Solar workers wounded in Suntech site accident

SOLAR ENERGY FIRM, Suntech, admitted last night that seven of its employees were wounded in an on-site accident which took place on November 28 in its module production facilities in Wuxi, China.

Fishily, however, the firm carefully avoided giving any details whatsoever about what the accident actually was or how it occurred.

The plot thickens further when one takes into account that just hours before Suntech ‘fessed up, research outfit Wedge Partners came out with a research note stating that one employee had actually been killed while seven others had been severely burned after an explosion on a cell-diffusion line.

Cell-diffusion is a processing step in PV cell manufacturing, involving really high temperatures and combustible gases. But Suntech’s eerily empty press release gives absolutely no indication of any fatalities or explosions, instead citing the malfunction of a piece of module lamination equipment as the cause of injury.

The firm also stressed its PV cell and module production and shipments were not impacted by the accident.

Hmmm. The details on this are shady at best, but it seems there may be more to this than Suntech is willing to admit. Hopefully the firm is not trying to eclipse the truth. µ

L’Inqs
Suntech’s statement
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