United Solar Ovonic, EDF in supply deal

Auburn Hills, Mich.-based United Solar Ovonic said yesterday it signed a deal to supply its thin-film photovoltaic laminates to French power producer EDF Energies Nouvelles.

United Solar said the 18 month agreement is for the supply of 12 megawatts of the laminates, with an option to buy an additional 18 megawatts.

EDF plans to use the thin-film laminates for large-scale installations on industrial and commercial buildings.

"This new agreement demonstrates the acceptance of our product in the European market. With the feed-in tariff recently approved in France, there is a preference for building-integrated photovoltaic installations," said Salama Naguib, VP of global sales and marketing at United Solar.

"Our agreement with EDF EN follows our overall strategic plan to expand our presence in emerging markets like France."

United Solar said its triple-junction products are durable and easy to install.

Paris Mouratoglou, chairman of EDF Energies Nouvelles said, "The lightweight and flexible Uni-Solar products are ideal for integration with the roofs of industrial and commercial buildings."

United Solar is a unit of Michigan's Energy Conversion Devices (Nasdaq: ENER).

Energy Conversion makes rechargeable batteries through a joint venture with Chevron to power consumer electronics and electric vehicles, and licenses its optical memory storage technology to Sony, Toshiba, and others.

EDF Energies Nouvelles, which operates in wind, hydro, biomass and solar, has gross installed capacity of 1,188 megawatts.

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