索比光伏网（Solarbe.com）长春电11月4日，中国科学院所属三家研究所与染料敏化太阳能电池(DSSC)生产商G24 Innovations (G24i)正式签约，承担该技术的工业开发及业务扩展。这三家科研院所分别为：中国科学院的长春应用化学研究所（CIAC）、天津的国家纳米技术与工程研究院（CNANE）以及中国纳米技术产业化基地(NIBC)，三家研究机构将共同推进DSSC的工业化，使G24i的太阳能技术在材料、生产及科研方面取得重大进展。
中国科学院长春应用化学研究所和国家纳米技术与工程研究院首席研究员，中国高性能DSSC方面的领军科学家王鹏教授说：“我很高兴，也很自豪能够将Graetzel教授的技术以这样有意义的方式带入中国，也对G24i成为第一家有能力大规模灵活生产染料敏化太阳能电池的公司感到欣喜”。
作为天津滨海新区国家纳米技术与工程研究院及中国纳米技术产业化基地负责人的许建中教授，关注在国家纳米技术与工程研究院的支持下的高科技企业有多少能被吸引到中国纳米技术产业化基地，并创造就业机会。“我希望在这里发明的技术能够最终投入生产”，他强调说：“王鹏做得很好，他建立了自己的纳米技术的团队。但是，研究团队并没有关注生产，这就是我想和G24i合作的原因。”
对于与中国科学院所的合作，G24i的首席执行官John Hartnett解释说：“这个协议代表着G24i实现发展的重要机会，在这些中国科研机构的帮助下，我们有信心在短期内实现成本的削减并加速商业化。”
首批商用染料敏化太阳能电池（DSSC）于三周前正式上市，该电池可替代传统的硅太阳能电池，这种创新技术突破了电池对环境损耗的局限。
据介绍，染料敏化太阳能电池的独特之处在于它非常耐用、轻便、适用性强，并能在低光度的室内及室外发电。DSSC组件可有效地装置于衣服、帐篷、电子广告牌，亦适用于装置于大厦室内的太阳能光伏系统，这些系统受当地条例规限，要求即场发电，或要附有主要的节能措施。G24i专利的高速连续式生产程序，让公司可在占地23英亩的18.7万平方尺厂房进行大量生产。
G24i获欧洲的瑞士Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) 授权，生产太阳能光伏染料电池技术，并赋予全球无限制的分销权，这包括所有现时及未来的知识产权。
Just three weeks after G24 Innovations (G24i) successfully launched the world’s first commercial application of Dye-Sensitive Solar Cells (DSSC), the global pioneer of DSSC announced that it has signed a formal agreement with three of China’s most prestigious institutes to accelerate industrial development of the technology. Continuing its expansion, G24i has signed an agreement with the China National Academy of Nanotechnology & Engineering (CNANE) in Tianjin, together with the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry (CIAC) which is part of the China Academy of Sciences, and the Nanotechnology Industrialization Base of China (NIBC).
Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells are unique in that they are extremely robust, lightweight and durable, and produce electricity in low-light conditions indoors as well as outside. G24i’s DSSC modules are so versatility that they can be used in industries as diverse as personal electronics, building and construction, and military and defense where rugged conditions and wide variations in lighting can apply.
The contract signals the intent of the parties to establish an accelerated growth platform for the industrialization of G24i’s technology. The three national Chinese institutes have agreed to commit their resources to industrializing DSSC with the objective of making significant advances in materials, manufacturing and scientific aspects of G24i’s thin-film solar technology. The agreement comes on the heels of G24i’s debut at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair where the announcement of new G24i new solar products received widespread attention from industry and top tier media in the region.
Commenting on the signing of the agreement, chief executive officer of G24i, John Hartnett, explained: “This agreement represents a very significant opportunity for G24i to tackle some developmental challenges. With the help of these major Chinese Institutes, we are confident that we can achieve significant cost reductions in the near term and drive commercialization at an even more accelerated pace.”
Inventor of the DSSC “Graetzel Cell” and professor at the Swiss institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), in Lausanne, Dr. Michael Graetzel, lauded the signing of the MOU: “This agreement with G24i is a major step toward inexpensive and large scale commercialization of dye sensitized solar cells.”
The commitment to developing DSSC technology runs deep with Professor Peng Wang, the principal investigator of DSSC at CIAC and CNANE. Professor Wang was one of the principal contributors in the development of DSSC during his tenure as a postdoctoral fellow with Professor Graetzel’s group at EPFL in Switzerland, and is now China’s leading scientist for high-performance DSSC. He commented “I am so excited and proud to be bringing Dr. Graetzel’s technology to China in a meaningful way. I am deeply impressed by the advancements G24i has made in being the first to have the capability to mass-produce flexible dye-sensitized solar cells.”
China has adopted what is effectively a hybrid model for driving economic development by blending government and market forces with scientific and professional disciplines. Professor Xu Jianzhong is president of CNANE and NIBC, located at China’s Binhai Economic Development Area in Tianjin, and is responsible for seeing that work at CNANE supports the high tech sector in which NIBC must attract industry for job creation. “I want to see manufacturing with technology invented here”, emphasizes Xu. "Peng is doing great work here as he builds up his nanotechnology team. However, the research team doesn’t focus on manufacturing and that’s why we want to work together with G24i.”
