1366 Technologies
Bedford, MA
Headquartered in Bedford, MA, 1366 is committed to providing innovative, production-worthy processes, materials, and machines that will drive the cost of solar electricity to parity with electricity from coal. In pursuit of this mission, 1366 Technologies has proposed to build approximately 110,000 square feet of state of the art photovoltaic wafer manufacturing space with a location yet to be determined. At this stage, the program entails infrastructure to support a 250 MW production output. The anticipated process flow includes: pre-growth, growth getter, getter emitter removal, texturing, QC packaging, and analytics stations with an anticipated 7,500 wafer/hr production rate. The program will include administrative space, clean manufacturing areas, chemical waste/storage areas, central utility building, Warehousing, Material/Finished Goods, Growth, and Post Growth/Texturing Areas. Avid’s design activities included the design and implementation of a fully operational pilot facility, as well as concept design for the 1-GW facility.
Al Afandi
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Al Afandi Trading, Industry and Contracting Est is a manufacturer and distributer of medical devices based out of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Avid Engineers was responsible for the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection design of the Al Afandi 120-MW solar photovoltaic manufacturing facility in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. At the time of design, the building was the largest solar panel manufacturing facility in the Middle East. Avid’s design included both MEP and process drawings for the facility, which included 230,000-SF of wafer, cell and module production. Design elements included: 1,000 ton chiller plant, seawater process cooling, VOC, Acid Contaminated and Packed Bed Industrial exhaust, RODI water, Industrial Waste, Compressed Dry Air, Bulk Gases: N2/Ar/He, Bottled Gas: SiH4/NH3/NF3, Chemistry Supply and Distribution: KOH/HCL/PEG/S1/CH3COOH/HF/HNO3/H2SO4/POCl3/Al2CH3/NaOH. As well as 18,000-kVA of 15kV medium voltage power.
BAE System
Lexington, MA
BAE Systems PLC is a British multinational defense, security, and aerospace company. Avid Engineers provided the MEP-FP design for a 10,000-SF renovation of BAE System’s facility in Lexington, MA. The project entailed the selective demolition of existing systems to provide a space for a new lab. The project included the addition of two new packaged rooftop units and associated VAV terminal boxes to serve both the office and the laboratory space, a new fume hood and exhaust system, and humidification control for the laboratory space. The new work also included the addition of necessary process piping for nitrogen, compressed dry air, and vacuum.
Confluence Solar
St. Louis, MO
Confluence Solar Inc. manufactures monocrystalline wafers for the PV industry. The Company develops and manufactures single crystal silicon substrates for the solar photovoltaic industry. At their facility in St. Louis, MO, Confluence Solar houses approximately 27 Czochralski Process Monocrystalline Crystal Growth Pullers St. Louis, Missouri and as part of this project scope, proposed to increase the amount to 82. Avid Engineers was tasked with the MEP-FP design of the facility as part of the changes to equipment. Avid provided process piping, plumbing, fire protection, fire alarm and electrical design for the project as well as consulting.
Dow Advanced Materials
Marlborough, MA
Dow Advanced Materials, formerly Lightscape Materials, is the research division of the greater Dow organization. The extruding process was relocated from an existing facility in Rochester NY. Avid Engineers scope included design and renovations to process piping at Dow’s Marlborough, MA facility in the Marlborough Technology Park. The project included 22,000-SF aggregate throughout the ATC, DEX and Cobra Buildings. The process piping design included provisions for combination emergency/shower eyewash stations, an air compressor and a central vacuum system rated 29.3” HG. Gaseous distribution included compressed dry air, and elevated pressure natural gas. Design of tepid water skid and associated distribution, as well as RO/DI water process water and process chilled water distribution.
GT Advanced Technologies
Multiple Locations
GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT) Inc. produces polysilicon, silicon carbide and sapphire crystal materials for expanding markets such as electric vehicles, power electronics, aerospace and 5G telecom. Silicon carbide is used for semiconductors because it has power-handling capabilities that exceed basic silicon. Avid has participated in the successful design/ construction of numerous crystal growth facilities and has consulted for a variety of the world’s leading manufacturers. Facilities designed include multi crystalline silicon ignot growth furnaces, advanced sapphire growth furnaces, mono crystalline Czochralski process and crystal growth pullers. Sample projects include: A 100 Furnace – Advanced Sapphire Growth Boule Production/Fabrication/Testing Facility in Salem, MA. A 40-MW Silicon Ingot Growth/Wafering Photovoltaic Module Formation Facility in Patras, Greece. A Best-In-Class, Crystal Growth Research and Development Facility in Merrimack, NH. A 1-million-SF Sapphire growth facility in Mesa AZ.
OCI Company Ltd.
Seoul, Korea
OCI or OCI Company Ltd. is a green energy and chemical company founded in 1959, with its head office in Seoul, South Korea. The company's name is the initials of its former corporate name, Oriental Chemical Industries. OCI started a project for an initial installation of 50 HEM furnaces, scheduled to be installed within their existing facility, however they wished to expand to 100 HEM furnaces, but the infrastructure would not permit it. Avid Engineers was tasked by OCI to conduct the design, which consisted of a 6 building industrial campus to support the production of advanced sapphire boules. Avid’s project efforts included the design of multiple, large-scale central utility buildings housing: high purity water, central heating plant, central cooling plant, transformer field, and associated power production equipment. Utilities from the central plant were distributed to the campus buildings via site utility rack infrastructure. Expert programing, coordination, and project delivery were a must in design to deliver a quality project over seas.
Revision Military
Portsmouth, NH
Revision is a solutions provider specializing in military protective eyewear. Revision Military focuses on their product development, design, and R&D efforts with robust design and development expertise, extensive experience, significant investment in efficient, high-volume manufacturing, and vertical integration. Avid Engineers has worked on multiple designs for Revision Military’s manufacturing and warehouse spaces as well as production spaces and general office spaces. These designs include the ground up construction of Revision’s Centre for Excellence in Portsmouth, NH, included HVAC, Plumbing, Fire Protection, Electrical and Process engineering with elements such as air handling units, central chilled water plant, dedicated industrial exhaust, dust collection, and process chilled water and compressed dry air for work spaces.
Saint Gobain
Devens, MA
Saint-Gobain, the world leader in the habitat and construction markets, designs, manufactures and distributes building and high-performance materials, providing innovative solutions to the challenges of growth, energy efficiency and environmental protection. Belanos is a new process developed by Saint-Gobain to manufacture sapphire wafers. 112 Barnum Road is an existing 448,000 SF facility of contiguous floor space with a utility mezzanine. The facility was constructed in 2008 and operated by Evergreen Solar until 2011. Saint-Gobain intends to utilize approximately 200,000-SF of space. The program will include office areas, a class 100 clean room with 100% HEPA filter coverage and various enclosed manufacturing areas. Process utilities included cooling water, RODI water, industrial waste and exhaust and medium voltage power distribution to (16) 3,000-kVA unit sub-stations.
IPG Photonics
Oxford, MA
IPG Photonics is the leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance fiber lasers and amplifiers for diverse applications in numerous markets. Avid Engineers has supported IPG throughout a 15 year partnership and has been responsible for the design of vast portions of IPG’s Oxford campus, including ground up designs for a number of new buildings on site. One such building housed the Laser Testing & Application program. This design included the ground up construction of 3-story 65,000 SF facility with multiple testing and applications laboratories and assembly rooms, as well as sales and administrative offices with associated conference/meeting rooms. Included was the building support services – shipping/crating area, employee break room/ cafeteria, data center/server room, and connector corridors to existing adjacent buildings. The HVAC designs at IPG Photonics have included 750-ton water cooled, rotary screw chiller plants, 250-ton dry cooler farms and cooling tower relocations. Building-4 included 350-tons of self-contained air handling units. Temperature/humidity specifications were 65°F and 50% RH. The assembly/Testing and Research areas were classified as ISO 7 or 8 cleanroom space where pressurization gradients were maintained with process exhaust supported fume hoods, equipment evacuation processes, and canopies.