[advertise]广告[/advertise]Li Hao Shenzhen Daily CHEMICAL industry giant, DuPont, yesterday opened its Apollo photovoltaic thin film manufacturing facility in Guangming New Zone in Shenzhen. It is the first project initiated under the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Innovation Circle, which was spearheaded by the Shenzhen and HKSAR governments in 2007. The facility covers an area of 50,000 square meters and has an annual production capacity of 50 megawatts. It is expected to begin full commercial production in 2010. The facility, owned by DuPont Apollo Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S.-based DuPont, is part of a strategic collaboration between the HKSAR and Shenzhen governments. The facility will become China’s first solar energy total solution supplier. “It’s a milestone for DuPont development in China,” said Thomas M. Connelly Jr., chief innovation officer for DuPont. “New energy industry is one of Shenzhen’ s priority strategic industries,” said Wang Rong, acting mayor of Shenzhen. “The new project is a key step in the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Innovation Circle, which will boost world competitiveness for the two cities.” Photovoltaic thin film is innovative technology used in solar panels to convert sunlight into electricity. It is easy to install and can be used on residential and commercial rooftops and windows, as well as on curtain walls and for solar farm applications. DuPont opened the first-of-its-kind Global Photovoltaic Thin Film R&D Center at the Hong Kong Science Park in March. The aim is to ultimately form an R&D hub in Hong Kong, with Shenzhen as the manufacturing base, forming a full value chain for the photovoltaic industry. Founded in 1802, DuPont is currently the world’s second-largest chemical company in terms of market capitalization and fourth in revenue. It set up a Shenzhen company in 1988. It now boasts 39 wholly-owned and joint ventures all over China, employing a total of 6,000 people.