January 26, 2010

A More Flexible Way to Harvest the Sun

By Michael Arndt

Xunlight
Xunming Deng and Liwei Xu

Xunming Deng and Liwei Xu left Nanchang, China, 25 years ago to begin graduate studies at the University of Chicago—Deng in physics and Xu, his wife, in chemistry. Though both had 10 years of English instruction and were outstanding students—each was awarded an all-expenses scholarship—neither had ever set foot in the U.S. before. What they’ve accomplished since receiving their PhDs may be more exceptional: They’ve established a green-energy company in Toledo, Ohio, in the middle of America’s struggling automotive manufacturing belt. Moreover, their solar-panel startup, Xunlight, is making products different from most others on the market. Conventional solar panels are rigid and relatively heavy. Xunlight’s are flexible and lightweight, which means they should be easier to install and could work in more settings. Deng, 46, and Xu, 45, founded their company in 2002, when both were professors at the University of Toledo. They licensed their technology, which they had helped develop, from the university. Xu then put her grant-writing skills to use to get money. She got $100,000 from the Small Business Innovation Research program in 2003, which allowed the couple to outfit an office and hire a couple of students. Since then, Xunlight has received $29.6 million more in government grants and loans and $42.5 million from venture capital funds in the U.S. and Europe. CEO Deng has invested much of that to equip a factory that can coat thin sheets of stainless steel with sunlight-capturing silicon film. The plant now has the annual capacity to make panels capable of generating 25 megawatts of electricity, enough for 25,000 homes. Xunlight, which is up to 110 employees, has sold gear for a few test sites, including a billboard in New York’s Times Square. Pending a seal of approval from Underwriters Laboratories, it could enter the commercial market by early April.

January 11, 2010

Xunlight Awarded $34.5 Million Tax Credit

Toledo, Ohio – January 11, 2010 - Xunlight Corporation, a leader in the design, development and manufacture of flexible and lightweight thin-film silicon solar modules, announced today that it has been awarded a $34.5 million tax credit as part of the U.S. Recovery Act. This Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit, awarded through partnership with the United States Department of Treasury and Department of Energy, was designed to encourage taxpayers to re-equip, expand or establish manufacturing facilities for the production of certain energy related property. As an innovative manufacturer of advanced thin-film solar modules and module manufacturing equipment, Xunlight Corporation is a qualified recipient of the clean energy manufacturing tax credit.

The tax credits were awarded based upon a number of criteria, including commercial viability, job creation, technological innovation, speed to completion and environmental factors. In 2009, Xunlight completed the installation of its first 25MW roll-to-roll PECVD solar cell production equipment and has outlined a detailed plan to expand its production capacity to 100MW over the next several years. This Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit will be an integral piece in helping the company achieve large scale commercialization in a cost effective manner.

“Xunlight would like to express its appreciation to the Department of Energy and the Department of Treasury for this manufacturing tax credit,” stated Dr. Xunming Deng, Chief Executive Officer of Xunlight Corporation. “It will provide tremendous financial assistance to the company as we embark on the next stage of our growth.”

October 26, 2009

Xunlight Appoints Chief Financial Officer

Toledo, Ohio – October 26, 2009 – Xunlight Corporation, a leader in the development of low-cost and flexible thin-film silicon solar modules, today announced the appointment of David Swank as the Company’s Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

Mr. Swank joins Xunlight as a seasoned business professional with nearly 30 years of experience. Before joining Xunlight, Mr. Swank served as a member of the Board of Directors and Chief Financial Officer at Diomed Holdings, Inc., a publicly-traded developer of medical laser systems. Mr. Swank’s prior experience also includes Chief Financial Officer at Telxon Corporation, a publicly-traded global manufacturer of mobile computing systems; Regional Controller, Asia/Pacific at PepsiCo Foods International; and Audit Manager at Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Company (currently KPMG), an international big four accounting firm.

“While we continue to build our company and our management team, we are fortunate to have David join us as our CFO to help position Xunlight to become a large-scale solar module manufacturer”, said Xunming Deng, Xunlight’s President and CEO. “David’s experience in both entrepreneurial and Fortune 50 companies will be extremely important to establish a strong financial foundation to support our future growth.”

During his career, Mr. Swank has raised over $150 million in both public and private transactions and participated in numerous M&A transactions from $10 million to over $1.3 billion. Mr. Swank earned a BS in Business Administration in the honors accounting program at The Ohio State University and an MBA with a concentration in finance at Southern Methodist University.

“Xunlight is at a very exciting time in its development as it transitions from an R&D organization to a fully commercialized business,” added Mr. Swank. “Dr. Deng has put together a world class team to commercialize this cutting edge clean energy technology and I’m very pleased to be joining them.”

December 22, 2008

Xunlight Receives $7 Million Loan from the State of Ohio

Toledo, Ohio – December 22, 2008 – Xunlight Corporation, a leader in the development of flexible and lightweight thin-film silicon solar modules, announced that it has received a $7 million loan from the State of Ohio, including $3 million from the Ohio Research and Development Investment Fund and $4 million from the Ohio Enterprise Bond Fund. The proceeds will be used to expedite the construction of a 25 megawatt photovoltaic production line in Toledo, Ohio to mass produce flexible thin-film solar cells.

“Xunlight is fortunate to be headquartered in a state where the top elected officials are committed to supporting the renewable energy industry and sustained job growth. Both Lt. Governor Fisher and Ohio Treasurer Cordray have visited Xunlight and shared with us their visions of Ohio’s future in solar manufacturing. Strong support like this is critical to Xunlight’s ability to attract institutional investments from leading venture capital and private equity firms all over the world”, said Xunming Deng, CEO of Xunlight. “This new loan will help us accelerate the build-up of our production capacity and create many high-paying jobs in the State of Ohio.”

“We believe the greatest opportunities for economic growth in Ohio lie where the strongholds of our inventive past intersect with the innovation and new technologies of our economic future,” said Lt. Governor Lee Fisher. “Xunlight is a great collaborative partner with the state and we are committed to their success by continuing to support advanced energy economic development programs in Ohio.”

“Small businesses with innovative vision like Xunlight are the engine of Ohio’s economy,” said Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray. “It’s critical that we work to keep them here and encourage growth and development today, in order to secure a stronger Ohio tomorrow. The Enterprise Bond Fund is a perfect example of government working together to keep Ohio jobs here in Ohio. Issuing bonds for the Department of Development to fund visionary ventures like this, is a vital role for the Ohio Treasury.”

September 22, 2009

Xunlight Completes Installation of First PV Array

Toledo, Ohio – September 22, 2009 - Xunlight Corporation, a leader in the design, development and manufacture of flexible and lightweight thin-film silicon solar modules, announced today that it has completed the installation of its first array of large-area flexible solar panels for its first commercial customer. The modules installed in the PV Solar Array were manufactured in Xunlight’s proprietary 25 Megawatt (MW) wide-web roll-to-roll PECVD production equipment. This photovoltaic system, with a nominal peak power output of 10KW, was installed at University of Toledo’s Scott Park Campus of Energy and Innovation by Xunlight’s systems installation team and is feeding power back into Toledo’s electrical grid. This array is comprised of a series of 3 feet by 18 feet lightweight and rollable panels, which enabled fast installation at low cost.

Additionally, Xunlight’s effort in commercializing its unique wide-web roll-to-roll technology for the production of flexible and lightweight solar panels was recognized with the Global Cleantech 100 Award by Guardian News and Media and Cleantech Group, LLC. Supported by the Carbon Trust, the Global Cleantech 100 highlights the most promising privately-held clean technology companies from around the world. These companies are at the forefront of cleantech innovation offering solutions to some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Details of the Global Cleantech 100 Award are available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/globalcleantech100.

August 24, 2009

Xunlight Delivers First Shipment of Flexible Solar Modules from 25MW Production Line

Toledo, Ohio – August 24, 2009 - Xunlight Corporation, the University of Toledo (UT), and the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) jointly announced today that Xunlight has delivered its first shipment of flexible and lightweight, triple-junction amorphous silicon solar modules manufactured on its newly installed 25 Megawatt (MW) wide-web roll-to-roll PECVD production line. This shipment of modules is part of a 10KW solar array to be installed at UT’s Scott Park Campus of Energy and Innovation (SPCEI).

Xunlight Corporation, a technology spinoff from UT and a recipient of several ODOD grants, is a leader in the design, development and manufacture of flexible and lightweight thin-film silicon solar modules. This shipment of modules represents the first sale produced using its proprietary 25MW wide-web, roll-to-roll PV manufacturing equipment which is redefining the industry as a low-cost, high-throughput solution to large-scale solar cell production. The 25MW solar cell manufacturing equipment, a 200-feet long series of connected vacuum deposition chambers, uses a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process to deposit thin-film silicon solar cells on a 3ft wide, one-mile-long thin stainless steel substrate at a speed of 720-square feet per hour. This manufacturing process is inherently lower-cost and more productive than competing technologies, and is designed, developed and constructed by Xunlight Corporation.

“Our first sale and delivery of solar modules marks a significant milestone for Xunlight, and it is especially noteworthy that The University of Toledo is our first customer”, said Xunlight CEO Dr. Xunming Deng. “Our deep roots and strong relationship with both UT and ODOD have been instrumental in the development of our technology and the success of our company to date, and Xunlight is thankful for those important relationships.”

“This is a watershed moment for the University of Toledo as Xunlight, one of our technology spinoffs and a company developed in our Clean and Alternative Energy Incubator, has now reached commercialization. UT is proud of the accomplishments Dr. Deng and Xunlight have achieved and it’s a great honor to be the company’s first customer”, said UT President Dr. Lloyd Jacobs.

“Xunlight is an invaluable partner with the state in our aggressive work to foster the development and production of advanced energy technologies,” said Lisa Patt-McDaniel, Interim Director of the Ohio Department of Development. “We applaud Xunlight and Dr. Deng for this important achievement and we look forward to continuing our very successful public-private partnership.”

Recently, Xunlight has been highlighted in several global publications and media outlets including The Economist (Aug. 15, 2009), The New York Times (July 20, 2009) and Voice of America (July 28, 2009). To see these stories, please use the links below:

The Economist - http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14214855
The New York Times – http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/business/economy/21manufacture.html
Voice of America - http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-07-28-voa65.cfm

June 22, 2009

Xunlight Completes Installation of its First 25 Megawatt Wide-Web Roll-to-Roll Photovoltaic Manufacturing Equipment

Toledo, Ohio – June 22, 2009 - Xunlight Corporation, a leader in the design, development and manufacture of flexible and lightweight thin-film silicon solar modules, announced today that it has successfully completed the installation of its first 25 Megawatt (MW) wide-web, roll-to-roll photovoltaic manufacturing equipment for the production of high-efficiency thin-film silicon PV modules. This is the first of Xunlight’s full-scale production lines to be installed in its Toledo, Ohio facility.

Xunlight’s proprietary roll-to-roll PV manufacturing equipment is redefining the industry as a low-cost, high-throughput solution to large-scale solar cell production. The 25MW solar cell manufacturing equipment, a 200-feet long series of connected vacuum deposition chambers, uses a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process to deposit thin-film silicon solar cells on a 3ft wide, one-mile-long thin stainless steel substrate at a speed of 720-square feet per hour. This manufacturing process is inherently lower-cost and more productive than competing technologies, and is designed, developed and constructed by Xunlight Corporation.

The company has demonstrated continuous, uniform deposition of triple-junction thin-film silicon solar cells from this 25MW wide-web roll-to-roll production equipment. Xunlight plans to replicate three additional 25MW production lines by the end of 2010, to achieve 100MW capacity.

Since mid-2008, Xunlight has been optimizing its manufacturing process using a pilot production line, which also utilizes its proprietary roll-to-roll equipment with a 3ft wide web. Large-area solar modules produced in this pilot line have demonstrated 9.2% initial aperture-area efficiency, which, after extended light exposure, is expected to stabilize at 7.8% aperture-area module efficiency.

“For a company striving to become a low-cost producer of solar panels, having completed the development, design and construction of its first large-scale production equipment is undoubtedly a major milestone,” said Xunlight CEO Dr. Xunming Deng. “This important achievement would not be possible without the dedication and hard work of the Xunlight team, the commitment of our investors, and support from the State and federal government.”

“We commend Xunlight for their leadership and commitment to advancing solar power technology here in Ohio,” said Governor Ted Strickland. “Their efforts will help the state meet its renewable energy goals and create jobs in Ohio’s fast-growing energy sector. We are pleased the State of Ohio was able to play a major role in Xunlight’s success. The hundreds of high-paying jobs to be created at Xunlight in the next few years will contribute to our recovery effort and help stimulate Ohio’s economy.”

June 30, 2009

Toledo Tries to Overcome Rust-Belt Image, Become Green Jobs Metropolis

By Brooke Sopelsa

The glass is half full again in Toledo. The Ohio city once known as the glass-making capital of America is trying to forge a new identity as a solar energy, green jobs metropolis of the future.

“This is a very important growth sector for us,” says Rep. Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat, whose district includes Toledo. “We’re carving out a well-deserved reputation as a leading region for alternative energy research and manufacturing.”

While job growth in Ohio is down, green job growth in the state is up, according to a new study from Pew Charitable Trusts. According to the study, Ohio’s clean energy sector grew by 7.3 percent between 1998 and 2007, while the state’s overall job base fell by 2.2 percent during the same time.

“The idle manufacturing capacity that is spread across Rust Belt states really presents enormous opportunity to locate the manufacturing of these new clean energy goods, many of which are very similar in nature to things that were being built there previously,” says Benjamin Goldstein, a policy analyst at the Center for American Progress.
# Slideshow: Hottest States For Green Jobs

Toledo, which has an unemployment rate of 12 percent, more than a point higher than the state average and nearly three points higher than the national average, is hoping to become not just Ohio’s clean energy capital, but the country’s. The city, the state, the University of Toledo and local entrepreneurs are working together to make this a reality.

“We have about 6,000 people at the moment employed in 15 research and manufacturing institutions that are focused entirely upon solar energy,” says Toledo Mayor Marty Finkbeiner. “We would like to see over a decade that number grow from 6,000 to 20,000.”

The University of Toledo is one of the driving forces behind the city’s green makeover. In 2000, the university started looking at ways to support regional development, eventually deciding the best way was to develop a clean energy program, with a focus on solar energy.

“We wanted to establish one premiere area where we could be as good as anybody in the world,” says Dr. Frank Calzonetti, vice president of research development at the University of Toledo. “We picked one area where we wanted to build a very strong core of research that would lend itself to invention and also support technology development in our area.”

The University of Toledo has a long history with solar energy. In the 1980s, a glass expert and Ohio native by the name of Harold McMaster used his knowledge to create solar cells. He started a business at the university called Solar Cells, which more than a decade later became First Solar , now the largest manufacturer of thin-film solar cells in the world. Although the company is now headquartered in Tempe, Ariz., it has a manufacturing plant just outside Toledo that employees more than 700 people.

The university wanted to further what McMaster started more than two decades ago. In 2005, it started a clean and alternative energy business incubator, which has accounted for 130-plus jobs and nearly $8 million in payroll, according to university statistics. Then in 2006, the university launched the Wright Center for Photovoltaics, a university, industry and government collaboration focused on reducing solar costs, improving technologies and transferring knowledge from the labs to the production line.

The university currently has two big energy projects in development: the School of Solar and Advanced Renewable Energy and the Scott Park campus of Energy and Innovation, a physical campus dedicated to researching renewable, alternative and sustainable energies. The university is hoping to secure $75 million in federal stimulus funding for the projects, but they are not contingent on federal money.

One beneficiary of the University of Toledo’s clean energy initiatives is Xunlight, one of four graduates of the university’s business incubator program. Xunlight develops and manufactures solar panels that can be used for commercial and residential rooftops.

Over the past two years, the company has received $40 million in venture capital and has created 100 jobs. There are also 15 job openings on the company’s Web site—not bad in a city with a 12-percent unemployment rate. The company is expected to be profitable by 2010.

Dr. Xunming Deng, the company’s president and CEO, is also a professor of physics and electrical engineering at the university and directs the school’s Thin Film Silicon Photovoltaic Laboratory (though he is currently on a leave of absence).

Xunlight continues to have close ties to the university and Deng says he plans to keep the business rooted in Toledo—not out of obligation but because of the advantages of a Rust Belt location.

“There was an entire infrastructure here to build auto equipment, and now we’re taking advantage of that infrastructure that was underutilized to build solar equipment and make a solar industry,” says Deng.

Xunlight recently moved into a 120,000-sq. ft. space that had been vacant for more than three years, which it acquired for a “very, very attractive” price.

Another underutilized asset, says Deng, is the base of skilled workers. Brad Mohring, a mechanical engineer and Toledo-native, is a good example.

Mohring, 33, worked at the same Toledo-based auto parts supplier for 11 years before being laid off in 2006. Searching for a brighter future, he decided to take a job at Xunlight, which was willing to retrain former automotive and glass industry employees.

“I think the biggest change in this industry from what I was used to [in the auto industry] is the optimism,” says Mohring, an engineering manager at the company.

Using a fitting cliche to sum the current economic situation in Toledo and its hopes for the clean energy industry, Rep. Marcy Kaptur said “It’s always darkest before the dawn.”

May 26, 2009

Xunlight Announces Successful Demonstration of Wide-Web Roll-to-Roll Photovoltaic Manufacturing Process

Toledo, Ohio ­­– Xunlight Corporation, a leader in the development of flexible and lightweight thin-film silicon solar modules, announced today that it has successfully demonstrated its high-throughput, wide-web, roll-to-roll photovoltaic manufacturing process for the production of high-efficiency thin-film silicon PV modules.

Xunlight’s roll-to-roll manufacturing process allows the company to produce triple-junction thin-film silicon solar cells on rolls of thin stainless steel substrates, three feet wide and up to one mile long. The long stainless steel web is guided through a series of vacuum chambers for the deposition of nine semiconductor layers using a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process, and back-reflector and top electrode layers using a sputtering process. The combined thickness of the layers for the triple-junction solar cell is approximately one hundredth of the thickness of a typical sheet of paper. Therefore, only a small amount of silicon is used. .

Xunlight designed, developed, engineered, and built its own manufacturing equipment with the assistance of its academic partner, the University of Toledo’s Thin Film Silicon Photovoltaic Laboratory. The design, development, engineering and construction of Xunlight’s production equipment were made with its Series A and Series B private equity investments from four institutional investors: Emerald Technology Ventures, Trident Capital, NGP Energy Technology Partners, and Rabo Ventures, and with major grant awards from the State of Ohio’s Third Frontier Project, the US Department of Energy and the US Department of Commerce. Xunlight’s roll-to-roll manufacturing technology allows for much lower capital cost compared with the current state-of-the-art, enabling Xunlight to rapidly ramp up its production capacity in the near future.

Using its three-foot wide roll-to-roll manufacturing line, Xunlight has produced large area (3ft by 5ft and 3ft by 18ft) flexible PV modules. The 3ft by 5ft modules, measured with a Spire^® Solar Simulator (Spi-Sun Simulator 4600SLP), demonstrated 8.77% initial aperture-area efficiency, which, after extended light exposure, is expected to stabilize at 7.4% aperture-area module efficiency.

“This is a significant milestone for us”, said Dr. Xunming Deng, President and CEO of the Company. “Everyone at Xunlight, particularly those in the design, engineering, construction and production teams, have worked extremely hard to make this possible. We are very proud of our talented and hardworking team.”

PV modules produced in Xunlight’s production line will be displayed this week at the Intersolar Trade Fair in Munich, Germany (Booth No. A1.662).