products while maintaining the lowest cost per watt solution, bringing us one large step closer to being the first solar manufacturer to reach grid parity."
The company's semiconductor finger technology, which is co-developed and owned together with the University of New South Wales in Australia, overcomes the major limitation of the traditional screen printing process that is the industry standard. Heavily doped semiconductor strips are built into the PV cell surface which more efficiently collects the generated electrical charge without requiring the surface dead layer found in conventional screen printed cells. This technology also potentially enables the company to reduce the number of traditional lines of metal contact strips on the top surface of the PV cell thereby reducing shading from the sun to enable the PV cell to generate even greater watts of electricity.
"Perhaps the most exciting part about this new technology is that it has worked particularly well with the lower-grade and poor quality silicon wafers for which we have seen increases in conversion efficiency of upwards of 17%," continued Dr. Shi. "This will give Suntech the added benefit of being able to process lower cost silicon wafers at higher conversion efficiencies than peer companies that would likely otherwise treat such wafers as returns or rejects."
"The tangible benefit of these improvements is that Suntech's PV cells and modules will generate higher watts of electricity, enabling Suntech to achieve higher incremental revenue with marginal incremental cost," noted Dr. Shi.
About Suntech
Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. is a leading solar energy company in the world as measured by both production output and capacity of solar cells and modules. Suntech provides solar solutions for a green future. Suntech designs, develops, manufactures, and markets a variety of high quality, cost effective and environmentally friendly PV cells and modules for electric power applications in the residential, commercial, industrial, and public utility sectors. Suntech's majority-owned subsidiary, MSK Corporation is one of Japan's largest PV manufacturers and one of the top-ranked companies in the building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) space. Suntech's customers are located in various markets worldwide, including key markets throughout Europe, Japan, China and the United States. For more information, please visit http://www.suntech-power.com .
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements constitute "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Among other things, Suntech's expectations with respect to the technological improvements with respect to its PV cell and module products highlighted above contain forward-looking statements. Such statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Suntech's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 20-F. Suntech does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.
For more information, please contact:
Steven Chan
VP of Business Development
Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd.
Tel: +86-510-8531-8910
Email: ir@suntech-power.com
Rory Macpherson
Senior Associate
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide
Tel: +86-10-8520-6553
Email: rory.macpherson@ogilvy.com
