Solar Cells Info

XsunX Expands Technology Portfolio – Patent-Pending Plasma Technology May Reduce Industry Wide Manufacturing Bottlenecks

Wednesday January 3, 2:32 pm ET
Source: Press Release XsunX, Inc.
http://biz.yahoo.com/pz/070103/111169.html

ALISO VIEJO, Calif., Jan. 3, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) — XsunX, Inc. (OTC BB:XSNX.OB – News), developer of advanced manufacturing systems and cell structures for solar energy, announced today it has entered into a technology development and licensing agreement with Charlotte, NC based Sencera, a developer of next generation plasma sources. Using funds provided by XsunX, Sencera will develop a thin film solar cell manufacturing process using its patent-pending plasma technology. The purpose of the cooperative agreement, and XsunX’s interest in licensing of Sencera’s next generation plasma technology, is the expectation that the new process will significantly increase production rates for the manufacture of deposited thin film solar cells. The technology offers an opportunity to reduce manufacturing bottlenecks, which are projected to reduce the manufactured cost per peak watt to less than US$1, an industry-wide goal.

Key attributes provided by the Sencera technology are its ability to uniformly excite high-density plasma over large areas, with minimal ion bombardment. In deposition tests conducted with a variety of materials employed in the manufacture of thin film PV, the plasma technology demonstrated significant deposition rate improvements of up to 10 times those using conventional plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition “PECVD” equipment. The present technology is scaleable to large areas (with current demonstrations on one meter substrates). Initial work will focus on micro-crystalline solar cell devices.

Tom Djokovich, CEO of XsunX, says that the use of Sencera’s proprietary linear plasma source, originally developed for use in the manufacture of displays on plastics, offers the opportunity to augment XsunX’s advanced cell structures and manufacturing technologies, and delivers a new, highly marketable process that is fundamentally extendable to virtually any size. “This is an opportunity for XsunX that we have worked many months to secure,” Djokovich said of the technology. “Dropping the cost for the manufacture of high efficiency micro-crystalline devices to below US$1 per peak watt will provide a competitive advantage for XsunX in the TFPV marketplace. This will make our solar cell designs and proprietary manufacturing systems tremendously valuable to licensed OEMs.”

The development team at Sencera includes Dr. Russell Jewett, Managing Director, and Dr. Paul Wickboldt, who will lead the process development effort. The team has over 45 man-years of combined plasma hardware and process engineering experience in both government and private sector development programs, with 13 awarded patents and multiple publications in this field. The first stage of this program will demonstrate processes suitable for high-rate thin film PV manufacturing. “Improving plasma deposition technologies offers tangible opportunities to significantly reduce the cost and increase the competitiveness of thin film solar cells,” stated Dr. Jewett. “Present techniques for depositing silicon suffer slow formation rates, and correspondingly high costs for producing thin film silicon solar cells. We believe that our new linear high density plasma sources provide attributes that set them apart from other plasma technologies and we are excited to be working with XsunX to bring this technology to market.”

About XsunX

Based in Aliso Viejo, Calif., XsunX is developing and commercializing innovative new thin film photovoltaic (TFPV) solar cell technologies and manufacturing processes to service expanding global energy demands. The Company has focused its efforts on lowering the cost per watt of solar power and making solar cell technology easier to use in a wide variety of applications. XsunX provides new manufacturing techniques that can significantly lower production costs and allow for easier additions to production capacities and technology upgrades to manufacturers without their having to re-build and re-tool. Together, XsunX design and production innovations offer manufacturers of solar products exciting new application opportunities and reductions to the cost per watt of solar power. More information can be found at the Company’s multi-lingual website: http://www.XsunX.com

About Sencera

Sencera is a privately held North Carolina Company, with primary operations in Charlotte, NC. Sencera makes high performance plasma tools for liquid crystal display (LCD), glass, and solar cell manufacturing applications. Company website located at http://www.sencera.com/