Data storage major Moser Baer India will invest around $250 million over the next three years to set up the largest thin film fabrication facility in the country. Moser has signed US-based Applied Materials, a provider of nano manufacturing technology solutions for the electronics industry, as its technology partner for the project. According to a release issued by Moser to the BSE today, the fab is being set up to achieve new cost benchmarks, and will also enable the company to have a first-mover advantage in the manufacture of large area thin film modules.The investment should qualify for government incentives under the recently announced IT and semiconductor policy, the release added.Thin film solar modules are ideal for energy farms, rural applications and building integrated photovoltaic units. According to market estimates, thin film-based solar modules would see large emerging applications and a robust demand that is expected to grow 10-fold from 250 MW currently to 2 GW with a market size of $5 billion by 2010.Ravi Khanna, managing director, Moser Baer Photo Voltaic, said: "Leaders in the photovoltaic industry will emerge on the strengths of rapid scale up and technology differentiation. We believe that Moser Baer, with its experience in deposition technology and high-tech manufacturing, is poised to emerge as a global Leader in this rapidly growing market."The technology partnership will enable synergy between the company's manufacturing and technology strength, its European R&D lab and Applied Material's process and equipment development expertise. The combined capabilities bring scale economies to the industry by manufacturing thin film modules that are four times larger than current modules, making it a disruptive technology that provides a road map to sub-dollar per watt costs, it added.
