Out of the darkness
Inside the new solar cell technology lab at the official opening, April 20th 2009. Photo: www.ife.no
Out of the darkness It is perhaps the ultimate irony that a Nordic country known for its long dark winters should be a world leader in solar cell research, writes Valeria Criscione on Nortrade.com
Yet that is what’s happening at Kjeller, where the Norwegian Research Council has chosen to establish a Norwegian Centre for Solar Cell Technology, one of eight new Centres for Environment Friendly Research.
In April King Harald V of Norway opened a new 1,500 square metre solar research facility that will be the home of the IFE solar cell research group and an important part of the newly established Norwegian Research Centre for Solar Cell Technology.
This centre was granted NOK 375 million in February by the Norwegian Research Council.
The centre brings together the leading solar cell research community and the major solar cell companies in Norway in the country’s largest-ever joint effort in solar cell research.
IFE will collaborate with three other research institutions, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, SINTEF, and the University of Oslo, and nine industry partners: Elkem Solar, Fesil Sunergy, Hydro, Norsun, Prediktor, REC, Scatec, Solar Cell Repower and Umoe Solar.
The centre will train 23 doctorates and 21 post doctorates and establish a national researcher school for solar cell technology.
