Intra-Hanergy deals continue to be a mainstay of the the Hanergy group's financial announcements, with the latest being registered this week for US$175 million of silicon-based BIPV production equipment. While the statement from the two companies does not reveal details, it is presumably a variant on amorphous silicon production equipment that Apollo has supplied Hanergy with in the past.
The deal is for six production lines, each coming with a price tag of $29.25 million. Amorphous silicon PV modules are largely thought to be uncompetitive in the current PV market, having been surpassed by both CdTe and CIGS along with crystalline silicon technologies in terms of both production cost and conversion efficiency. BIPV may offer some hope for amorphous silicon applications, however it is only a niche market at present.
The two companies report that the BIPV production lines will build on the foundation of Hanergys original amorphous silicon production lines. While the company has reported having installed a production capacity across a number of sites in China totaling in the multiple GW, analysts have been able to track shipments of anything close to that number.
The latest tool order is for the following equipment, according to the statement released yesterday:
Through the addition of equipment including laser insulation scribing line
machine, light transmittance laser scribing machine, laser perforation machine, heavy laminating machine, roller press machine, autoclave, insulating glass production line and photovoltaic curtain wall power analyzer, the production lines will be capable of producing BIPV curtain wall modules of different light transmittance rates, sizes and shapes.
Hanergy will make payments to Apollo in a number of stages throughout the project. Neither a timeframe for delivery nor the location of the manufacturing operations has been announced.
In providing a background to the deal, Hanergy reports that it expects an uptick in BIPV demand on the back of the Chinese governments increased support for distributed generation. Hanergy indicates that it has the capacity to upgrade its existing amorphous silicon production lines to BIPV.
Hanergy Holdings Chairman Li Hejun sits on the board of both Hanergy and Apollo. The company says that this latest BIPV production equipment purchase and technical sales agreement between the two companies was carried out at arms length.
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