Suntech gives solar industry the finger

Suntech Power Holdings (NYSE: STP) a leading Chinese manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules, today announced that its new ''semiconductor finger'' conversion efficiency technology has exceeded the company's expectations.

''[This new approach] has increased the average conversion efficiencies of our best monocrystalline PV cells to 18% - well above the industry average of 14% to 15%. At the same time, we have maintained the lowest cost production base relative to our peers,'' said Dr. Zhengrong Shi, Suntech's chairman and CEO.

Even more significantly, the finger process allows Suntech to get commercially acceptable levels of performance out of lower-grade and poor quality silicon wafers, the company says, claiming efficiencies in the neighborhood of 17% from silicon that other manufacturers would throw away or return.

"Suntech's PV cells and modules will generate higher watts of electricity, enabling Suntech to achieve higher incremental revenue with marginal incremental cost," said Shi.

The company's semiconductor finger technology, co-developed and owned together with the University of New South Wales in Australia, is intended to overcome limitations of the traditional industry standard screen printing process. Heavily doped semiconductor strips are built into the PV cell surface to more efficiently collect generated electrical charge without requiring the surface dead layer found in conventional screen printed cells.

The technology also potentially enables the company to reduce the number of traditional lines of metal contact strips on the top surface of PV cells, reducing shading from the sun, thereby potentially enabling the PV cell to generate even greater watts of electricity.

Suntech designs, develops, manufactures, and markets a variety of high quality, cost effective and environmentally friendly PV cells and modules for electric power applications in the residential, commercial, industrial, and public utility sectors.

Suntech's majority-owned subsidiary, MSK Corporation is one of Japan's largest PV manufacturers and one of the top-ranked companies in the building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) space.

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