Newport Corporation has continued to expand rapidly into the photovoltaics equipment market, now offering c-Si and thin film products that tap into its core technologies of lasers, motion control and optical systems. The company noted in a conference call with financial analysts to discuss fourth quarter and full-year results that orders to PV manufacturers had grown more than 150% in 2008, to reach US$33.6 million compared with orders of US$13.3 million in 2007.
Solar equipment sales totalled US$21.0 million in 2008, compared with US$9.3 million in 2007. Fourth quarter sales to PV manufacturers reached US$5.9 million, while orders received totalled US$3.2 million.
Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis
Photovoltaics International is now included.
- Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
- In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
- Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
- Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
- Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
- Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual
Or continue reading this article for free
Robert Phillippy, President and CEO of Newport noted in the call that access to capital for some customers was proving harder to obtain and expected a pause in production expansions until the capital markets improved. However, he said that the underlying demand for solar energy remained strong, despite financial market conditions.
