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United Solar Systems Announce Solar Plant Inauguration

June 24, 2002 by Jeff Shepard

United Solar Systems Corp. (Auburn Hills, MI), a joint venture between Energy Conversion Devices Inc. (ECD, Troy, MI) and N.V. Bekaert S.A., announced the official inauguration of a thin-film solar cell manufacturing machine and related assembly equipment at its Bekaert ECD Solar Systems (Auburn Hills, MI) facility.

The new machine is capable of producing nine miles of solar cells in three days' time, making United Solar and Bekaert ECD one of the four largest producers of solar cells and related products in the US. The manufacturing equipment, designed and built by ECD, is claimed to be the world's largest and most advanced production machine for the manufacture of thin-film, amorphous, silicon-alloy, solar cells and related products that convert sunlight to electricity. The products are used for a variety of applications ranging from solar lanterns of 2W to 3W to large solar farms of 500kW. The products are suitable as building-integrated photovoltaic roofing systems for residential and industrial customers.