Dec 21 2010
tei Solutions, an integrated foundry providing 100mm and 300mm R&D services, announces a collaboration with Mears Technologies, a US-based emerging materials technology company, to explore the use of the Mears Silicon Technology (MST) in the development and production of solar cells.
Mears will utilize tei's 100mm Super Clean Fab to produce cells for testing in January 2011.
The MST technology involves the production of an altered or "nano-doped" layer of silicon that can be used in the manufacturing of silicon solar PV wafers; a process already proven in traditional semiconductor manufacturing. The introduction of this layer potentially increases the efficiency parameter for Photovoltaic (PV) technology and solar power generation in silicon PV cells. By improving the efficiency parameter, the use of MST technology in the PV cell development process could reduce the amount of silicon required, potentially making PV cells significantly more effective and much less expensive.
"The impact of the MST technology in the processing of silicon PV cells could greatly benefit solar manufacturers," said Robert Mears, CEO of Mears Technologies. "tei Solutions provides the necessary expertise and services needed for a fabless company such as ourselves to develop and commercialize this exciting new technology to ultimately provide tremendous cost-savings for those producing solar cells."
Earlier this year, K2 Energy Limited, located in Sydney, Australia, acquired the exclusive rights to the MST IP for all solar applications from Mears Technologies. K2 has provided the funding necessary for the R&D required to test and develop Mears' MST technology for use by large-scale solar panel manufacturers.
"We are excited to embark upon this project with Mears Technology to support the growth of Photovoltaic development," said Shuji Ikeda, CEO of tei Solutions. "Our goal is to enable our customers to be successful by providing the R&D resources needed to commercialize new and emerging technologies."