Technology and R&D

Manz Automation AG has signed a know-how licensing and strategic alliance agreement with Würth Solar GmbH & Co. KG. Under the €50 million agreement, Manz gains exclusive rights to the use to Würth Solar’s Copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS) production technology and exclusive access to their research results regarding CIGS modules on glass substrates.

The Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) has established a USD$5 million industry-university Energy research Initiative (ERI). It will initially address two areas: photovoltaics (PV) and systems and technologies to enable and optimize smart grids.

Imec says it has realized large-area (70cm2) epitaxial solar cells with efficiencies of up to 16.3 percent on high-quality substrates. Efficiencies of up to 14.7 percent were also achieved on large-area low-quality substrates, thus demonstrating “the potential of thin film epitaxial solar cells for industrial manufacturing”.

A major research effort led by Arizona State University is looking at how solar and other renewable energies can help the economy. The project includes tools to benefit homeowners, businesses and the leaders who need to make informed decisions about which power-generation methods to use and where to locate new facilities, such as solar fields.

New Zealand-based University of Otago scientists have gained significant funding from the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology to next-generation electronic materials for solar power.

JA Solar has signed a three-year supply agreement for silicon nanoparticle ink from Innovalight for the production of JA Solar’s recently announced Secium solar cells.

The performance of crystalline silicon – widely considered a reliable solar module construction – declines amid rising temperatures of rooftop modules, according to studies performed by TÜV Rheinland PTL, LLC.  

An etching technique that makes silicon wafers more efficient and a “mammoth power generator that sets a new standard for the production of solar energy” – both developed at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory – have been named among this year’s most significant innovations by Research & Development (R&D) Magazine.

The Solar Impulse HB-SIA plane took off from the Payerne airbase in Switzerland today in preparation for its first night flight. It is hoped the energy collected today and stored in its batteries will last until the next sunrise.

The Dichtel group has said it has developed a method to organize organic dyes into stacked sheets that are porous for incorporation into flexible solar cells. The process, it says, could revolutionize the way solar cells are made by lowering costs dramatically, while creating highly efficient and easy-to-manufacture solar cells.