News Brief
Evergreen Solar Files for Bankruptcy
Evergreen's innovative ribbon process involves drawing filaments through molten silicon to create long ribbons. It uses far less silicon than other crystalline technologies, and the company claims it is less energy-intensive.
In a major blow to U.S. solar innovation, Evergreen Solar, creator of low-cost ribbon technology for photovoltaic (PV) cells, has declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Evergreen was the only company using the proprietary ribbon technology, which involves drawing a wire through molten silicon to pull out polycrystalline ribbons; the cells have approximately 13% conversion efficiency—comparable to the efficiency of other polycrystalline technologies but with far less silicon. (See “Crystalline Technology Still Dominates PV Landscape,” EBN July 2011.)
The price of silicon has dropped dramatically since the ribbon technology was created, reducing Evergreen’s advantage. Demand for solar also crashed after the global economic collapse, glutting the market with cheap PV from overseas manufacturers and further damaging Evergreen’s chances. The company, which closed its large manufacturing plant in Devens, Massachusetts in January 2011 and moved its operations to China, will lay off 65 workers from a plant in Michigan.
According to company president Michael El-Hillow, manufacturing and research will continue as the company restructures and attempts to sell its assets.
For more information
Reuters
Published August 16, 2011 Permalink Citation
Melton, P. (2011, August 16). Evergreen Solar Files for Bankruptcy. Retrieved from https://www.buildinggreen.com/newsbrief/evergreen-solar-files-bankruptcy
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