-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- smt007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueBox Build
One trend is to add box build and final assembly to your product offering. In this issue, we explore the opportunities and risks of adding system assembly to your service portfolio.
IPC APEX EXPO 2024 Pre-show
This month’s issue devotes its pages to a comprehensive preview of the IPC APEX EXPO 2024 event. Whether your role is technical or business, if you're new-to-the-industry or seasoned veteran, you'll find value throughout this program.
Boost Your Sales
Every part of your business can be evaluated as a process, including your sales funnel. Optimizing your selling process requires a coordinated effort between marketing and sales. In this issue, industry experts in marketing and sales offer their best advice on how to boost your sales efforts.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - smt007 Magazine
ATS Opens Canada's First Solar Energy Manufacturing Facility
June 24, 2004 |Estimated reading time: 1 minute
Cambridge, Ontario, Canada — ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. has opened Canada's first full-scale solar cell manufacturing plant and unveiled its revolutionary new photovoltaic technology that will soon be produced in commercial quantities from the highly automated 193,000 sq ft facility located in this southwestern Ontario city.
ATS's Spheral Solar Power (SSP) technology was developed in Canada in large part using Canadian engineering and scientific expertise, and is considered a major breakthrough for the estimated $3.4 billion global solar photovoltaic industry.
ATS expects its Spheral Solar technology will accelerate the adoption of solar energy by consumer and commercial users and open new mainstream applications because it can be manufactured cost-effectively and the resulting solar cells are pliable, lightweight, durable and can be produced in a variety of colors that suit seamless integration with traditional building materials.
With support from Technologies Partnerships Canada, SSP's current development plans will result in the creation of 200 jobs and the investment of more than $100 million in the Canadian economy by the end of calendar 2005.
According to industry forecasts, demand for solar energy will increase at 25 percent per annum through 2010 driven by growing power consumption, the requirement for distributed generation, and government incentives.ATS announced it intended to commercialize Spheral Solar technology in July 2002 and received funding from Technologies Partnerships Canada for up to $29.5 million to support SSP's development.
ATS has begun to optimize the 26 individual production processes that are housed in the factory and SSP is expected to begin shipping products this summer. The launch will also enable SSP to distribute samples to the more than 50 companies worldwide that are waiting to evaluate the technology. The factory is designed to be easily scalable when additional production capacity is required.
ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. is the industry's leading designer and producer of turn-key automated manufacturing and test systems, which are used primarily by multinational corporations operating in a variety of industries including automotive, computer/electronics, healthcare and consumer products. For more information, visit www.atsautomation.com.