Spire Corp. says that its wholly owned subsidiary, Spire Semiconductor LLC, has been awarded an 18-month, $3,706,359 program by the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), consisting of $2,960,850 in government funding and a $745,509 cost share.
Under the contract, Spire Semiconductor will develop next-generation manufacturing technology to produce 42% efficient III-V three-junction tandem concentrator solar cells.
‘We are pleased that NREL selected Spire to participate in this highly competitive Photovoltaic Technology Incubator program, whose goal is to shorten the time line for companies to transition prototype and pre-commercial PV technologies into pilot and full-scale manufacture,’ says Edward D. Gagnon, general manager of Spire Semiconductor.
‘Our new growth technique has the potential for producing concentrator cells with record-level efficiencies with lower manufacturing costs and higher reliability,’ he continues.
SOURCE: Spire Corp.
