NST Places World’s Largest Solar PV Equipment Order for 2009

Renova Group and the Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies (Rusnano) recently formed a joint venture company, Nano Solar Technology Ltd. (NST). Oerlikon Solar has just announced that the new company, NST, has placed an order for a 120 MW Micromorph line which will be used to engineer thin film solar panels.

The order marks the largest equipment order by any one company for the thin film PV market at present for 2009. Oerlikon predicted that the solar equipment NST ordered will produce a yield of one million PV solar modules a year.

The eqiuppment order calls for Oerlikon Solar to provide their Micromorph technology for the the line. The technology is designed to increase panel efficiency at up to 50% greater than previous PV module manufacturing technologies. 

The Micromorph technology will be delivered in 2010 to the location for the production plant in Novocheboksarsk (Chuvash Republic). NST is expected to begin production of the modules by 2010.

The terms of the contract also provide for a multiple year service agreement with Oerlikon Solar. Oerlikon Solar employs a global customer service department for the servicing end of their contracts. Rusnano has also announced that they will be developing a research centre that will provide additional information for increase production efficiency for PV solar modules. Rusnano will team up with Physical Technical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences to build the research centre.