DayStar Technologies, Inc. has expanded its operations through the creation of a new operating division, the Equipment Development Group, and has leased an existing 50,000 square foot facility in Santa Clara, California to house the division.
The expansion initiative is driven by DayStar's strategy to accelerate and better control the development of its proprietary Gen III* roll-to-roll continuous production platform, and in response to the growing demand for its unique array of products. This initiative is in keeping with the company's planned incremental build-out of multi-generation production capabilities.
According to Dr. John Tuttle, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DayStar, "Locating our new Equipment Development Group in the heart of Silicon Valley gives us immediate access to very specialized resources, highly trained personnel, control of our development speed, capture of intellectual property, and the cost savings necessary to secure DayStar's competitive advantage with our next generation production lines." Tuttle added, "Likewise, the experience we will gain in relocating this production equipment to our New York solar cell manufacturing facilities will be invaluable as we look towards replicating lines in the future."
DayStar presently occupies 23,500 square feet of office and manufacturing space in Halfmoon, New York. This facility houses their Gen I and Gen II production lines, which are designed with limited production capacity. The new Gen III* manufacturing line will be housed in a larger New York facility, planned for occupation in 2007 at the Saratoga Technology + Energy Park (STEP), and will significantly expand the company's production capacity to address commercial market demand more rapidly.
The web-based roll-to-roll deposition systems required for DayStar's Gen III* Photovoltaic Foil™ are highly specialized, custom tools available from only a few commercial vendors quoting long lead times and high costs. The challenges of working with these select equipment manufacturers, all located in Europe and Japan, have led DayStar to vertically integrate its internal expertise to include production tool manufacturing. The solar cell finishing equipment required for Gen III* can be sourced through more traditional OEM channels and will be combined with the tools designed and built by the new Equipment Development Group to complete the expanded factory capabilities in New York.
