Intevac Announces Record Order for ENERGi™ Solar Implant Systems

Intevac, Inc. announced the receipt of an order for 12 ENERGi™ ion implant systems for advanced solar cell manufacturing. A record solar order for Intevac’s Thin-film Equipment business, this follow-on order enables over 1GW (gigawatt) of high-efficiency solar cell capacity expansion by the same customer in China that had ordered two systems in 2016.

“The industry is beginning its transition to higher-efficiency solar cells, which reduce the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE),” commented Wendell Blonigan, president and chief executive officer of Intevac. “Securing this record solar order from a leading cell manufacturer in China validates the capability and value proposition of our implant technology for high-efficiency solar cell manufacturing, and demonstrates continued and meaningful progress in our Thin-film Equipment growth strategy.”

“Our customer’s capacity expansion of high-efficiency bi-facial solar cells incorporates our ion implant source technology as a key enabler in achieving higher-efficiency N-type solar cells,” said Chris Smith, vice president of business development for Intevac’s Thin-film Equipment business. “Over the past several months, we have collaborated with our customer to optimize the cell efficiency and drive for an overall lower cost-of-ownership to enable this advanced cell design.”

The first two ENERGi systems were ordered in the second quarter of last year and shipped in the second half of 2016. The 12 follow-on systems are scheduled to ship in the second half of 2017, with revenue recognition dependent on the timing of customer sign-off. Company management will provide an update to fiscal 2017 revenue guidance during its first-quarter results conference call scheduled for May 1, 2017.