Beneq has presented convincing results on the performance of thin film photovoltaic solar cells manufactured with TCO-glass (transparent conductive oxide) produced by Beneq nAERO^® technology. The results fundamentally prove that nAERO-coated TCO glass is a definite candidate for cell manufacturers in need of high-quality fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) TCO glass at an affordable price. The results were measured by a research team at Helmholz-Zentrum in Berlin, Germany and published at the 10th GPD China conference in Shanghai on Saturday March 31^st.

Beneq CTO, Dr Tommi Vainio, comments: “Publishing these findings helps in establishing nAERO TCO as a new, viable and reliable option for industrial production of TCO-coated solar glass. The fact that the coating can be tailored to suit different cell types makes it flexible. The fact that it has remarkably high coating growth rate and level of yield makes it unique. These factors together make it evident to our present and future customers that nAERO TCO is a new and winning option in the field of FTO TCO for thin film photovoltaics.

Beneq offers nAERO coating technology for continuous off-line and in-line TCO-coating for thin film solar cells (amorphous silicon [a-Si], microcrystalline silicon [µc-Si] and cadmium–telluride [Cd-Te]). Together with Glaston, Beneq offers the world’s first and only coating line, the Beneq-Glaston TFC2000™, for continuous production of TCO-coated glass for photovoltaics.

For more information about Beneq nAERO TCO, please click here.

For more information about the Beneq-Glaston TFC2000, please click here.

For more information, please contact:
Dr Tommi Vainio, CTO, Beneq Oy
Tel: +358 40 570 7502
e-mail: tommi.vainio(at)beneq.com

Beneq Oy, based in Finland, is a supplier of equipment and coating technology for global markets. Beneq turns innovations into success by developing applications and equipment for cleantech and renewable energy fields, especially in glass, solar and emerging thin film markets. Coating applications include optics, barriers and passivation layers, as well as energy generation and conservation. Beneq also offers complete coating services. The coating applications of Beneq are based on two enabling nanotechnology platforms: Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and aerosol coating (nHALO^® and nAERO^®). www.beneq.com

Beneq, nHALO and nAERO are registered trademarks of Beneq Oy.

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Following its success in the Red Herring Top 100 Europe challenge earlier this year, Beneq has now been named as a Red Herring Global 100 Winner. The Red Herring Global Top 100 prize is an award in recognition of the leading private companies from North America, Europe, and Asia. The prize celebrates the innovations and technologies of these start-ups across their respective industries.

Red Herring’s Global 100 list has become a mark of distinction for identifying promising companies and entrepreneurs. Red Herring editors were among the first to recognize that companies such as Google, Skype, Baidu, YouTube and eBay would change the way we live and work.

“Choosing the best out of the previous two years was by no means a small feat,” said Alex Vieux, Chairman of Red Herring. “After rigorous contemplation and discussion, we narrowed down our list from 1,100 potential companies to 100 winners.  It was an extremely difficult process.  Beneq should be extremely proud of its achievement, the competition for the Top 100 was fierce. The Top 100 Global are truly the best of the best.”

Mr Sampo Ahonen, Beneq CEO, says: “We are naturally honored by being selected a Red Herring Global 100 Winner. For an achievement of this size and quality, I would like to thank the judges of Red Herring for recognizing the credibility our entire customer base has granted us. Furthermore, I would like to extend a special acknowledgement to our staff, which has from the very start of Beneq shown incredible skills, motivation and perseverance. In short, we truly believe in what we are doing, and we are proud of it.”

Red Herring’s editorial staff evaluated the companies on both quantitative and qualitative criteria, such as financial performance, technology innovation, management quality, strategy, and market penetration. This assessment of potential is complemented by a review of the track record and standing of startups relative to their sector peers, allowing Red Herring to see past the “buzz” and make the list an invaluable instrument of discovery and advocacy for the greatest business opportunities from around the world.

For more information, please contact:
Mr Sampo Ahonen, CEO, Beneq Oy
Tel: +358 40 520 1090
e-mail: sampo.ahonen(at)beneq.com

Beneq Oy, based in Finland, is a supplier of equipment and coating technology for global markets. Beneq turns innovations into success by developing applications and equipment for cleantech and renewable energy fields, especially in glass, solar and emerging thin film markets. Coating applications include optics, barriers and passivation layers, as well as energy generation and conservation. Beneq also offers complete coating services. The coating applications of Beneq are based on two enabling nanotechnology platforms: Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and aerosol coating (nHALO^® and nAERO^®). www.beneq.com

Beneq, nHALO and nAERO are registered trademarks of Beneq Oy.

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In October this year, Beneq, together with the Shanghai Center for Photovoltaics (SCPV), hosted an invitation-only specialist seminar for executive level decision makers and experts in photovoltaics (PV).

In October, an exclusive two-day solar energy seminar was held in Shanghai. The intention of the seminar was primarily to bring together executive-level cell manufacturing representatives with academic and industrial experts on emerging cell-enhancing coating technologies, e.g., atomic layer deposition (ALD) and aerosol coating, both of which are provided by Beneq.

The participants, more than 100 top-level business delegates and research experts met for two intense days to learn about the current status of PV both globally and in China, and Beneq coating equipment for silicon-based and thin film solar cells. Speakers at the seminar included Prof. Junhao Chu, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Science and Director of SCPV, Qiang Huang, Vice President of Trina Solar, Dr Xiaoguang Ma, CTO of Suntech and Dr Winfried Hoffmann, Vice President of EPIA.

Prof. Junhao Chu, Director of SCPV and who opened the seminar, summarizes: “We are very pleased with the success of this seminar. In order to ensure consistent development of research and development of photovoltaics in China, we need these kinds of events. Personally, I was pleased with the high standard of speakers, and the level of interest of the participants. We have found that closed invitation-only seminars lead to a more open atmosphere among the participants, thus enabling tangible decisions and concrete outcomes.”

Beneq CEO, Sampo Ahonen, who addressed the seminar, comments: “This concept is clearly a win-win occasion for all involved. It is seldom a company gets the opportunity like this to meet face-to-face with top level management of the biggest cell manufacturing companies in China. It is likewise rare to meet such a number of distinguished speakers, all of which are recognized authorities in their respective field of expertise.”

The aforementioned seminar was arranged by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai Branch, the Shanghai Solar Energy Society, the Shanghai Vacuum Society and Shanghai Physical Society, hosted by the Shanghai Center for Photovoltaics and Beneq and supported by the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of CAS, the East China Normal University-Colorado State University Joint Research Institute for New Energy and the Environment, the Key Laboratory of Advanced Technique & Preparation for Renewable Energy Materials, Ministry of Education, Yunnan Normal University and the Institute of Solar Energy, Shanghai Jiaotong University.

For more information, please contact:
Mr Sampo Ahonen, CEO, Beneq Oy
Tel: +358 40 520 1090
e-mail: sampo.ahonen(at)beneq.com

Beneq Oy, based in Finland, is a supplier of equipment and coating technology for global markets. Beneq turns innovations into success by developing applications and equipment for cleantech and renewable energy fields, especially in glass, solar and emerging thin film markets. Coating applications include optics, barriers and passivation layers, as well as energy generation and conservation. Beneq also offers complete coating services. The coating applications of Beneq are based on two enabling nanotechnology platforms: Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and aerosol coating (nHALO® and nAERO®). www.beneq.com

Shanghai Center for Photovoltaics (SCPV) is a non-profit R&D organization for solar cell related research and development. The mission of SCPV embraces contributing to the National Energy Strategy, conducting industry oriented research and technology development and undertaking national level fundamental research. The R&D focus of SCPV includes physical purification techniques for solar grade poly-silicon, thin film solar cells (e.g., CIGS/CdTe), novel concept solar cells as well as testing standards. The center has a staff of more than 50, with one Academician (CAS), nine Research and five Assistant Professors.

Beneq, nHALO and nAERO are registered trademarks of Beneq Oy. 

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Beneq today has the pleasure to announce that it has been chosen by the Global Cleantech Cluster Association (GCCA) as a 2011 Later Stage Award Top 30 finalist.  Inclusion in the GCCA Global Top 30 reflects the strong business and market position of the company in the category sector, and signifies its innovative approaches and technologies are gaining a foothold in the new global green economy. Beneq was nominated for the GCCA Later Stage Award by the Finnish Cleantech Cluster in May 2011. The company’s business model, market position, profitability and potential at creating and capturing market share (among other criteria) have subsequently qualified it to be a GCCA Later Stage Award 2011 Global Top 30 Finalist.

“Narrowing down 185 nominations from cleantech clusters all over the world down to 30 was a very competitive process,” says Ben Taube, Chairman of the GCCA. “These Top 30 Finalists are the rising stars of the world’s clean technology sector.”

“These companies, with their customers and revenue, are building significant green collar economies in the regions where they operate,” said Shawn Lesser Co-Founder of the GCCA. “For the health of the planet, both economically and environmentally, we are committed to spotlighting these game-changing companies on the world stage.”

The GCCA Later Stage Award Global Top 30 Finalists were selected out of the 4000 companies represented by the GCCA’s 30 member clusters, ranging from North America and Europe to Asia. Each cluster conducted internal evaluations to nominate up to 10 companies in 10 categories, including solar, wind, energy storage, green buildings, water and more. In total, these member clusters nominated 185 companies for the 2011 Later Stage Award.

For more information, please contact:

Mr Sampo Ahonen, CEO, Beneq Oy
Tel: +358 40 520 1090
e-mail: sampo.ahonen(at)beneq.com

Beneq Oy, based in Finland, is a supplier of equipment and coating technology for global markets. Beneq turns innovations into success by developing applications and equipment for cleantech and renewable energy fields, especially in glass, solar and emerging thin film markets. Coating applications include optics, barriers and passivation layers, as well as energy generation and conservation. Beneq also offers complete coating services. The coating applications of Beneq are based on two enabling nanotechnology platforms: Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and aerosol coating (nHALO® and nAERO®). www.beneq.com

About the Global Cleantech Cluster Association, The Global Cleantech Cluster Association creates conduits for companies to harness the tremendous benefits of international cleantech cluster collaboration in an efficient, affordable, and structured way.  Global Cleantech provides a gateway for established and emerging cleantech companies to gain exposure to potential investors, new markets, influential networks, innovative technologies and best practices.  GCCA was founded by swisscleantech, the Finnish Cleantech Cluster, and Watershed Capital Group. The GCCA Later Stage Award is sponsored by Grant Thornton International. For more information about Global Cleantech, please visit www.globalcleantech.org.

Beneq, nHALO and nAERO are registered trademarks of Beneq Oy.

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