ECN establishes Solar Academy
Petten- The Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) and partners Solland Solar Energy, Limburg Development Co/LIOF and The Institute of Semiconductor Electronics (RWTH Aachen University) plan to establish a Solar Academy in Heerlen (Limburg). The academy will offer professional training activities for employees in the solar cell manufacturing industry.
Solar energy is one of the pillars of a global sustainable energy supply .The photovoltaics market has been showing a strong growth of around 40% per year for the past 10 years. In 2006, approximately 1,470 megawatt-peak were installed, with global industry revenues reaching $10.6bn in 2006, while capital investment through the PV business chain totalled $2.8bn. Future growth rates are expected to remain at comparable levels.
To sustain the strong growth of production capacity in major growth markets such as Germany, Japan, USA and China, more skilled personnel is needed. However, personnel with experience in solar cell manufacturing is scarce. This represents one of the major bottlenecks for the growth in this industrial sector.
Therefore, the courses of The Solar Academy will contain practical and theoretical professional modules for operators, engineers and managers working in the silicon photovoltaics industry. Training will take place on a state-of-the-art pilot production line with industry-compatible equipment. New employees can be trained in practice without disturbing the production process.
Paul Wyers, manager of the Solar Energy unit of ECN:"The Solar Academy is a prime example of ECN technology transfer, responding to the needs of the photovoltaics industry. ECN has already demonstrated the value of practical training to 75 employees of ECN’s customers. It is our ambition to deliver hundreds of trained employees from The Solar Academy."
Mr. Gosse Boxhoorn, CEO of Solland emphasizes: "Solland alone already needs hundreds of new employees in the coming years and we are very happy that The Solar Academy will train them in a realistic environment. This will allow us to focus more on production instead of training people!"
The Solar Academy is founded as a separate legal entity and will be located at the Avantis crossborder Research & Business Park at Heerlen/Aachen.The Solar Academy aims to be operational in the first quarter of 2009.
Rene Seijben, managing director of Avantis. "I am very happy with the decision of the Solar Academy, it will further strengthen the solar cluster in this region and is greatly appreciated as a new company on Avantis".
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For more information, please contact: Frans Stravers, Head of Communications ECN, Telephone +31 (0)224 - 56 41 36, mobile +31 (0)6- 10859900 or email stravers@remove-this-part-ecn.nl
Enclosure
The Energy research Center of the Netherlands (ECN) is an independent, market-oriented organisation for research, development, consulting and knowledge transfer. ECN plays a key role in the development of sustainable energy supply, and is a leading centre of expertise for the international solar industry.
Solland Solar Energy is a Dutch-German solar cell manufacturer based at the border between Germany and The Netherlands. Solland makes use of innovative production methods. Research focuses on solar cell cost reduction, solar cell efficiency improvement and improvement of production methods.
The Institute of Semiconductor Electronics (IHT) of the RWTH Aachen University is one of the leading research institutes in the field of Silicon nanotechnology and Silicon photonics. The primary application field of both fundamental research topics are present and future generations of Silicon photovoltaic cells.
LIOF is the regional development company for Limburg, the most southern province of the Netherlands. LIOF was established in 1975 and has its headquarters in Maastricht, the capital of Limburg. LIOF is an independent authority which aims at the innovative development of the Limburg economy, acts as a venture capitalist, stimulates innovation and undertakes the promotion of its business climate.
