From a major operation in Europe to success in China; DEK Solar – as a world leading provider of screen printing equipment – play a crucial role in the PV supply chain. PES speaks to Alternative Energy Business Manager Darren Brown.
PES: Welcome back to the magazine, what’s your on-the-ground assessment of the state of the industry in 2011? Has business been good for you so far?
Darren Brown: 2011 started off as a record year with bookings well up for Q1, however we, like all equipment manufacturers experienced a definite slow down through Q2, and Q3 looks to be similar. Encouragingly, we are seeing signs of a pickup in Q4.
PES: What kind of obstacles stand in your way to further growth? And what steps are you taking to address these?
DB: The main obstacle at the moment is the current uncertainty in the marketplace with reductions of FIT’s across Europe. This has led to the reduction in demand for panels, which in turn has revealed a glut in the supply chain.
PES: When we last spoke, you were talking about the advances that Print on Print technology has facilitated. What has been the reaction from cell manufacturers?
DB: We are seeing that many manufacturers are confident that print on print can give them considerable scope to increase their cell efficiencies, and even if they are not ready to implement this into mainstream production at the moment, they are ensuring that their new lines are ready for this technology.
