DuPont said that its DuPont Apollo amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin-film module manufacturing subsidiary’s operations would be permanently closed by the end of 2014.

The company said that it would provide modules to customers under contractual obligations before shuttering the operations in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China.

Once, a-Si thin-film was hailed as a key new technology for the PV industry, unshackled from sky-rocketing polysilicon prices and the promise of the lowest cost-per-watt in the industry, which attracted numerous companies to enter the market using turnkey production lines.

However, almost all of the a-Si suppliers have gone bankrupt or shuttered operations in recent years, driven by a plummet in polysilicon prices and lack of ability to lower manufacturing costs and improve module conversion efficiencies.

The financial implications of the closures were not disclosed.