Heraeus Photovoltaics announced an expansion of its China and Singapore R&D capabilities by establishing fully-equipped Innovation Centers in Shanghai and Singapore. To celebrate the company’s continued expansion, former world champion table tennis champion Timo Boll will be at the Heraeus booth at the SNEC PV Power Expo in China on June 4, 2019.
The new China Innovation Center will expand the current local R&D capabilities and be a state-of-the-art research and development lab specifically focused on the technical requirements of China-based customers. The facility, which will be fully staffed and operational by September 2019, will work with customers on current-generation of metallization pastes to accelerate customers’ speed-to-market. At the same time, Heraeus Photovoltaics will significantly strengthen its current R&D capabilities at its Singapore Technology Center, which focuses on current generation paste for Heraeus Photovoltaics global accounts in the South East Asia region and beyond.
Both R&D Centers will be vital for new product development and customer-specific modifications for mono and multi-crystalline silicon cells. Martin Ackermann, President of Heraeus Photovoltaics, noted, “Asia, especially China, is the world leader in solar energy, and the world’s largest photovoltaics customers are here. By streamlining and localizing R&D, we increase our market focus, accelerate product innovation and facilitate local alignment between sales, R&D and our customers.”
To celebrate these new investments, Heraeus has invited Timo Boll, world champion table tennis star, to meet customers and show attendees at the SNEC PV Power Expo on the Heraeus booth (booth #W3-510) on June 4th.
Currently ranked as one of the top five table tennis players in the world, Timo Boll was rated number one in the world three separate years in 2003, 2011 and 2018. In addition to his global success in table tennis, Boll converted his home in Germany to solar in 2016 and is a passionate advocate for solar energy.
He said, “I continue to be amazed and impressed how solar energy continues to advance. That is why I am pleased to be associated with a PV leader like Heraeus. They share the same principles I use to compete and succeed in table tennis: speed, strategy and strong teamwork.” In the last ten years, Heraeus has continually invested in both short-term operational projects and long-term strategic initiatives to support its customers in China and around the world. This year, Heraeus Photovoltaics became the first metallization paste maker to achieve the feat of supplying paste to manufacture 200 GW of PV cells over the last years.
Commenting on the milestone, Mr. Ackermann said, “This achievement is just a preview of what we intend to accomplish in the next ten years by delivering performance, value and stability to our customers. Solar energy has a bright and promising future, and Heraeus will continue to deepen and strengthen our commitment to the photovoltaics industry.”