The Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and PrimeStar Solar Inc. have signed an $870,000 cooperative research and development agreement to transition NREL's cadmium telluride (CdTe) photovoltaic (PV) technology to commercial module production.
In addition to the technology transfer, the agreement provides PrimeStar Solar with access to NREL's scientists and equipment, the companies say. PrimeStar Solar has already leased a 16,000 square-foot facility near NREL in Golden, Colo., to develop a pilot plant and expedite the project.
‘In the last few years, the production of CdTe PV modules has become a fast-growing business because of low cost and high throughput,’ says Professor Wu, NREL's principal investigator for the agreement. ‘We look forward to assisting PrimeStar in successfully scaling up the production of low-cost CdTe PV modules.’
