After meetings this week in Tokyo, Japan, Ascent Solar Technologies and ITOCHU Corporation of Japan announced that the companies will begin work toward the development of one or more strategic cooperation relationships in the following areas:
– Procurement of select machinery for Ascent Solar's planned 100 MW manufacturing facility.
– Sourcing of raw materials used for the manufacture of solar modules.
– Distribution of Ascent Solar future products in Japan and other parts of the world where ITOCHU is currently pursuing a number of solar installations.
– Managing future OEM relationships in Japan including the development of potential strategic partners engaged in the development of building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) and electronic integrated photovoltaic (EIPV) products using Ascent Solar's future flexible CIGS solar modules.
Ascent Solar President and CEO Matthew Foster stated "this is an important development for Ascent Solar. The strategic relationships we envision with ITOCHU are designed to provide Ascent Solar a greater marketing presence and potential access to new opportunities in the Asian markets. We believe that we should also benefit from new relationships from across the worldwide ITOCHU business network."
Yutaka Kato, Chief Operating Officer of Industrial Machinery and Solution Division of ITOCHU Corporation stated "we believe that Ascent Solar's product is well-suited for the BIPV market and BIPV applications. We are excited about the contribution that we expect Ascent Solar's product will make to our solar power business."
