DuPont is a leading supplier of materials and technology to the photovoltaic industry, and expects that overall sales of its family of products into the industry will exceed $1 billion by 2012.
Image Credit: DuPont
DuPont is investing $175 million at the Circleville, Ohio, site to complete a multi-phase expansion of high-performance DuPont™ Tedlar® PV2001 series oriented film production line. This investment adds to the $120 million in capacity expansions, announced last August, for raw materials used to make the film, bringing the total commitment of these two phases to $295 million.
Tedlar® films serve as the critical component of photovoltaic (PV) backsheets, providing long-term durability and performance for PV modules in all-weather conditions. DuPont expects the PV market to grow rapidly over the next several years, driving the demand for Tedlar® and other new materials that increase the lifetime and efficiency of solar cells and modules. Overall sales of company products into the PV industry are anticipated to exceed $1 billion by 2012.
"The photovoltaic market increasingly demands materials that enable modules to reliably deliver power for decades,” said Dave Miller, president – DuPont Electronics & Communications. "This major expansion underscores our commitment to maintaining DuPont leadership in the PV industry and specifically in the backsheet materials market for solar panels.”
The manufacturing steps for Tedlar® oriented film include producing vinyl fluoride (VF) monomer, which is converted into polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) polymer resins, and extruded into the Tedlar® film. DuPont plans to increase monomer and polymer resin capacity by more than 50 percent. Construction is under way for these new monomer and resin facilities at the DuPont Louisville, Ky., and Fayetteville, N.C., sites, respectively, and the facilities are scheduled to start up in mid-2010.
DuPont™ Tedlar® PVF films have been an essential component of photovoltaic backsheets for more than 25 years. Tedlar® is widely recognized as the industry standard due to its excellent strength, weather resistance, ultraviolet resistance and moisture barrier properties. As a result, Tedlar® enables solar modules to achieve long-life performance providing a long-term sustainable energy source for the marketplace. This results in improved economic returns for investments in solar energy projects and therefore a lower cost of solar electricity to consumers. Tedlar® films also are used in key applications for aerospace, construction and graphics arts because of their durability and weatherability.
DuPont™ Tedlar® PVF films are part of the broad and growing portfolio of products from DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions, which applies DuPont science and technology to support the dramatic growth of the photovoltaic industry globally. To learn more about DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions, visit http://photovoltaics.dupont.com.
