HelioVolt Extends CRADA Partnership with NREL

Nov 15, 2010 - Syanne Olson - PV-tech.org

HelioVolt and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory have agreed to extend their cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA), which is working towards the development of faster, yet more efficient ways to manufacture low-cost thin-film CIGS PV. The partnership has already received numerous rewards, including the 2008 R&D 100 Editor’s Choice “Most Revolutionary Technology” Award for the liquid deposition hybrid CIGS.

"HelioVolt is deeply committed to our collaborative efforts with NREL. We continue to invest in the relationship because of the tremendous value our teams have jointly contributed to our technology evolution roadmap. CIGS modules are entering a very exciting commercial phase in the solar industry. We believe that high conversion efficiencies—above 15% on a full-size monolithically interconnected module rather than cell level—require developing innovative methods for producing nanoscale building blocks and synthesizing them into device-quality CIGS thin-film material. Our work with NREL provides us a sound foundation for realizing these goals,” said BJ Stanbery, HelioVolt’s founder and chairman.