Under the new agreement, LNS will supply silane and ammonia gas, both critical materials in the fabrication of Bosch’s photovoltaic (PV) cells.
Bosch operates three manufacturing facilities in the Erfurt/Arnstadt area applying both crystalline and thin film silicon technologies. When automated, the crystalline facilities will have an overall capacity of 630MW. Linde is the main gas technology supplier to all of the production lines.
Taking into account Bosch Solar Energy’s and Masdar’s thin-film plant, the overall capacity of the Erfurt solar cluster is more than 300MW and is projected to reach at least 700MW by 2012.
Andreas Guenther, president of LNS, said: “Linde’s technology leadership in high-efficiency gases for PV manufacturing and our ability to provision these safely, has helped us bolster our collaboration with Bosch Solar Energy. We value the opportunity to support Bosch’s capacity expansion and partner in the establishment of Erfurt/Arnstadt as an important PV manufacturing site in Europe.”
