Tokyo Electron (TEL) has reached an agreement with Sharp Corp. to establish a joint venture to commercialize plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) systems for thin-film silicon solar PV.
The systems, the companies say, will be developed by combining TEL's experience in vacuum plasma technology for semiconductor and flat-panel display production equipment with Sharp's thin-film silicon PV cell production technology.
The development of the equipment will be carried out by the joint venture financed by TEL and Sharp. The manufacturing and sales of the equipment will be conducted solely by TEL, with the first shipments planned for 2009.
