Eurotron expects to benefit from Canadian Solar tech transfer agreement

Canadian Solar (Nasdaq:CSIQ) said today it signed a joint technology development and transfer agreement with the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands in order to achieve a better competitive edge in the photovoltaic market.

The agreement is for applying technology for "metal wrap-through" cells to Canadian Solar's production lines.

According to the company, metal wrap-through cells eliminate the need for front bus bars, increasing effective surface area and enhancing conversion efficiencies.

Canadian Solar said the cells are expected to allow it to produce more powerful modules and possibly reduce manufacturing costs.

Canadian Solar and the research center plan to develop and manufacture the specialized module assembly equipment with Eurotron, a Netherlands-based company that makes powerful handling equipment for module assembly.

Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed, but the specialized cell technology transfer is expected to take about six months.

The research center is known for its high-efficiency cell and module technologies including metal wrap-through. It is also working with China’s Yingli Green Energy and Amtech Systems to develop high efficiency N-type solar cells at Yingli’s pilot production line in Baoding, China (see Yingli, Amtech partner in next-gen solar efficiency research).

Today's agreement falls under Canadian Solar's high-efficiency research program, which has also been investigating a new cell structure expected to raise the conversion efficiency of monocrystalline cells to 18.5 percent and multicrystalline cells to 16.8 percent conversion efficiency, the company claims. The new cell structure is expected to be introduced in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Canadian Solar is incorporated in Canada, but conducts its manufacturing operations in China (see Canadian Solar secures rights for 500 MW Inner Mongolian solar plant). It manufactures solar products such as ingots, wafers, solar cells and modules, as well as solar systems for customers worldwide.