China National Building Materials (CNBM), the parent company of German module manufacturer Avancis, has signed an agreement with German PV production equipment provider Singulus for the supply of several vacuum coating systems.
This time, however, the deal is not about the production of copper, indium, gallium, and selenium (CIGS) thin-film panels, but the manufacturing of cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film modules. Singulus has been supplying photovoltaic equipment to CNBM for years.
The Chinese group wants to significantly increase its production capacities for both technologies in the coming years and is planning further investments at several unspecified locations in China. According to Singulus, the new CdTe panel production may have an annual capacity of over 1 GW. The new vacuum coating systems are intended to further reduce production costs, while increasing cell performance and production output.
“Our vacuum coating machines are a key step for the entire production process,” said Singulus CEO, Stefan Rinck. “In addition to machines applying sputtering technology, we are also offering machines working on the principles of thermal evaporation.”
The Chinese conglomerate currently operates CIGS production facilities at four different locations. One of them is located at a factory in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province. CNBM was the first of several organizations to bring large-scale CIGS production online in China.
