Air Products and Chemicals Inc (APD)

[hptaxis]

Air Products Signs Gases Supply Deal with PV Manufacturer
Hunan Gongchuang Plans 40MW Facility
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Air-Products-Signs-Gases-prnews-3533598890.html

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., Sept. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Air Products (NYSE:APD - News) today announced it has signed a contract with Hunan Gongchuang Photovoltaic Science & Technology Co., Ltd for the supply of bulk and specialty gases at its news silicon thin-film photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing facility in Hengyang City, Hunan Province, China.

The contract includes the supply of hydrogen and nitrogen, as well as silane, nitrogen trifluoride, dopant mixtures and other products.

Hunan Gongchuang is building a 40MW manufacturing facility utilizing Oerlikon Solar's Micromorph® turnkey production line, known as the FAB 1200. The new facility is expected to begin production by the end of this year.

"Air Products is pleased to be the primary gas supplier for Hunan Gongchuang's new thin-film PV facility," said Wayne Mitchell, vice president and general manager, Electronics, for Air Products. "We remain focused on helping our customers drive down their cost-per-watt through innovative materials and product delivery solutions."

Hunan Gongchuang's silicon thin-film PV modules, which convert sunlight directly into electricity, will be manufactured in much the same way as thin-film transistor liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCD). As one of the leading suppliers to the TFT-LCD industry, Air Products is ideally suited to supply the new facility.

Air Products recently dedicated a 2MW solar farm at its Corporate Headquarters in Allentown, Pa., that is comprised of more than 11,000 silicon thin-film panels supplied by two of its customers. The farm is capable of supplying enough energy to power more than half of the company's administration buildings and will lower its carbon dioxide (CO2) footprint by approximately 2,000 tons per year.

Air Products selected silicon thin-film panels to demonstrate its belief in the promising new technology and because the silicon thin-film panels provide the lowest cost of energy for the project parameters. Their advantageous performance in diffuse light ? the light most typical in the U.S. Northeast ? and their cost-effective installation for large area projects were drivers in the sourcing selection.

With the demand for renewable energy and improved efficiency on the rise, Air Products is well positioned to support these developing markets with its expertise and project experience in areas including large-scale hydrogen supply for cleaner transportation fuels, developmental work on the hydrogen economy, hydrogen vehicle fuelling and infrastructure, leading natural gas liquefaction technology, and now the growing supply of gases and services for the PV industry.