Economy of scale is being brought to solar panel manufacturing tools: "Applied Materials has signed an agreement to buy Applied Films for $464 million, a move that puts the world's biggest maker of semiconductor manufacturing equipment into the energy business.
Longmont, Colo.-based Applied Films specializes in equipment for physical vapor deposition--complex machines for layering thin, uniform layers of materials onto surfaces. Solar panel manufacturers, LCD makers and producers of energy efficient glass buy equipment from Applied."
The acquisition underscores Silicon Valley's growing interest in alternative energy. In 2005, the amount of silicon used in solar panels exceeded the amount used in semiconductors, according to Nick Parker, founder of the Cleantech Venture Network. Several VC firms such as Mohr Davidow Ventures have plunked money into energy start-ups.
The same way high horse feed prices triggered invention and manufacturing of bicycles, high energy prices stimulate development of scalable manufacturing tools for solar panel production. It would be interesting to see if this technology domain follows Moore's law: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law
If it does, we are about to witness a major technology and business shifts in the energy industry.
tags: scale poly tool control efficiency problem
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