Micron teams with Australia’s Origin for photovoltaic joint venture
"As we have looked to leverage our core strengths in other markets, photovoltaic energy technology is a natural area of investigation," Mark Durcan, Micron?s president and COO, says.
By Suzanne Deffree, Managing Editor, News -- EDN, January 15, 2010
Boise-based memory giant Micron Technology Inc has formed a 50:50 joint venture with Sydney, Australia-based integrated energy company Origin Energy Limited focused on the development of PV (photovoltaic) technology.
“As we have looked to leverage our core strengths in other markets, photovoltaic energy technology is a natural area of investigation,” Mark Durcan, Micron’s president and COO, said in a statement. “Origin is a company with a significant interest and history in renewable energy technologies. Combining our semiconductor manufacturing expertise with Origin’s solar experience could result in a strong partnership.”
Andrew Stock, Origin’s executive general manager of major development projects, added that “the near term objective of the joint venture is to combine the work Origin has done to date in solar development with Micron’s capabilities, and to examine opportunities for commercialization.”
The companies did not provide details on where the venture would be based, what investment each partner would make, nor the venture’s name or launch date.
The PV market, like most markets in 2009, suffered a decline. However, according to experts, there are some reports of strengthening market conditions in the latter part of Q4 and a beginning recovery in 2010.
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at least ATKHAIRY is australian based.
ad - 2010-18-1 12:46:00 PST -
Australia's population is somewhat more than 21 million people, and covers an area about the size of the lower 48 states. Solar power is a winner in low population density areas, since power lines are an expensive proposition in such circumstances. Regular power lines in the US are about $10,000 per mile.
Two separate vendors are claiming they can manufacture solar panels at $1 per watt, and prices have collapsed from $4 to $2.50 per watt for residential scale projects. If costs and prices decline at a rate of 10% per year, solar costs should become insignificant by 2015.
Meredith Poor - 2010-15-1 16:58:00 PST -
This looks good! Australia is a natural location for photo-voltaic development, and Micron has a demonstrated track record in IC development. Good luck!
PJD - 2010-15-1 10:19:00 PST
