Moser Baer to set up thin film solar fab

New Delhi



March 6, 2007

Moser Baer India announced that it would set up the world's largest thin film

solar fab to achieve new cost benchmarks. It has entered into a technology

partnership with US-based Applied Materials Inc, a provider of nano

manufacturing technology solutions for the electronics industry.

Ravi Khanna, CEO, Moser Baer Photo Voltaic, said, "Leaders in the

photovoltaic industry will emerge on the strengths of rapid scale up and

technology differentiation. We believe that Moser Baer With its experience in

deposition technology and high tech manufacturing is poised to emerge as a

global leader in this rapidly growing market."

The technology partnership will enable a synergy between the company's

manufacturing and technology strength, its European R&D lab and Applied

Material Inc's process and equipment development expertise. The combined

capabilities bring scale economies to this industry by manufacturing thin film

modules that are four times larger than current modules, making it a disruptive

technology that provides a road map to sub-dollar per watt costs.

This investment should qualify for government incentives under the recently

announced IT and semiconductor policy. Thin film solar modules are ideal for

energy farms, rural applications and building integrated photovoltaic markets.

According to market estimates, the thin film based solar modules will see large

emerging applications and a robust demand that is expected to grow ten fold;

from 250 MW currently to 2GW with a market size of $5 bn by 2010.