Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. commercializes materials, products and production processes for the alternative energy generation, energy storage and information technology markets. Our principal commercial products are our proprietary thin-film solar (“photovoltaic” or “PV”) modules, which are lightweight, thin, flexible and durable products for converting sunlight into electricity. We sell our PV modules globally and, in response to increasing global demand for alternative energy generation solutions, are planning to increase our manufacturing capacity from the current 58MW per annum to an expected capacity exceeding 300MW per annum by 2010.
We also commercialize materials, products and production processes through third-party relationships, such as licenses and joint ventures. We presently have two principal joint ventures that are commercializing technologies we invented: Cobasys LLC, which is manufacturing and selling rechargeable nickel metal hydride (“NiMH”) batteries primarily for transportation and stationary applications, and Ovonyx, Inc., which is commercializing phase-change memory devices through licensing and joint development agreements.
Our materials, products and production processes originate from the pioneering materials science work of Stanford R. Ovshinsky, who developed the science of amorphous and disordered materials. Based on his work, we have invented and developed materials that permit the design and commercialization of products such as PV modules, NiMH batteries and phase-change memory devices. Mr. Ovshinsky co-founded ECD with his wife, the late Iris M. Ovshinsky.
We operate our business in two business segments: United Solar Ovonic and Ovonic Materials. These segments were created in April 2007 as part of an organizational restructuring to consolidate and realign business activities and reduce operating costs. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Overview.” Financial information regarding each segment is available in Note L, “Business Segments,” of the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements.
Table of Contents
United Solar Ovonic
Our United Solar Ovonic segment designs, develops, manufactures and sells PV modules that generate clean, renewable energy by converting sunlight into electricity. This business, which we conduct through our wholly owned subsidiary, United Solar Ovonic LLC, is based principally on our pioneering technologies for thin-film amorphous silicon PV modules and low-cost, roll-to-roll manufacturing.
Our PV modules are lightweight, thin, flexible and durable and can be integrated directly with roofing materials for a seamless appearance. Conventional PV products, which currently represent over 90% of the solar modules sold globally, are made of crystalline or polycrystalline silicon and are covered in glass enclosed by a metal frame. Our PV modules are typically 18-foot laminates (without a frame) and have several competitive advantages over conventional PV products, including greater electricity generation per rated power output; no use of polysilicon material, which is currently in short supply; simpler, lower cost installation for building-integrated PV applications; greater durability; lighter weight; better aesthetics; more applications; and greater opportunity to reduce product cost and increase profitability with higher production volumes.
We sell our PV modules principally for commercial and industrial roofing applications. We believe that we have a strategic competitive advantage because our PV modules are readily adaptable for seamless integration into various roofing materials. We sell most of our modules to commercial roofing materials manufacturers, builders and building contractors, and solar power installers/integrators, who incorporate our PV modules into their products and services for commercial sale and then handle all aspects of the consumer relationship, including marketing, sales and service. We also sell PV modules for ground-mounted and residential applications and, for some applications, manufacture and sell framed PV products.
Our strategic customers include Solar Integrated Technologies Inc. (“SIT”), Biohaus PV Handels GmbH (“Biohaus”), Alwitra Flachdach Systeme GmbH, Corus Bausysteme GmbH, Hoesch Contecna Systembau, Unimetal S.p.A., SunEdison, LLC, Advanced Green Technologies, Inc. (a unit of Advanced Roofing, Inc.) and Actus Lend Lease (a subsidiary of Lend Lease Corp. Ltd). Sales to SIT represented 11% and 21%, respectively, of our product sales in this segment for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2007 and 2006. Sales to Biohaus represented 14% of our product sales in this segment for each of the fiscal years ended June 30, 2007 and 2006.
We compete with companies that currently manufacture and distribute products based on well-established technologies for electricity generation, as well as companies that currently manufacture and distribute products based on alternative energy generation technologies, such as solar and wind. Our principal competitors in the solar market include Sharp Corporation, Q-Cells AG, Kyocera Corporation, Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (“Sanyo”), Sunpower Corp., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd., all of which manufacture predominantly crystalline or polycrystalline silicon PV modules, and First Solar, Inc., which manufactures thin film, cadmium telluride PV modules on glass substrates. The competitiveness of alternative energy generation products in general, including solar power products, is typically enhanced by governmental incentives designed to encourage the use of these products as compared to conventional energy generation sources, which today are less expensive at the customer level in most locations. However, our long-term goal is to compete directly, without subsidies, in energy markets.
2
Table of Contents
Our long-term research and development strategy involves reducing cost and improving the throughput of our PV module manufacturing equipment, reducing the cost of PV module production, increasing the sunlight-to-electricity conversion efficiency of our PV modules and reducing the overall cost of systems incorporating our PV modules. We seek to offset our research and development costs in this segment with third-party funding, including product development agreements and government funding. For example, in July 2007 we entered into a three-year cooperative agreement in which we will receive approximately $19 million from the Department of Energy under an innovative, new program, the Solar America Initiative, to increase the efficiency of our photovoltaic products, lower materials costs and develop innovative installation methods in order to reduce overall system costs.
We manufacture our PV modules using our proprietary vacuum deposition and large-scale, roll-to-roll manufacturing processes to deposit amorphous silicon as a thin film on a large roll of stainless steel. We design, develop and manufacture and have made the automated production equipment based on these proprietary process technologies. We believe that consolidating our PV equipment design and manufacturing activities with our PV module manufacturing activities allows us to more effectively improve our manufacturing efficiency and reduce capital costs.
The key raw materials used in our United Solar Ovonic segment business are stainless steel; high purity industrial gases, primarily argon, nitrogen, hydrogen, silane and germane; and polymer materials. We believe that we have adequate sources for the supply of key raw materials and components for our PV module manufacturing needs. We have, in certain instances, selected single-source suppliers for certain key raw materials and components for efficiency, cost and quality. The cost of certain raw materials, in particular stainless steel and resin-based polymer materials, has risen over the last several years, and we are actively managing these costs through purchasing strategies and product design and operating improvements. Our operations are not impacted by the current shortage of polysilicon (a key raw material for conventional PV products) that is affecting most of our competitors through higher costs and limited availability.
We have entered into long-term supply agreements with certain of our customers. These agreements establish an overall framework for supplying our PV products, containing key terms, such as pricing, and are an important component in developing and maintaining long-term supply relationships with these customers. Our product sales under these long-term supply agreements, which do not contain minimum firm purchase commitments, and with other customers are completed on a current basis via purchase orders issued by the customers as they require our PV products. Therefore, our backlog of orders for PV products reflects only a limited snapshot of orders we expect to recognize as revenue, and we therefore do not believe it provides a meaningful indicator of future revenues.
Our United Solar Ovonic segment is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, and has manufacturing facilities in Auburn Hills and Tijuana, Mexico. To meet present and expected demand, we are in the process of rapidly expanding our manufacturing capacity from the current 58MW per annum to an expected capacity exceeding 300MW by 2010 by adding new manufacturing facilities, as well as constantly improving our products and process efficiencies. Our two manufacturing facilities in Auburn Hills have a combined capacity of 58MW per annum to manufacture PV cells and finished PV modules. We are presently constructing two facilities in Greenville, Michigan, each with a capacity of 60MW per annum, to manufacture PV cells, which will then be used in the assembly of finished PV modules at facilities in Tijuana, Mexico, and Tianjin, China. The Tianjin PV module assembly facility will be owned and operated by a Chinese
3
Table of Contents
joint venture company of which we own 75% and the remaining 25% is owned by Tianjin Jinneng Investment Company.
The first Greenville manufacturing facility is expected to begin operation in late calendar 2007, and the second facility is expected to begin operation in mid 2008 calendar year, bringing our total manufacturing capacity to approximately 180MW per annum.
Ovonic Materials
Our Ovonic Materials segment invents, designs and develops materials and products based on our pioneering materials science technology, principally amorphous and disordered materials. We seek to commercialize this technology internally and through third-party relationships, such as licenses and joint ventures. We are presently commercializing our NiMH materials and consumer battery technology through this segment. We are also engaged in pre-commercialization activities for our emerging technologies, the funding of which we seek to offset with royalties and licensing revenues from this segment and third-party funding, including joint ventures, product development agreements and government funding.
NiMH Batteries
NiMH batteries are rechargeable energy storage solutions offering high power, long cycle life and maintenance-free operation. They are adaptable to a broad range of consumer, transportation and stationary applications. Products utilizing our NiMH battery technology compete with lead-acid, nickel-cadmium and lithium battery technologies. NiMH batteries produce superior energy and power for their weight and volume and have a longer cycle life compared to lead-acid and nickel-cadmium batteries. In addition, NiMH batteries have no memory effect and do not contain cadmium or lead, both environmentally hazardous substances. NiMH technology has numerous advantages over lithium ion technology, such as lower cost, greater safety and improved durability and abuse tolerance.
We commercialize our NiMH battery technology principally through our Cobasys joint venture (see “Our Principal Joint Ventures – Cobasys”) and third-party licensing arrangements with NiMH battery manufacturers throughout the world. We also sell proprietary high-performance positive electrode nickel hydroxide materials for use in NiMH batteries. We conduct our NiMH battery technology licensing and materials manufacturing activities through our subsidiary, Ovonic Battery Company, Inc., of which we own 91.4% with the remainder owned by Honda Motor Company, Ltd. (3.2%), Sanoh Industrial Co., Ltd. (3.2%) (“Sanoh”) and Sanyo (2.2%).
Licensing. Our recent NiMH licensing activities have focused on consumer applications. We have licensed our NiMH battery technology to NiMH battery manufacturers, principally for consumer applications, on a royalty-bearing, nonexclusive basis. We are presently receiving royalties from manufacturers who are currently producing NiMH batteries using our technology.
Prior to Cobasys’ formation, we entered into royalty-bearing, nonexclusive license agreements for the manufacture and sale of NiMH batteries for transportation applications with Sanyo, Walsin Technology Corporation, Sanoh, Nan Ya Plastics Corporation, GP Batteries International Limited, Toshiba Battery Co., Ltd., Hyundai Motor Company, Saft Group, the United States Advanced Battery Consortium and our Rare Earth Ovonic joint ventures. Among these
4
Table of Contents
licensees, Sanyo and GP Batteries are presently manufacturing NiMH batteries for four-wheel vehicle transportation applications.
Royalties from Sanyo for consumer and transportation applications represented 18% and 17%, respectively, of our revenues in this segment for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2007 and 2006.
Materials Manufacturing. We produce proprietary high-performance positive electrode nickel hydroxide materials for use in NiMH batteries, which we sell to licensees of our NiMH battery technology. While these licensees are not required to purchase our materials in order to manufacture NiMH batteries using the licensed NiMH technology, our positive electrode materials offer advantages such as higher capacity and power, greater cycle life, high-temperature performance and lower costs. Sales to Gold Peak Industries represented 93% and 96%, respectively, of our NiMH materials product sales and 31% and 13%, respectively, of our total revenues in this segment for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2007 and 2006. We conduct our manufacturing operations at an automated facility in Troy, Michigan.
The key raw materials used in our nickel hydroxide business are primarily nickel and cobalt. All of the raw materials used are generally readily available from numerous sources, but interruptions in production or delivery of key raw materials could have an adverse impact on our manufacturing operations in this segment. Prices for these raw materials may fluctuate in the normal course of business due to supply and demand. Our product pricing formula to our customers includes a variable sales price based on the raw material price.
Emerging Technologies
Our research and development activities have generated new technologies to address important societal needs, which we are seeking to bring to full-scale commercialization. These technologies, some of which are discussed below, are subject to further development and will require substantial additional funding to reach commercial product status. We seek to offset our funding requirements by obtaining third-party funding through strategic alliances and government contracts.
Ovonic Solid Hydrogen Storage Technologies. Hydrogen is a clean and efficient fuel source that yields more energy per unit of weight than any other combustible fuel, and we are developing a practical approach to storing hydrogen in a solid metal matrix at low pressures using a family of new, efficient metal hydrides. Our solid hydrogen storage solutions have several advantages over conventional gaseous and liquid storage solutions, including improved volumetric density and greater safety due to our technology’s low-pressure refilling and storage capabilities. We are presently manufacturing pre-production volumes of portable hydrogen canisters in Rochester Hills, Michigan, and have sold over 3,000 canisters of various sizes to multiple customers.
Ovonic Metal Hydride Fuel Cell Technologies. Fuel cells are environmentally-clean power generators in which hydrogen and oxygen are combined to produce electricity, with water and heat as the only byproducts. Our Ovonic metal hydride fuel cell technology is a fundamentally new approach that combines the best features of both fuel cell and battery technologies for a new, lower cost solution in comparison to conventional proton exchange membrane (“PEM”) fuel cells,
5
Table of Contents
which require expensive platinum catalysts. As part of our development activities, we have demonstrated fuel stacks utilizing our metal hydride fuel cell technology that meet the power ratings of certain commercially-available fuel cells for the stationary market.
Ovonic Biofuel Reformation Technologies. The production of low-cost hydrogen is a key to a practical hydrogen economy and for existing high-volume hydrogen users. Our Ovonic reformation technology produces pure hydrogen in a safe process from multiple biofuel and biomass sources at far lower operating temperatures than commercial processes without the generation of carbon dioxide global warming gas. Our proprietary process uses inexpensive catalysts and has the potential to dramatically reduce hydrogen cost to the end user through local hydrogen production at the point of use, thereby eliminating transportation costs and risks. We presently seek funding as we move from laboratory-scale production to pilot plant demonstration.
Our Principal Joint Ventures
We presently have two principal joint ventures that are commercializing technologies we invented: Cobasys, which is manufacturing and selling rechargeable NiMH batteries primarily for transportation and stationary applications, and Ovonyx, which is commercializing phase-change memory devices through licensing arrangements and joint development agreements.
Cobasys
Our Cobasys joint venture designs, develops, manufactures and sells advanced NiMH battery system solutions for transportation markets, including hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), in addition to stationary back-up power supply systems for uninterruptible power supply, telecommunication and distributed generation requirements. Cobasys presently manufactures and sells its advanced NiMH battery system for General Motors Corporation’s Saturn VUE and Saturn Aura Green Line vehicles, both of which are currently available, and the Chevrolet Malibu.
Our Ovonic Battery Company owns 50% of Cobasys, and Chevron Technology Ventures LLC (“Chevron”), a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, owns the remaining 50%. Cobasys operates independently of its joint venture partners, although each partner participates on Cobasys’ management board. As part of this joint venture arrangement, we have licensed certain technology to Cobasys (as described below) and contributed intellectual property, licenses, production processes and know-how. Chevron is presently funding Cobasys’ operations by acquiring a preferred interest in Cobasys, for which it is entitled to a priority right of repayment. Cobasys has obtained $168,346,000 from Chevron for a preferred interest through June 30, 2007.
We and Chevron have agreed to explore strategic alternatives regarding Cobasys that are intended to fund Cobasys’ operations and enable Cobasys to further capitalize on global opportunities for integrated energy storage solutions in the growing hybrid electric vehicle and stationary power industries. Beginning in January 2008, the joint venture partners may be required to make capital contributions as necessary to fund approved operating budgets in proportion to their percentage membership interests, subject to the terms of the Cobasys operating agreement. We may be unable or unwilling to fund these capital contributions, in which case we may be subject to the remedies set forth in the Cobasys operating agreement, including dilution.
6
Table of Contents
We have granted Cobasys a royalty-free, exclusive license to our NiMH battery technology for certain applications, including vehicle propulsion and ancillary vehicle applications, telecommunications applications and uninterruptible power supply applications. Certain licenses that we had entered into prior to Cobasys’ formation (as discussed above) were excepted from this exclusivity, and we retain nonexclusive rights to manufacture in China and India cylindrical batteries for two- and three-wheeled transportation applications for sale worldwide.
Cobasys’ principal competitors for HEV batteries are Panasonic EV Energy Company (“PEVE”) (an affiliate of Toyota Motor Corporation), which provides NiMH batteries for Toyota’s HEVs and the Honda Civic Hybrid, and Sanyo, which provides NiMH batteries for the Ford Escape Hybrid, the Honda Accord Hybrid and the Mercury Mariner Hybrid. PEVE provides its NiMH batteries under licenses from Cobasys and ECD, under which royalties are payable to Cobasys on North American battery sales and fully-paid up with respect to all other battery sales as specified in the July 2004 agreement between Cobasys and PEVE. Sanyo provides its NiMH batteries under a royalty-bearing license from ECD’s Ovonic Battery Company affiliate (as described above).
Cobasys is headquartered in Orion Township, Michigan, and has a 170,000 square foot state-of-the-art production facility with automated manufacturing equipment in Springboro, Ohio. The manufacturing facility is ISO/TS 16949, ISO 17025, ISO 9001:2000 and TL 9000 certified.
Ovonyx
Our Ovonyx joint venture is commercializing our proprietary Ovonic Universal Memory (“OUM”) technology through licensing and product development arrangements. OUM is a basic, new type of nonvolatile memory that can replace conventional nonvolatile or FLASH memory in applications requiring retention of stored data when power is turned off, including cell phones, PDAs, digital cameras and microelectronics. OUM, which is also known in the semiconductor industry as phase-change random access memory (PRAM and PC-RAM), offers several advantages over conventional nonvolatile memory, including significantly faster write time, greater scalability, lower power utilization and longer life, and is compatible with existing CMOS manufacturing processes.
We own 39.5% (or 30.3% on a fully diluted basis after giving effect to exercise of stock options and warrants) of the common stock of Ovonyx. Tyler Lowrey (formerly chief technology officer of Micron Technology, Inc.), Intel Capital (a subsidiary of Intel Corporation) and other investors own the remainder. As part of this joint venture arrangement, we have licensed all OUM technology to Ovonyx on an exclusive, worldwide basis and contributed intellectual property, licenses, production processes and know-how. In addition to our equity interest in Ovonyx, we receive 0.5% of Ovonyx’ annual gross revenue.
Ovonyx has entered into royalty-bearing, nonexclusive license agreements with Intel Corporation, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Qimonda AG., Elpida Memory, Inc., STMicroelectronics N.V., BAE Systems and Nanochip, Inc. to produce OUM products. Under most of these agreements, Ovonyx is also participating in joint development programs to assist in the commercialization of OUM phase-change memory products. Ovonyx has not yet realized any royalty revenues since its licensees have not begun commercial sales of products based on OUM.
7
Table of Contents
Our Technology and Intellectual Property
The principal markets in which we compete – the alternative energy generation, energy storage and information technology markets – are characterized by rapid change and competition driven by technological and product performance advantages. We have driven some of this activity through our pioneering and proprietary materials, product and production process technologies. At the same time, we are actively engaged in product design and development to commercialize and improve our materials, products and production processes.
Research and Development Expenditures
Our research and development expenditures are reflected as cost of revenues from product development agreements and product development and research expenses in our Statements of Operations in our Consolidated Financial Statements. We seek to offset our research and development costs with third-party funding, including joint ventures, product development agreements and government funding.
Competition
Since our businesses are based upon our pioneering technologies that offer fundamental solutions in the alternative energy generation, energy storage and information technology markets, we compete not only at the product level for market share but also at the technology level for market acceptance. Our competition includes well-established conventional technologies, other alternative technology solutions and other technologies within an alternative solution. For example, our PV technology competes with conventional electricity generation technologies, such as gas and coal; alternative electricity generation technologies, such as wind and nuclear; and other solar technologies, such as crystalline products. Our business competitors include some of the world’s largest industrial companies, many of which are pursuing new technology solutions in addition to their well-established conventional technologies.
We believe that we have derived a key business and technological advantage through our research and development activities by continuously inventing new technologies and improving our existing materials, products and production processes. However, even as we successfully pursue these research and development activities, some of our technologies, particularly in the alternative energy generation and energy storage markets, presently face commercial barriers as compared to well-established conventional technologies, including infrastructural barriers, customer transition costs and higher manufacturing costs associated with present production volumes. The competitiveness of products based on our technologies in these areas is typically enhanced by external factors, including rising energy costs, concerns regarding energy security and governmental incentives at the customer level. Our long-term goal is to compete directly in energy markets without subsidies.
Patents and Intellectual Property
We maintain an extensive patent portfolio presently consisting of over 300 U.S. patents and over 500 foreign counterparts (including patents assigned to a joint venture partner), to which we are regularly adding new patents based upon our continuing research and development activities. Importantly, our portfolio includes numerous basic and fundamental patents applicable
8
Table of Contents
to each of our business segments, covering not only materials, but also the production technology and products we develop. Based on the breadth and depth of our patent portfolio, we believe that our proprietary patent position is sustainable notwithstanding the expiration of certain patents. We do not expect the expiration of any patents to materially affect the business prospects of any of our business segments.
Our Employees
As of August 24, 2007, we and our consolidated subsidiaries had a total of 878 employees in the U.S. and 326 employees outside of the U.S. These numbers do not include employees of our joint ventures or licensees.