During negotiations for the sale of a turn-key PV manufacturing facility, STF offers to help the purchaser to prepare a detailed business plan and financial analysis. In this section we give generic considerations from which the profitability of the venture can be estimated, as well as PV market and competition analysis, facilities and manning schedule.

STF have observed that, to a first approximation, the manufacturing cost of the glass-to-glass encapsulated thin-film PV modules only depends on:

i) efficiency of the modules independent of what technology is used (a-Si or CIGS),
ii) the prevailing labor costs and
iii) the materials utilization.

Following figure shows the state-of-the-art efficiency forecast for thin-film-based PV modules produced in STF manufacturing facilities projected over the next few years.

After the thin-film PV factories are constructed and delivered STF is able to provide on-going management and operational support for the client.