Air Products (NYSE:APD) today announced it has signed a turnkey gas supply contract to provide its SunSource Solutions liquid bulk and specialty gases, related gas distribution equipment, and engineering services to DuPont Apollo (Shenzhen) Limited at its new amorphous silicon thin-film photovoltaic (PV) facility in GuangMing New District, Shenzhen, China.
The contract includes the long-term supply of nitrogen, hydrogen, argon, oxygen and specialty gases, such as silane, as well as phosphine mixtures and other dopant gases. Air Products also has installed complete gas distribution systems from its source containers to the point of use within DuPont's Shenzhen facility.
"Air Products is very excited to be working with DuPont. We believe our expertise and complete turnkey offerings will enable a fast ramp to meet DuPont's growth plans," said Corning Painter, Air Products' vice president and general manager, Global Electronics Division. "Our leading role in the semiconductor and TFT-LCD markets gives us an advantage in supporting the rapidly growing PV market and helping PV customers to reach grid parity sooner."
DuPont has long been a leading supplier of PV materials, primarily serving the crystalline silicon cell and module markets, and is building a new research center in Hong Kong and a manufacturing facility in Shenzhen to support the emerging amorphous silicon, thin-film PV market. As a leading supplier to the TFT-LCD and other electronics industries, Air Products is ideally suited to supply large PV fabs like DuPont's new facility.