Intersolar: Thin-Film Solar Startups Race to Build Plants, Despite Recession – earth2tech.com 07/17/2009 With the prices of silicon falling, competition heating up among solar equipment makers and solar manufacturing capacity expected to far exceed demand this year, it may seem like the worst possible time to build a solar factory. Yet several thin-film startups, such as PrimeStar Solar and Applied Quantum Technology, are doing just that.