21 April 2011

Apollo-NJIT Solar Energy Research Center files US Patent for Cd vacancy theory

Apollo Solar Energy Inc of Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China says that professor Ken Chin, director of the Apollo-NJIT Solar Energy Research Center, has filed the US patent application ‘CdTe Solar Panel Processing Technology based on Cd Vacancy Theory’ (application number 61/357,058).

Through its subsidiary Sichuan Apollo Solar Science and Technology Co Ltd, Apollo Solar Energy is a vertically integrated firm primarily engaged in mining, refining and producing high-purity tellurium (Te), tellurium-based compounds and other metals for the thin-film solar photovoltaic (PV) industry as well as for segments of the electronic materials market including radiation detection and infrared detection. Products include ultra-high-purity metals and commercial-purity metals (such as selenium, antimony, bismuth, cadmium and zinc), cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film compounds, and copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film compounds.

In March 2010, Apollo Solar awarded a three-year $1.5m grant to establish the Apollo CdTe Solar Energy Research Center at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) in Newark, NJ, USA, focused on improving the applications of CdTe materials for use in thin-film solar cells. In exchange, Apollo receives first refusal and exclusive rights to use all patents filed by the Apollo-NJIT Solar Energy Research Center.

“Despite its commercial success, CdTe photovoltaic is still often called a ‘mystery’,” says Apollo’s CEO Dr Jingong Pan. “While many critical processing steps in current CdTe solar panel manufacturing were developed empirically through the years, their mechanisms remain controversial and not well known. Our new invention, however, is based on fundamental understanding of the CdTe solar cell's materials, structure, and device physics,” he adds. “Our new invention may lead to a significant improvement in energy conversion efficiency and reduction of production cost of CdTe thin-film panels. As a result, we believe that our invention may significantly promote the development of the CdTe thin-film PV industry, and increase market share for our products worldwide.”

Tags: Apollo Solar CdTe CIGS

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