Meyer Burger enters into strategic collaboration with leading French research centre CEA and receives order of over CHF 12 million in PV equipment. Meyer Burger and CEA will carry out joint research on next generation high performance Heterojunction and SmartWire Connection technologies.
Meyer Burger has received an order of over CHF 12 million from the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) for the delivery of high performance Heterojunction (HJT) cell coating equipment, innovative SmartWire Connection technology (SWCT), high capacity cell testing equipment and next generation bifacial encapsulation technology and equipment. Meyer Burger’s high performance technology and systems were selected by CEA to replace its existing solar manufacturing test equipment and technology.
Meyer Burger Technology Ltd (SIX Swiss Exchange: MBTN), with its comprehensive portfolio of innovative, integrated high performance photovoltaic (PV) technologies and solutions along the entire PV value chain, has entered into a strategic partnership with CEA and its Institute of Laboratories for Innovation in New Energy Technologies and Nanomaterials (LITEN) to carry out joint research on the next generation of future oriented high performance solar technologies such as HJT and SWCT.
Meyer Burger will supply CEA with systems and pilot equipment including advanced features for next generation HJT and SWCT cells and modules to replace their existing PV fabrication equipment. The systems and technologies will be used for research and development, including marathon research tests, with the goal of verifying new features and capabilities in an industrial environment in order to further develop the next generation of HJT and SWCT cells and module production equipment technologies.
The close cooperation with leading European research institutions such as CEA and CSEM (Centre Suisse d’Electronique et de Microtechnique) ensures Meyer Burger plays an important role in fundamental PV research on high efficiency technologies which translate into industrially applicable procedures and processes and a sustainable reduction in the cost of solar energy.
Collaboration efforts have already started at Meyer Burger’s competence centre for cell and surface coating technologies in Hohenstein-Ernstthal. Delivery and installation of the Heterojunction and SmartWire Connection equipment at CEA is scheduled to begin in late 2015.
