A leader in the optical storage media space, Moser Baer India, today said that its wholly-owned subisidiary, Moser Baer Photo Voltaic (MBPV), has commenced commercial shipment of its solar photovoltaic (PV) cells.MBPV further announced it has firm customer orders and MoUs exceeding $100 million (around Rs 410 crore).Additionally, the state of the art fully integrated in-line cell manufacturing facility has started producing photovoltaic cells at expected level of output with cell efficiency levels up to 15.5%.The company, which plans to make an aggressive entry into the PV business by manufacturing solar cells and modules, is targeting a capacity of 80 MW by end-2007. The initial project cost is estimated to be Rs 260 crore ($58 million). Moser Baer has invested Rs 112 crore ($25 million) in MBPV.Ravi Khanna, CEO, MBPV, said: "The in-line high yield systems are critical for rapid deployment of solar power in large scale and volumes. The response for our product has been encouraging and we have queries/orders from customers based out of America, Europe, South Asia." He further said the company is on track to implement a 20MW module making capacity in the forthcoming quarter.MBPV plans to straddle multiple future technologies and emerge as an engineering and technology-driven company. It is decisively responding to the rapidly expanding solar PV market. MBPV is moving towards technological leadership in this industry and intends to develop a sustainable competitive edge by investing into disruptive technologies. The global photovoltaic market is on a high growth curve - sales are expected to grow over six times to touch $40 billion by 2010.
