r&d

The ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) members in 2015, Trina Solar, Canadian Solar, JinkoSolar, JA Solar, Hanwha Q CELLS and Yingli Green may have the largest module shipments and manufacturing capacity significantly higher than any other c-Si manufacturer but still lag behind others when it comes to R&D spending.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is providing AU$17 million (US$13 million) funding for nine renewable energy research and development projects looking at energy storage and solar PV among other technologies.

A global coalition aimed at driving investment in clean energy R&D looks set to be finalised by the middle of this year, the UK’s special envoy on climate change has said.

Certain "deep-level" defects in silicon solar cells appear to improve their performance, according to research by scientists at the US governments National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Imec and Kaneka are expanding their collaboration on solar cell technology to incorporate life science and thin-film electronics.