应用材料叫停薄膜电池

    应用材料公司周三表示，将停止其SunFab薄膜电池新生产线，把公司的重心集中在硅太阳能和LED照明上。
    该公司的能源及环境解决方案业务重组将导致削减400至500个工作岗位，第三季度负责消除3.75亿美元至4.25亿美元。
    应用材料公司已经把SunFab出售，SunFab是一种集成线路设备，用于制造非晶硅薄膜太阳能电池板，但近几个月来，这条生产线都处于亏损状况。应用材料公司首席执行官CEO Mike Splinter在一份声明中表示，应用材料公司将通过出售用于制造晶体硅太阳能电池板和LED照明设备寻求增长。
    该公司将停止SunFab销售，但将继续销售薄膜制造设备的单件。该公司准备发展的另一项技术应用计划是电致玻璃，也被称为“智能玻璃”，它可以自动改变颜色或色调。
    过去十年中，许多公司都开发了新的薄膜太阳能电池技术，但大多数公司都已因为难与如第一太阳能等大型硅太阳能电池板供应商匹敌而步履维艰。

    Applied Materials said on Wednesday it will stop new sales of its "turnkey" SunFab thin-film solar manufacturing line and concentrate on silicon solar and LED lighting.
    The restructuring of its Energy and Environmental Solutions business will lead to the elimination of 400 to 500 positions and a third-quarter charge between $375 million and $425 million.
    Applied Materials had been selling SunFab, an integrated line of equipment to manufacture amorphous silicon thin-film solar panels, but the business has been losing money for months.
    In a statement, Applied Materials CEO Mike Splinter said Applied Materials will seek growth by selling equipment for making crystalline silicon solar panels and LED lighting.
    The company will stop sales of SunFab but will continue to sell individual pieces of equipment for thin-film manufacturing. Another technology Applied plans to pursue is electrochromatic glass, also called "smart glass," which can change tint or color automatically.
    Many companies have developed new thin-film solar technologies in the past decade but most companies have had trouble bringing thin-film to market at large scale because of competition from silicon solar panel providers and incumbent thin-film providers, such as First Solar.