Trina Solar Working With Australian Universities To Drive Innovation

“Trina Solar has been working to market solar systems with PERC technology to consumers around theworld so we can help people to switch to renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions,” says Altermatt.

“The market response to the PERC technology has been outstanding,” he adds.

PERC stands for passivated emitter and rear cell. Passivated means that defects at surfaces do not reduce the power. The PERC cell is passivated at both the front emitter and at the rear. In earlier cells, the rear surface reduced the power.

While Trina Solar has worked with the University of NSW on PERC cell technology, hydrogenation and characterization; it has also worked with ANU.

“ANU is doing excellent work in researching defects in silicon and new types of layers that can be applied to the front and back of the silicon wafer to passivate, so the cell generates more electricity.”

“It has also been researching ways that these thin layers can be applied to the silicon wafer more cheaply,”he adds.

“ANU has recently done ground breaking work to passivate metal contacts by putting thin layers betweenthe silicon wafer and the contacts. Such ‘passivated contacts’ will be decisive for cell improvements in thenear future. ANU right now is paving the way for the future of solar cell improvements.”

Altermatt says: “Most researchers would agree that the modern solar cells coming onto the market today,would not be so efficient and so cheap to produce if it hadn’t been for the research done by both theUniversity of NSW and ANU.”

He says it is important for industry to work with tertiary institutions to drive product innovation.

Trina Solar helps to fund both ‘blue sky’ research and applied research.

“You cannot commercialise all ‘blue sky’ research, but ‘blue sky’ research is very important because it iswhere innovative and original ideas are born. If you only do applied research, then all you end up with isoptimization and ways to improve existing technology,” says Altermatt.

“To mass produce a modern solar cell, there are eight different manufacturing processes to go through, otherwise known as fabrication steps. Five of the eight fabrication steps are the result of ‘blue sky’ research done mostly by universities,” he says.

“In blue sky research you are free to develop new ideas and follow your ideas. This is the foundation of asuccessful industry,” he adds.

Besides working with tertiary institutions to foster innovative ideas that may ultimately have useful commercial applications, Trina Solar also likes to work with tertiary institutions because it is a way to foster and identify talent.

“When the PhD students eventually graduate, they look for a job and we hire them because we know them, we’ve worked with them and we know their skills and capabilities,” says Altermatt.