KSK Surya Photovoltaic Venture, Private Limited (KSK), a subsidiary of KSK Power Ventur plc, a leading independent power provider in India, announced that it has signed a contract with Applied Materials to purchase two Applied SunFab™ Thin Film Lines for a solar manufacturing facility to be built in India, along with a five-year service contract. The KSK group of companies addresses the power supply deficit in India by building

Ultra-thin wafer handling is a significant challenge for crystalline silicon cell manufacturing. Charlie Gay, president of Applied's Solar Business acknowledged this when Tom Cheyney of Photovoltaics International magazine asked him to comment on the extendibility of current mechanical handling techniques.

It’s a great week for the solar power industry in Washington, D.C. thanks to 20 teams of university students competing in the 2009 Solar Decathlon. Each team has entered a solar powered home in the contest and over the next two weeks will have to surmount a number of obstacles and compete in a variety of events to try to win the number one spot, but every one of them is a unique opportunity to educate the public about the possibilities of solar power.

Most people have heard about Habitat for Humanity but not everyone is lucky enough to share the excitement of a family walking into their new home for the first time — especially when the house is powered by the sun! On Saturday October 3, I had the opportunity to do just that when a single woman, her two sons and their grandmother moved into the Tech House in Santa Clara, California — a project jointly sponsored by Applied Materials, eBay, Coherent and Symantec. Just before the ribbon on the front door was cut, keys handed over, and a teen aged son opened the door to their

Applied Materials chairman and CEO Mike Splinter met with the Honorable Claudio Scajola, Italian Minister of Economic Development, at the company’s research and development campus in California on Friday for a demonstration of the Applied SunFab panel, the world's largest and most powerful solar panel.

Japan has long been a pioneer in the solar industry — the first commercial solar panels in Japan were manufactured over 30 years ago. The Japanese government was also early to recognize the potential for solar and set up incentives to promote adoption, establishing the Sunshine Project in 1974 to help Japan become less dependent on imported oil. Japan is the world’s second largest market for solar, behind Germany, and this growth has accelerated largely due to government initiatives and subsidies.

In 2008, Applied Materials unveiled a 2 megawatt parking lot and roof top solar installation at its Sunnyvale, California location. It was then, and remains, one of the largest corporate installations in the world.

As the climate change and energy policy bills meander their way through the U.S. Congress, interest in when, where and how to build a renewable energy future is still up for debate—and funding. And, a lively debate it is.

At the recent European Photovoltaic Industry Association conference (EU PVSEC), I had the opportunity to address attendees about the industrialization of solar energy. Through our experience in enabling the semiconductor and display industries, I was able to share Applied’s perspective on the three stages of growth in the evolution of any industry (a) development (b) scaling and (c) mainstream.