Spire to Engineer One of South Korea’s Most Advanced Turnkey Solar Manufacturing Lines
Spire Corporation (Nasdaq: SPIR), a global solar company providing turnkey solar factories and capital equipment to manufacture photovoltaic modules, cells, and wafers worldwide, today announced that it has received a contract from Dongyang Creditech Co. Ltd. located in South Korea to provide a photovoltaic module assembly line.
Spire will provide Dongyang with a semi-automated crystalline cell module manufacturing line capable of producing up to 12 megawatts (MW) of solar modules per year. Spire will supply the process technology and training to operate the factory. The line is designed to be easily doubled at a later date and will integrate Spire’s key assembly, lamination, and testing machines along with intermediate tooling stations.
According to a recent report from the South Korean Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy, South Korea is poised to enter the global solar market with domestically produced modules. Exports of solar-power related equipment have recently begun and have already risen from $45 million in 2006 to more than $180 million in 2007. This is projected to increase to $1.5 billion by 2020 and to more than $6.3 billion by 2030. Government projections also indicate that South Korea will generate some 4 gigawatts (GW) of electricity through solar power by 2020.
“The South Korean solar market is in the early stages of a capacity boom, and we are pleased to partner with Dongyang Creditech to be a part of this dramatic growth,” said Roger G. Little, Chairman and CEO of Spire Corporation. “Domestic solar manufacturing will be critical in meeting this demand. In markets throughout the world, Spire continues to be the preferred supplier to new module manufacturers as they enter the solar business.”
Mr. Dongkyu Choi, Chairman and CEO of Dongyang Creditech said, “We are pleased to have awarded this contract to Spire Corporation. We were attracted to their superior equipment and line design, as well as their engineering and support services. We are confident that we will have a factory that will meet our solar manufacturing needs from start up, through future expansions.”
About Dongyang Creditech Co. Ltd.
Dongyang Creditech was founded in 1973 in South Korea and has been listed under the South Korea stock market, KOSDAQ (Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) since 2002. Dongyang Creditech provides components for liquid crystal display (LCD) and cathode-ray tube (CRT) displays in Asia and Europe and conducts research and development in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology. With the support of Spire Corporation since 2007, Dongyang Creditech has entered the solar energy manufacturing business worldwide.
About Spire Corporation
Spire Corporation is a global solar company providing turnkey production lines and capital equipment to manufacture photovoltaic modules worldwide. Spire Semiconductor develops and manufactures custom gallium arsenide solar cells and other related products for the commercial, biomedical and defense markets. The company’s Spire Biomedical subsidiary is a leader in hemodialysis catheters and implantable device processing service.
For corporate or product information, contact Spire Corporation, “the turnkey solar factory company,” at 781-275-6000, or visit www.spirecorp.com.
Certain matters described in this news release may be forward-looking statements subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risk of dependence on market growth, competition and dependence on government agencies and other third parties for funding contract research and services, as well as other factors described in the Company’s Form 10-KSB and other periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.