LEUVEN, BELGIUM: SCHOTT Solar, a leading photovoltaics manufacturer, entered into a three-year research partnership with IMEC, Europe's leading independent nanoelectronics research center.

Within this multi-partner R&D program, IMEC aims to explore and develop advanced process technologies to fuel the steep market growth of silicon solar cells in a sustainable way. The program will concentrate on a sharp reduction in silicon use, while increasing cell efficiency and hence further lowering substantially the cost per watt peak.

By joining the silicon PV IIAP, researchers from SCHOTT Solar will be able to closely collaborate with IMEC's research team to build up fundamental understanding and develop robust solutions for next-generation silicon based solar cells. The program will bring together silicon solar cell manufacturers, equipment and material suppliers and is based on a sharing of intellectual property, talent, risk and cost.

"We are excited that one of the leading photovoltaics manufacturers joins our multi-partner program. Building on our 25 years track record in silicon solar cells and our successful experience with Industrial Affiliation Programs on CMOS scaling, we are confident that we will provide our partners a dynamic research platform for accelerated process development;" said Jef Poortmans, Program Director Solar+ at IMEC.

"With over 50 years of experience in the solar market, including cell technology, SCHOTT Solar is established leader in the solar industry. In the highly dynamic market of solar power, short time to market for new products is essential. Therefore, SCHOTT Solar is pleased to announce that the company has joined the high-level IIAP R&D program at IMEC, the leading research institute in the field. We support IMEC's ambitious goals and their work towards creating success their partners," said Dr. Martin Heming, Chief Executive Officer at SCHOTT Solar AG.