Jiangsu Province Delegation Visits Applied

Jiangsu, the eastern coastal province with the largest solar manufacturing capacity in China, is considered the "California" of energy policy in China. In June 2009, Jiangsu put in place the nation's first feed-in tariff program, aiming to install 400 MW solar panels by 2011.

Last Friday, Applied hosted a 30-member strong government delegation from Jiangsu. The delegation was led by Shaoyun Fei, the Deputy Director General of Jiangsu Department of Commerce, and Qi Li, the Deputy Director General of Jiangsu Department of Science and Technology. The group, considered the next-generation of leadership for the province, has just finished their one-year business training in the U.S. and came to Applied with many questions related to the future economic development of their province.

Ken MacWilliams, vice president of Technology and New Products for Applied's Crystalline Silicon Solar business, greeted the group and highlighted Applied’s tradition of carrying on the excellence in research and development from lab-to-market. Ken also presented our recent developments in the field of crystalline silicon solar technology, which have the potential to be of great value to the solar companies in the province.

James Xiao, director of Solar Business Development and Marketing Asia, gave an in-depth introduction of Applied and showcased the company’s commitment to China and strong ties with Jiangsu. James led an intriguing discussion about the photovoltaic technology roadmap and Applied's fab2farm solar deployment model. Ideas discussed for the province included partnering with western provinces that have more abundant sunshine but are normally capital constrained. The lively discussion continued with a tour of the Santa Clara SunFab PV lab and array and viewing of one of the latest solar PV tools – the highly-automated PECVD chamber.

When it comes to explaining how Applied has been able to maintain its technology leadership, nothing is more illustrative than showing the Maydan Technology Center. A quick window tour of highly flexible Class 1 cleanrooms allowed our guests to see first hand the place where Applied and customers test, customize and pre-integrate new semiconductor manufacturing technologies.

The two-hour visit was packed with handshakes, questions and energy. Aside from the fact that we have multiple customers in the province, I was surprised to learn from our guests that Jiangsu is actually closer to our home state than many of us had realized. Not only did Jiangsu become a friendship state of California back in 1985, the province has been partnering with California government on the demand-side management in the utility industry since 2005. And last October, Governor Schwarzenegger announced a partnership with Jiangsu to advance climate policies. All of this reminded me of an old Chinese saying, "Many hands make light work."