STION NEWSLETTER, FALL 2011

FEATURE

The New Face of Stion Online
We are proud to announce that we have launched our new website at www.stion.com. Here you will find information on our technology, products, projects and company to keep you informed of all current and upcoming announcements. We are excited about the future of our industry and hope you return often to see how we plan to become a leader in the solar industry.

 

INDUSTRY NEWS

U.S. Solar Industry Grows 69% and Hits Employment High in Q2, 2011
The U.S. solar energy industry continued its rapid growth through the second quarter of this year, gaining a greater share of the total global market according to GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)'s latest quarterly U.S. Solar Market Insight report.

The U.S. solar photovoltaic market installed 314MW in the second quarter, 69% more than the same period last year and 17% more than the first quarter of 2011. The U.S. remains poised to install 1,750MW of PV in 2011, double last year's total and enough to power 350,000 homes.

"The second quarter data illustrates that the U.S. solar industry continues to be one of the fastest growing in America," said Rhone Resch, president and CEO of SEIA. "More than 100,000 Americans are employed in solar, twice as many as in 2009. They work at more than 5,000 companies - the vast majority being small businesses - across all 50 states."

The utility and commercial market segments grew 37% and 22% respectively in the second quarter, and the residential segment, installed 60MW.

 

WHAT'S NEW AT STION

Stion Holds Ribbon-Cutting for Hattiesburg, MS Factory   
On September 16th, Stion held a grand opening for its new solar panel factory in Hattiesburg, Mississippi hosted by Governor Haley Barbour and other state and local officials. The facility is the first thin-film solar panel factory in the Southeastern US, and one of the largest solar manufacturing facilities in the country.  Over 200 people in all attended the event.

The first phase of the factory is a 100+ megawatt (MW) production line which will create 200 direct jobs.  In just nine months, Stion has hired 100 people locally already and made tremendous progress on construction with the help of local construction contractors such as Knepp, Doleac and Hidalgo.  

“I am proud that in six years' time, 1,000 Mississippians will be producing Stion's innovative thin-film solar panels in Hattiesburg,” said Governor Barbour.

“The construction effort in MS has been a true testament to the world-class manufacturing resources available here,” said Brad Miles, Stion’s VP of Manufacturing Operations.  “We look forward to continued expansion of the plant with the full engagement of the local community.” 

We would like to thank Stion’s construction partners, and organizations such as Pearl River Community College and the University of Southern Mississippi which have helped drive critical hiring and training initiatives.  Additionally, a number of local organizations also assisted with various aspects of the event, including the Area Development Partnership, Hattiesburg Clinic, Wesley Medical Center, The First Bank, Hancock Bank, Magnolia State Bank, Forrest General Hospital, Mississippi Power Company, Mac's Construction, and the Courtyard by Marriot.

 “To invest $100 million and hire 100 employees in less than 12 months in this economy is astounding,” Area Development Partnership President Chad Newell said. “These are incredibly exciting times and we were glad to have the company executives in town over the last couple of days.”

 

TECHNOLOGY TODAY

New Efficiency Record-14.1%
The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has verified 14.1% efficiency for Stion’s production-scale (65 cm x 165 cm) thin-film circuits.  This is the highest efficiency ever demonstrated for a monolithically integrated thin-film circuit at production scale. 

Stion recently demonstrated a 14.1% production-scale (65 cm x 165 cm) thin-film circuit verified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory which represents a new high for monolithically integrated thin-film technologies.  Not only do these new products leverage Stion’s extensive materials, device and process expertise, they utilize a scalable approach to manufacturing and simple, low-cost product design to provide an exciting roadmap for thin-film technology. 

“Exceeding 14% efficiency at production scale represents a significant advancement for CIGS-based thin-film technologies,” said Chet Farris, Stion’s President and CEO. “Manufacturing high-efficiency, large-area CIGS modules with an inherently low cost structure and repeatable, scalable process is critical to driving the fundamental product economics.”

 “This is a truly outstanding result and we congratulate Stion on its tremendous progress,” said Rommel Noufi, the lead researcher for thin-film solar cells at NREL. “Achieving 14.1% efficiency over a large area is indicative of the exceptional process control and uniformity delivered by Stion’s technology, and also speaks to the continued improvement potential for CIGS-based technologies to meet the Department of Energy SunShot goal to make solar energy technologies cost-competitive with other forms of energy in a decade.

The team behind 14.1% from left to right: Howard Lee, Rajiv Pethe, Dennis Willett, Supriya Goyal, Robert Wieting, Laila Dounas, Kannan Ramanathan, Katherine Zak, Rick Wickam, Ravi Nandan