Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (IMEC), a nanotechnology and nanoelectronics research center, and Solliance have announced that IMEC will be Solliance’s general partner and will carry on its thin film photovoltaic research and development in Solliance.
Solliance targets three major thin film technologies, organic photovoltaics (OPV), substitutes for CIGS and thin film Si. For these major technologies, it will utilize its facilities in Eindhoven and IMEC’s facilities in Leuven.
Solliance also focuses on standard technologies that will be important to the thin film photovoltaic industry, including in-line monitoring, characterization, testing, roll-to-roll processing, sheet-to-sheet processing, thin film deposition processes, new OPV device development, monolithic interconnection, transparent conductive layers, light control by mechanical texturization and laser technologies.
The alliance has created synergy between over 250 scientists to achieve a common objective of establishing the Eindhoven-Leuven-Aachen triangle (ELAT region) in the global thin film PV market. It plans to achieve this goal through alignment of research programs, advanced infrastructure and close partnership with the solar business community. The Dutch Province of Brabant provides financial backup to Solliance.
Solliance’s Managing Director, Hein Willems stated that the inclusion of IMEC as its fifth member extends its research throughout the entire field, from basics of materials science to advanced manufacturing technologies.
Source: http://www.imec.be