Ascent Solar reaches deal to build Chinese factory

Kathleen Lavine | Denver Business Journal

Victor Lee, CEO of Ascent Solar Technologies Inc., holds the company?s EnerPlex Kickr IV, a flexible solar-power panel capable of charging phones, music players and other small, electronic equipment.

Ascent Solar Technologies Inc. says it plans to build a manufacturing plant in China for its thin-film photovoltaic modules, with a Chinese city agreeing to kick in $32.5 million on the project.

It?s the latest move into the vast China market by Thornton-based Ascent (Nasdaq: ASTI).

The company said Tuesday it has signed a ?framework agreement? to establish a joint venture with the city of Suqian in eastern China?s Jiangsu province. Ascent said it will hold a ?majority interest of up to 80 percent? in the venture.

Under the agreement, with an initial budget of $160 million, the venture will open a factory in Suqian to make Ascent?s copper-indium-gallium-selenium (CIGS) photovoltaic modules on flexible thin films.

---

> FROM NOVEMBER 2012: Ascent Solar shines, while Abound Solar is now dark

---

Ascent said it will contribute its proprietary technology and intellectual property, about $1.6 million in cash and equipment from its Colorado plant.

Suqian will pay in $32.5 million and provide rent-free use of a 270,000-square-foot building. It also will provide tax breaks, housing subsidies and ?coverage of substantial operational costs for scientists, engineers and management personnel? at the factory, Ascent said.

The plant could be expanded under later phases of the six-year deal.

The agreement gives Ascent a five-year option to buy the plant for its construction cost, and an option to buy out Suqian?s ownership in the joint venture for ?a modest nominal cost? above the city's cash investment.

Ascent Solar, founded in 2005, began moving away from the rigid-glass-based solar-power panel market ? and its big utility customers ? about two years ago.

Mark Harden directs print and digital news content for the Denver Business Journal and writes for the "Broadway & 17th" blog. Email: mharden@bizjournals.com. Phone: 303-803-9227.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vertical_30/~3/HM8-f_iAfaQ/ascent-solar-reaches-deal-to-build.html

The Division the Pirate Bay chicago weather weather chicago mumford and sons Pokemon X and Y Apple Developer