27 May 2014

5N Plus renews First Solar CdTe supply & recycling deal until end-March 2019

Specialty metal and chemical products firm 5N Plus Inc of Montreal, Québec, Canada has entered into new supply agreements with First Solar Inc of Tempe, AZ, USA covering the cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film photovoltaic (PV) module maker’s compound semiconductor needs until end-March 2019.

5N Plus provides specialty purified metals such as bismuth, gallium, germanium, indium, antimony, cadmium, selenium and tellurium, and also produces related semiconducting compounds such as cadmium telluride (CdTe), cadmium sulphide (CdS) and indium antimonide (InSb) as precursors for the growth of crystals for solar, LED and eco-friendly materials applications. The firm also has fully integrated closed-loop recycling facilities.

5N Plus has renewed its existing CdTe supply agreement and CdTe by-products recycling agreement with First Solar up to end-March 2019. In addition, a new supply agreement broadly covering all of First Solar’s other compound semiconductor needs up to end-March 2019, has also been concluded. First Solar has hence agreed to exclusively purchase from 5N Plus all the CdTe required by it on a worldwide basis for the manufacturing of solar photovoltaic modules.

“While we conceded competitive pricing, we believe that this will be largely compensated over the course of the next quarters by the increase of sales volume, providing us with a solid and predictable revenue stream for the next five years,” says 5N Plus’ president & CEO Jacques L’Écuyer. “First Solar remains committed to reducing solar module cost and improving efficiency, and we intend to be their preferred solution for doing so through our close technical and commercial relationship… These new supply agreements will allow 5N Plus to benefit from continued growth associated with First Solar's leading position in the solar market,” he believes.

“5N Plus has been and continues to be a critical supplier to First Solar,” says First Solar’s senior VP of global operations Tymen de Jong. “These agreements support our plans to increase the competiveness of CdTe-based solar modules and are in line with our corresponding roadmap aimed at achieving this.”

See related items:

5N Plus’ supply agreement unaffected by First Solar’s restructuring

5N Plus extends long-term CdTe recycling & supply deals with First Solar

Tags: 5N Plus First Solar Thin-film photovoltaic CdTe

Visit: www.firstsolar.com

Visit: www.5nplus.com