Nov 5 2009
Just three weeks after G24 Innovations (G24i) successfully launched the world’s first commercial application of Dye-Sensitive Solar Cells (DSSC), the global pioneer of DSSC announced that it has signed a formal agreement with three of China’s most prestigious institutes to accelerate industrial development of the technology.
Continuing its expansion, G24i has signed an agreement with the China National Academy of Nanotechnology & Engineering (CNANE) in Tianjin, together with the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry (CIAC), which is part of the China Academy of Sciences, and the Nanotechnology Industrialization Base of China (NIBC).
Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells are unique in that they are extremely robust, lightweight and durable, and produce electricity in low-light conditions indoors as well as outside. G24i’s DSSC modules are so versatile that they can be used in industries as diverse as personal electronics, building and construction, and military and defense where rugged conditions and wide variations in lighting can apply.
The contract signals the intent of the parties to establish an accelerated growth platform for the industrialization of G24i’s technology. The three national Chinese institutes have agreed to commit their resources to industrializing DSSC with the objective of making significant advances in materials, manufacturing and scientific aspects of G24i’s thin-film solar technology. The agreement comes on the heels of G24i’s debut at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair where the announcement of G24i’s new solar products received widespread attention from industry and top tier media in the region.
Commenting on the signing of the agreement, chief executive officer of G24i, John Hartnett, explained: “This agreement represents a very significant opportunity for G24i to tackle some developmental challenges. With the help of these major Chinese Institutes, we are confident that we can achieve significant cost reductions in the near term and drive commercialization at an even more accelerated pace.”
Inventor of the DSSC ‘Graetzel Cell’ and professor at the Swiss institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Dr. Michael Graetzel, lauded the signing of the MOU: “This agreement with G24i is a major step toward inexpensive and large scale commercialization of dye sensitized solar cells.”
The commitment to developing DSSC technology runs deep with Professor Peng Wang, the principal investigator of DSSC at CIAC and CNANE. Professor Wang was one of the principal contributors in the development of DSSC during his tenure as a postdoctoral fellow with Professor Graetzel’s group at EPFL in Switzerland, and is now China’s leading scientist for high-performance DSSC. He commented, “I am so excited and proud to be bringing Dr. Graetzel’s technology to China in a meaningful way. I am deeply impressed by the advancements G24i has made in being the first to have the capability to mass-produce flexible dye-sensitized solar cells.”
China has adopted what is effectively a hybrid model for driving economic development by blending government and market forces with scientific and professional disciplines. Professor Xu Jianzhong is president of CNANE and NIBC, located at China’s Binhai Economic Development Area in Tianjin, and is responsible for seeing that work at CNANE supports the high tech sector in which NIBC must attract industry for job creation. “I want to see manufacturing with technology invented here,” emphasizes Xu. “Peng is doing great work here as he builds up his nanotechnology team. However, the research team doesn’t focus on manufacturing and that’s why we want to work together with G24i.”