!!! Press Release !!! Taking pole position
with compound semiconductors: Aachen, August 31, 1999. Solar cells made from compound semiconductors are not just for space, but can be used right here on earth in drive technologies. Further proof of this will be offered by the 1999 Australian Solar Challenge, a long-distance race covering 3010 km and featuring solar powered vehicles exclusively. As a member of the U.S. Solar Motions Team, TECSTAR is sponsoring the solar cells for the "Cascade Cruiser," meeting other teams such as Ferrari, Honda, and Toyota at the starting line. The performance of these solar cells is one of the main factors determining success in the race. U.S. Solar Motions is an interdisciplinary team made up of leading private-sector companies and research institutes working on solar energy, mechanics and electronics, as well as materials technologies. TECSTAR was there at the very start in 1987, equipping the winner of the first race, the GM Sunraycer, with solar cells. The Sunraycer attained an average speed of 67 kilometers per hour. TECSTAR's solar cells are highly efficient CASCADE cells based on gallium arsenide (GaAs) compound semiconductors. These cells hold the world record of 26% average efficiency, a measure of the conversion rate of absorbed solar energy (light) to electrical energy generated per surface. The efficiency of conventional silicon solar cells is less than half of this. The use of GaAs in solar cells allows the size of solar cells (surfaces) to be decreased considerably, thus achieving significant weight and cost savings. A much greater proportion of the solar spectrum can be tapped with TECSTAR's CASCADE system. The upper-layer cells convert the absorbed short-wave light into electricity, but let the long-wave light pass through. The underlying cells then convert the long-wave light into electricity. TECSTAR uses AIXTRON’s MOCVD (Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition) reactors to produce compound semiconductors. The Aachen-based company – the world market and technological leader in the key technology for producing compound semiconductors – manufactures the world's largest reactors for this purpose. The patent-protected technology in AIXTRON's reactors offers important advantages over the competition both in terms of product quality as well as cost-of-ownership: AIXTRON'S equipment is three to four times more efficient in handling raw materials, i.e. ultrapure metal organic compounds. The production capacity of AIXTRON's AIX 3000, which is used in solar cell production, is also approximately three times larger than that of the largest reactor produced by the competition. For further information please contact:
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