Sun shines bright on solar-cell fabs as Semicon West show kicks off

Semicon West, the premier North American event for semiconductor manufacturing, may shed some light on solar-cell fabrication when it returns to the Moscone Center in San Francisco the week of July 16-20. Solar-cell production is a hot topic this year, says show sponsor SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International). SEMI says it has identified 180 companies making some kind of solar-cell fabrication equipment. Europe is a hotbed for the technology: Some 98 fabricators are there with 58 of those in Germany. There are another 27 companies in China, 22 in Japan, and 30 in North America. "Lots of these are small companies and the area looks ripe for consolidation," says SEMI Senior Director of Industry Research Dan Tracy. "Many of these firms have just one product line." The big problem for cell fabricators has been finding enough raw silicon. "We've gotten numerous requests for help from companies trying to find a supply of silicon, especially companies in China," says Tracy. "The supply is tight because the strong growth in solar has eaten up any excess capacity at polysilicon suppliers. New supply is coming online next year, but things look dicey until then." Solar-cell fab equipment, of course, accounts for only a small part of the overall market for semiconductor manufacturing equipment. In the larger scheme of things, Tracy says equipment ordering trends so far this year are consistent with a flat or lowgrowth year for the equipment market. Further out, he says, things look more promising. "Some of the memory guys are making bold plans for investments later this year and for the next year or two." According to the recently updated FabFutures report released by SEMI, 300-mm fabs and memory are expected to be the main growth drivers for fab spending, and 85% of all fab spending will go toward