Air Products gets deal for DuPont's new PV plant

Lehigh Valley, Pa.-based Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) said today it signed a supply deal with a Chinese subsidiary of DuPont (NYSE:DD), the No. 3 chemical maker in the U.S.

Air Products said it plans to provide liquid bulk and specialty gases, gas distribution equipment, and engineering services to a new manufacturing facility for amorphous silicon thin-film photovoltaic modules in GuangMing New District in Shenzhen, China.

The plant is being developed by DuPont Apollo, a unit of DuPont China, with an expected completion in 2010. DuPont Apollo also operates an R&D laboratory in the Hong Kong Science Park for amorphous silicon thin-film solar technology (see DuPont to build new facilities in China for solar).

Financial terms were not disclosed. The contract includes the long-term supply of nitrogen, hydrogen, argon, oxygen and specialty gases such as silane.

Last month, an Air Products joint venture signed two supply deals for solar manufacturing facilities in India. Mumbai-based INOX Air Products agreed to supply bulk and specialty gases to HHV Solar Technologies' new thin-film photovoltaic solar fab in Bangalore, and specialty gases to Jupiter Solar Power's solar PV cell manufacturing facilities under construction in Himachal Pradesh (see Air Products signs two supply deals for Indian solar factories).

The U.S. Department of Energy recently awarded a $1.5 million, three-year grant to Air Products to improve its solar-related products.

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