Sep. 21, 2009 (PR Newswire) --

ALISO VIEJO, Calif. and SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- XsunX, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: XSNX.OB), the developer of advanced, thin-film photovoltaic (TFPV) solar cell technologies and manufacturing processes, and Intevac, Inc. (Nasdaq: IVAC), the world's leading provider of magnetic media deposition equipment to the hard disk drive (HDD) industry, announce that they are working under a Joint Business Agreement to collaborate in the development of techniques and equipment for the production of commercially marketable processes and equipment for the manufacture of CIGS (copper indium gallium selenide) thin-film solar cells. Through the successful combination of cross-industry specialties, XsunX and Intevac plan to develop a new breed of TFPV manufacturing techniques to produce thin-film solar cells.

By teaming up, the companies plan to effectively combine Intevac's unparalleled expertise and years of technological improvements developed for the sophisticated HDD manufacturing industry with XsunX's experience in the TFPV industry, which includes senior staff with years of commercially successful CIGS-related technology development. The two companies are adapting high-rate production tools from the disk drive industry with process knowledge from the CIGS and thin-film industry. This unique and novel approach focuses on maintaining a relatively small deposition area; initially about five-inch squares similar in size to silicon solar wafers, which the companies believe reduces a significant challenge that has faced the CIGS industry in the past: maintaining cell performance while scaling commercial production.

"We are thrilled to establish this relationship with Intevac, whose HDD manufacturing techniques are the standard of the industry," said Tom Djokovich, chief executive officer, XsunX, Inc. "Intevac has the capacity to bring tremendous value to XsunX through their existing engineering and process development advancements.