Energy News  
Spire Semiconductor Announces Solar Concentrator Cells

-
by Staff Writers
Bedford MA (SPX) Jan 24, 2008
Spire announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Spire Semiconductor, will provide dedicated, large-scale contract design and manufacturing capabilities to manufacturers of solar concentrator cells within its 50,000 square foot facility in Hudson, New Hampshire.

Spire Semiconductor develops and manufactures custom high-efficiency gallium arsenide (GaAs) solar cells and specializes in high-end wafer epitaxy, foundry services, thin film products, and device fabrication for the defense, biomedical, telecommunications and consumer products markets.

"We want manufacturers and system integrators to know that they have a strong partner in Spire Semiconductor," said Roger G. Little, Spire's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "That's why we developed this Captive Custom Capacity initiative that leverages our decades of experience and state-of-the-art facilities. We now can offer our partners the benefits of an optimized design and manufacturing process with the potential for large-scale contract production based on their individual needs."

Spire Semiconductor operates a complete compound semiconductor device fabrication line focused on the fabrication of custom devices, as well as development, prototyping, pilot production and volume manufacturing. Custom and production wafer processing capabilities at Spire Semiconductor range from prototype development to full production and include photolithographic processing of III-V cell structures and deposition of broadband, dual-layer AR coatings. Spire Semiconductor maintains more than 50MW of expandable capacity on multiple Veeco E450 LDM, Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) reactors in state-of-the-art clean-room space.

"Our extensive MOCVD experience and capabilities enable us to grow a wide variety of GaAs and InP epitaxial structures," said Edward D. Gagnon, general manager of Spire Semiconductor. "Throughout our history, we've recognized that time-to-market is critical to our customers' success and with this new initiative, we have committed to providing the fastest turnaround times possible. With decades of experience in the field, our epitaxy engineers work closely with customers to assure that every wafer meets their expectations."

Spire's original optoelectronics division was an early pioneer in using GaAs for both concentrator solar arrays and space system solar cells. Spire developed and fabricated GaAs solar cells with record levels of efficiency as early as 1985. It has recently been awarded research contracts from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Energy and the Air Force to develop advanced GaAs cells for both terrestrial and outer space applications and is offering its custom solar-cell solutions to solar system integrators around the world.

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Related Links
Spire
All About Solar Energy at SolarDaily.com



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


TrendSetter Solar Products Increases Importation Of Its Evacuated Tube Solar Hot Water Collectors In 2008
Fairhaven CA (SPX) Jan 24, 2008
TrendSetter Solar Products announced it is stepping up importation of its new Evacuated Tube Solar Hot Water Collectors into the United States. The Company received the first full twenty-foot container of its new collector in the U.S. last week. The new evacuated tube collector has begun to ship to projects primarily based on the West Coast.







  • Analysis: Brazil strikes gas again
  • China, India among worst environmental performers: study
  • Europe's polluters warn of high price for EU green plan
  • EU sets national renewable energy targets for 2020

  • Outside View: Russia-Bulgaria energy moves
  • France's Areva ready to bid for two reactors in South Africa
  • Slovakia to seek tenders for new nuclear capacity
  • Record number of Swedes favour expanding nuclear power: poll

  • New Model Revises Estimates Of Terrestrial Carbon Dioxide Uptake
  • A Breathable Earth
  • Researchers Find Origin Of Breathable Atmosphere Half A Billion Years Ago
  • Study Reveals Lakes A Major Source Of Prehistoric Methane

  • Forests Could Benefit When Fall Color Comes Late
  • China to plant 2.5 billion trees: report
  • Rwanda's Gishwati Forest Selected As Site For Historic Conservation Project
  • PM pledges one billion dollars for struggling mining, forestry towns

  • Thousands Of Crop Varieties From Four Corners Of The World Depart For Arctic Seed Vault
  • New Method For Producing High-Vitamin Corn Could Improve Nutrition In Developing Countries
  • German farmers cultivate ways to fight global warming
  • WWF cries 'scandal' over French plans for fish quotas

  • Ultrabattery Sets New Standard For Hybrid Electric Cars
  • Green car sales soar 49 percent in Sweden: agency
  • Renault to offer a 'green' Dacia Logan by 2010: report
  • Germans, Japanese automakers push diesel in the US

  • Qatar Airways looking to natural gas fuel
  • EADS offers to build military, civilian aircraft in US
  • Purdue Wind Tunnel Key For Hypersonic Vehicles And Future Space Planes
  • Antarctic ballooning hits milestone

  • Nuclear Power In Space - Part 2
  • Outside View: Nuclear future in space
  • Nuclear Power In Space

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement