Spire Wins Contract for Tianwei Factory Expansion in the People’s Republic of China
Multiple Solar Cell Assembly and Module Testing Machines to be Provided for Production Ramp Up
Bedford, MA, August 6, 2008
Source: Spire Corp. press release
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=76421&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1184250
Spire Corporation (Nasdaq: SPIR), a global solar company providing turnkey solar factories and capital equipment to manufacture photovoltaic (PV) modules worldwide, today announced that it has received a contract from ChengDu Tianwei New Energy PV Module Co. Ltd. (Tianwei) to provide multiple systems for stringing and tabbing solar cells and performing the critical end of line test and certification. Spire will provide Tianwei with multiple Spi-Assembler(TM) 6000 systems to fully automate the soldering of individual solar cells into strings ready for busing.
The assembler is the heart of the production line and a critical step to automating production. In addition, multiple Spi-Sun Simulator(TM) systems were ordered. Simulation is required to verify the performance of the modules. The Spi-Sun Simulator(TM) is chosen by many of the leading certification and testing organizations including Underwriters Laboratories.
“We are extremely pleased to be working closely with Tianwei on this critical step in their expansion. They recognize the need to automate key manufacturing steps to increase their production. Spire has more than eighty assemblers in the field or under contract. Using today’s high efficiency cells, this represents nearly a gigawatt of production capacity; our system is a workhorse in the industry,” said, Roger G. Little, Chairman and CEO of Spire Corporation. “The Chinese market is growing rapidly and represents a great future. Spire is very active in China in both the expansion and turnkey factory segments.”
Mr. Guo Ai Hua, General Manager of Tianwei New Energy, says, “We are very active in the photovoltaics industry and recognize the importance of automating key aspects of the production of modules. After evaluating the many options, from Chinese to European and American manufacturers, Spire was the clear choice. Their equipment is state-of-the-art and offers the kind of reliability we need to continue our growth and success.”