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.
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.
