Intel's third move in solar with Voltaix investment

BRANCHBURG, USA: Voltaix, a leading provider of materials that enhance the performance of semiconductor chips and solar cells, announced that it has received $12.5 million in financing from Intel Capital, the global investment arm of Intel Corporation. The investment will accelerate the company's manufacturing capacity expansion.

Voltaix manufactures electronic chemicals and gases used in ‘front-end’ semiconductor manufacturing processes at leading integrated circuit fabs worldwide. The company is also a market leader in the supply of CVD precursors for production of advanced photovoltaic cells.

“We have provided critical materials for semiconductor and thin film solar applications for more than twenty-five years,” said Dr. John P. de Neufville, president of Voltaix and an early contributor to amorphous materials research. “We believe that thin film solar cell production, particularly products that can support Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV), is poised for significant expansion. This financing will help enable us to construct a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility to meet growing demand for thin film energy technologies.”

“Materials innovation is critical to enabling new capabilities in semiconductor device manufacturing,” said Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital and Intel executive vice president. “Our financing of Voltaix is part of Intel Capital’s manufacturing strategy to foster innovation around integrated circuit manufacturing and complementary cleantech areas such as thin film photovoltaics.”

According to Deutsche Bank estimates, production of thin film photovoltaics (using amorphous silicon, CdTe and CIGS technologies) will increase more than four-fold between 2007 and 2010. Yole Development estimates that the market segment for thin film photovoltaics will reach $6.7 billion by 2015.

Earlier this month, Intel Capital had invested € 24 million in Sulfurcell, a leading German developer and manufacturer of thin-film, electricity-generating solar modules. Prior to that, in the middle of June, Intel spun off key assets of a start-up business effort inside Intel's New Business Initiatives group to form an independent company called SpectraWatt Inc. Intel Capital was leading a $50 million investment round in SpectraWatt.