JA Solar, the fastest growing PV manufacturer in 2014, has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with PV materials and technology specialist DuPont.
The companies held a signing ceremony at the DuPont China R&D Center in Shanghai on 9 December, 2014 that will see the pair continue to work together on solar cell technology and advanced materials for increased cell efficiencies and product durability.
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JA Solar recently had TUV Rheinland verify its PERC cell technology produced modules had a 17.2% conversion efficiency that produced a standard 60-cell module with a performance output figure above 280W.
The company had also claimed its ‘Cypress 2’ cell technology for monocrystalline and multicrystalline cells could reach conversion efficiencies of 19.4% and 17.9%, respectively.
JA Solar is also planning to expand both solar cell and PV module capacity by around 20% in order to keep in alignment with expected global market growth in 2015.
PV Tech’s R&D spending analysis of top PV module manufacturers in 2013 highlighted that JA Solar has been gradually increasing R&D spending over the last three years and was ranked eighth amongst key rivals. The company spent US$15 million in in-house R&D in 2013.