SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 5, 2006--Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT), the global leader in equipment and services for manufacturing semiconductors and flat panel displays, today launched its strategy to enter the rapidly growing solar photovoltaic (PV) equipment market. Applied Materials will provide a combination of manufacturing tools, together with technology and process innovations from the flat panel and semiconductor industries, that are expected to enable customers to increase conversion efficiency and yields, helping to lower the overall cost per watt for solar electricity users.
"The solar industry has reached the inflection point that Applied Materials has been waiting for, as solar customers seek economies of scale with suppliers who can better meet their needs for global support and who can provide advanced systems that meet technology, throughput, quality and yield goals," said Mike Splinter, president and CEO. "We plan to change the cost equation for solar power through adaptation of our existing technology and new innovation in order to help make solar a more meaningful contributor to the global energy supply."
Read the entire release here.
More and more companies are entering the solar arena because as the release states, "As worldwide energy demand continues to rise, the overall solar equipment market is expected to grow from approximately $1 billion in 2006 to more than $3 billion in 2010, according to industry estimates that do not include additional opportunities for service-related growth." With the demand growing the markets, increased opportunities for companies to make money in the renewable energy sphere will grow more competition and end up in a cleaner environment and a nation less dependent on fossil fuels, domestic and imported.
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