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Veeco Instruments has acquired Mill Lane Engineering, a privately held
equipment supplier of web coating systems being used in thin film
copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) solar cell production. Veeco paid
$11 million for the Mill Lane. The company will be renamed Veeco Solar
Equipment Inc.
“This investment complements Veeco’s existing deposition technologies,
expanding our product offerings for the emerging thin film solar
market,” said John R. Peeler, Chief Executive Officer of Veeco. “While
many of today’s solar panels are based on silicon technology, thin
films offer low manufacturing costs and the promise of higher
photovoltaic efficiencies.”
“Veeco is excited to combine Mill
Lane’s web coating and vacuum engineering expertise with our existing
thin film deposition technologies, such as ion beam and physical vapor
deposition and thermal sources, to address the equipment needs of thin
film solar manufacturers,” commented Piero Sferlazzo, Ph.D., Senior
Vice President of Veeco. Dr. Sferlazzo will manage Veeco Solar
Equipment.
Mill Lane Engineering has currently secured a
multi-system order for web coating systems from a CIGS manufacturer.
Veeco expects that Mill Lane will add approximately $10-15 million in
second half 2008 revenues, but is not expected to have a material
impact on its earnings, the company said.