With the acquisition of the solar company STANGL Semiconductor Equipment AG in 2007, a foundation was laid to establish SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES in the growing photovoltaics market. Numerous new products were developed and made marketable at SINGULUS and STANGL, and as from 2010 SINGULUS will pursue an expansion strategy in the solar segment. In the future the product range will not be limited to individual machines and plants: SINGULUS will increasingly advance towards becoming a solution supplier.
2010: a new dawn for solar
Solar energy is increasingly emancipating itself from governmental incentive programmes and start-up financing and moving rapidly towards net parity. In addition to photovoltaics (PV) this also includes CSP (Concentrating Solar Power) power plants (such as the DESERTEC project in the Sahara, for example). Solar heating also continues to play an important role. The global PV industry was caught in a crisis at the end of 2008, which has only slowly been resolved. After its booming years, the solar market slowed to zero growth in 2009, and since the beginning of 2009 prices for solar panels have declined by 30-40 %.
The German and European cell manufacturers are under massive pressure and due to international competition they are forced to reduce production costs significantly. In contrast, consumers benefit from this favourable price trend. Accordingly, consumer investments into solar technology have increased substantially since the second half of 2009.
Solar at SINGULUS – transition from a machine supplier to a system provider
In the Solar segment SINGULUS and STANGL are cooperating with leading cell manufacturers in the development of new technologies and new plant concepts for improved cell concepts with higher efficiency and production technologies with decreasing production costs. The company’s target is to position itself at the forefront of the introduction of new technologies with respect to silicon as well as thin film solar technology. In the coming years SINGULUS will present a broad product range of new machines for the photovoltaics industry and offer manufacturers of both silicon and thin film cells new production technologies with particular cost advantages. Especially during times of cost pressures in the photovoltaics market, the interest regarding new plant concepts increases.
