industry news ♦ compound semiconductor ♦ news digest
The company’s new U.S. subsidiary – Concentrix Solar, Inc. – is based in San Diego, where Concentrix Solar installed a CPV demonstration system in July 2009 to test its solar modules under California’s climate conditions. Since its installation, the 6-kilowatt system has proven exceptional performance, achieving 25% efficiency in generating electricity.
After evaluating the market potential for Concentrix Solar’s CPV technology, the company decided to open this first U.S. office which will be led by new General Manager of Business Development, Clark Crawford. Previously, Crawford led sales and marketing efforts at CPV systems supplier Amonix. He has a successful track record of securing large- scale commercial orders of CPV systems, and brings his extensive experience in the solar energy market to Concentrix Solar.
As Concentrix Solar expands its presence in the U.S., the company’s multi-junction CPV module has achieved a listing with the California Energy Commission (CEC). This listing is vital to doing business in California and a key step in financing commercial projects with customer companies and state energy utilities. Concentrix Solar’s CX- 75 module has now been listed by the CEC after testing at TÜV Rheinland Photovoltaic Testing Laboratory LLC in Tempe, AZ.
Concentrix Solar’s CPV technology is designed for use by large-scale solar power plants in hot, arid regions. With characteristics such as low heat degradation and high durability, the company’s equipment is well suited for power plant installations in the American southwest.
Performance benefits include a constant power- output curve to maintain the electricity supply needed to meet peak-load demands, the ability to operate without active cooling mechanisms, and almost no energy loss at high ambient temperatures.
These attributes helped Concentrix Solar to win a project with Chevron Technology Ventures to install the energy giant’s first megawatt solar farm in the U.S. at a site in New Mexico, as announced in February. Construction has begun on this project, which will be one of the largest CPV power plants ever built in the U.S. It is scheduled for completion before the end of this year.
OEM to Provide AlN Foundry Services
The firm will immediately support the Aluminium Nitride (AlN) market by utilizing the SFI Endeavor AT PVD platform to produce piezoelectric AlN films on 4” to 6” wafers.
OEM Group, global equipment supplier to worldwide makers of LED, RFID, Power Devices, and Photovoltaic devices is now providing foundry services. OEM will immediately support the AlN market by offering high-quality AlN foundry services performed in the applications lab of its Gilbert, Arizona headquarters.
Included in the recent acquisition of the Thin Films and PVD product lines from Tegal Corporation, the OEM foundry services utilize the SFI Endeavor AT PVD platform to produce piezoelectric AlN films on a variety of 4” to 6” wafers used in SAW, BAW, FBAR, and MEMS. Equipped with a dual cathode AC power S-Gun magnetron, the Endeavor AT PVD cluster tool possesses proven advanced sputter technology guaranteed to produce superior film crystallinity, uniformity, and precise stress adjustment.
OEM also participates in customer R&D projects by assisting device and technology optimization as well as developing deposition processes suited for specific customer requirements.
PVD Process Development Manager for OEM Group, Valeriy Felmetsger said, “Performance of AlN-based electro-acoustic devices such as BAW and FBAR filters, oscillators, and resonating sensors is substantially tied to thin film technology. As of today, reactive magnetron sputtering is a method of choice enabling formation of AlN films with a high degree of c-axis texture and thus a strong piezoelectric response.
Felmetsger added, “In mass production, the most important criteria of advanced reactive sputtering are process stability and repeatability of the film properties from run to run, and independent control of the film properties such as crystal orientation, thickness, uniformity, and stress. The SFI Endeavor AT PVD system is ideal for customers needing deposition of film stack, two-step deposition, or deposition of single AlN films.”
Wayne Jeveli, President of OEM added, “We August/September 2010
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