Hanergy Solar Acquires World's Leading CIGS Thin Film Solar Technology from MIASOLE

Wednesday, 18 September 2013, 21:35 HKT/SGT

Wide Applications of Flexible and Ultra-Light Weight CIGS Thin Film Technology
Well-Positioned to Large-Scale Commercial Production in the PRC Market

HONG KONG, Sept 18, 2013 - (ACN Newswire) - Hanergy Solar Group Limited ("Hanergy Solar" or "the Company", and its subsidiaries, "the Group"; stock code: 566.HK) is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiaries agreed to acquire from Hanergy Holding MiaSole's world's leading CIGS thin film solar technology, at a consideration of RMB 350 million (equivalent to approximately HK$444.5 million). The Group believes that the future development path for the solar power industry will centre on thin film technologies, and in particular, the CIGS thin film technologies which possess excellent potentials for increasing conversion efficiency and lower manufacturing costs.

Hanergy Solar has been committed to becoming global leader in CIGS thin film technologies. Subsequent to the acquisition of CIGS thin film technology from Solibro on 2 September, Hanergy again acquires the US-based MiaSole's global leading CIGS flexible thin film solar technology to further integrate and enhance CIGS technology. MiaSole CIGS thin film technology has distinct advantages of being flexible, light-weighted, and easily installed and thus is particularly suitable for distributed power generation projects such as Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) and Building Attached Photovoltaic (BAPV) projects. In addition, through localization, the Group expects continuous savings to be made in the production cycle and thus realize large-scale production and application of CIGS flexible thin film modules in the future.

MiaSole CIGS Flexible Thin Film Technology Will Give Strong Impetus to the Development of Hanergy Solar's technological competence

As the pioneer in commercial production and marketing of CIGS flexible thin film modules globally, MiaSole is extensively recognized as the leading global player dedicated to the research and mass production of CIGS flexible thin film modules. The acquisition of MiaSole's technology will give strong impetus to the business development of Hanergy Solar in the following three aspects:

1) Higher Conversion Efficiency and Lower Production Cost MiaSole has achieved CIGS thin film module conversion efficiency rate of 17.9% in the experimental setting, and reached 15.5% conversion efficiency rate for its standard size module (champion module certified by National Renewable Energy Laboratory in USA). For its large scale commercial production lines, the average conversion efficiency rate has reached 14.0%. Such rates are all among the highest conversion efficiency rates in the world. In particular, for its superior flexible thin film module range, the conversion efficiency has already reached 15.5%, also the highest in the world. Its key R&D team expects that the conversion efficiency could reach 18% in the near future. While continuously promoting conversion efficiency, MiaSole had adopted an aggressive cost reduction program that has seen its module production cost fall to a considerable level. Through large scale production in China, local sourcing of raw materials and implementation of synergetic strategies, the Group expects further savings to be made in the production cycle.

2) Flexible, Ultra-Light Weight CIGS Solar Modules Demonstrating Prominent Application Superiority MiaSole's CIGS flexible thin film technology has distinct advantages of being light-weighted, and can be easily installed on rooftops or building surfaces and thus is particularly suitable for Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) and Building Attached Photovoltaic (BAPV) projects. In addition to having the world's highest conversion efficiency for CIGS flexible thin film cells, its product is also cased in a durable, flexible cover that substantially reduces the weight of the solar module. Its completed installation weight measures 3.5kg/m2 which compares favorably to a standard poly-crystalline silicon module weight of around 20kg/m2. The ultra-light weight property is unique and solves multiple application issues including being able to be laid onto roof-tops without structures, use of adhesives for attachment greatly reducing potential damage by strong winds, eliminating the need to penetrate the roof structures, easing installation procedures and saving on construction time and costs.

3) World's Exclusive CIGS Flexible Thin Film Modules Which Could Be Put Into Mass Production MiaSole possesses the world's leading CIGS flexible thin film technology that has entered into successful commercial production. MiaSole has already shipped more than 80MW of its modules, including the CIGS modules on flexible substrates, to over 30 customers in 5 continents. Its products have been well received and its customers include global leading companies like e.on, GDF Suez and Chevron. The Group expects to fully leverage this market position and reputation with mass production capability in Chinese manufacturing environment to increase its scale of production.

Global CIGS Technology Integration to Create a New Era of Solar Power Production and Application

With the acquisition of MiaSole's CIGS thin film technology, the Group is now equipped with two mainstream CIGS technologies, namely the co-evaporation manufacturing process adopted by Solibro and Sputtering manufacturing process adopted by MiaSole, and is well positioned to create the world's leading CIGS flexible thin film technology going forward.

On 30 August, the National Energy Administration issued "Notification of Developing Distributed PV Power Generation Demonstration Areas", which confirmed that the distributed PV power generation will be given a standard subsidy of RMB0.42 per kWh, identifying eighteen demonstration projects. Such policy guarantees economic feasibility for personal or enterprises' participation in distributed PV power generation. Given the promising industry trend, Mr. Frank Mingfang Dai, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hanergy Solar, commented "It is clear that distributed power generation will be the mainstay of China's solar power industry's future development. Flexible thin film technology will for sure capture most of this new booming solar market due to its much wider applicability in solar market. The Group can now use the technology knowhow from MiaSole to further develop a product line that excels in realizing a high conversion efficiency at a low production cost that has multiple application uses to suit the market needs. Furthermore, assisted by the strong support from the Government through affirmed feed-in tariffs and subsidies, the Group is well positioned at all times to capture the fast growing flexible thin film solar power market."

Topic: Press release summary Sectors: Daily Finance, Energy, Alternatives, Daily News
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