7 January 2011

BluGlass outsources processing for InGaN PV cells to Rainbow

BluGlass Ltd of Sydney, Australia, which has developed patented GaN-on-glass LED technology, has commissioned the foundry services of Rainbow Optoelectronics Materials (Shanghai) Co Ltd to provide device fabrication and processing services for the purposes of creating a nitride solar cell prototype designed by BluGlass.

Spun off from the III-nitride department of Macquarie University in 2005, BluGlass has developed a low-temperature process using remote plasma chemical vapor deposition (RPCVD) to grow materials including gallium nitride (GaN) and indium gallium nitride (InGaN) on glass substrates for the production of LEDs, with what is reckoned to be significant low-cost potential and inherent scalability. In May 2009, the firm announced its intention to develop high-efficiency group III nitride solar cells as a supplementary market for its RPCVD technology.

The deal with Rainbow now enables BluGlass to outsource the processing of its InGaN solar cell designs to a dedicated group-III nitride company without the need to invest in additional capital equipment during the research phase.

Alan Li, who joined BluGlass as a non-executive director in November 2009, is general manager of Rainbow, a device manufacturing company that provides nitride semiconductors (primarily LED displays) to more than 25 countries.

BluGlass says that InGaN solar cells, if successful, promise to be long lasting, relatively inexpensive and the most efficient ever created. The firm is developing solar cell structure designs and aims to develop cell prototypes as part of a $4.9m grant awarded in 1995 for the ‘High Efficiency Thin Film Solar Cell Project’ under the Commonwealth government’s ‘Climate Ready’ program.

Tags: BluGlass InGaN PV

Visit: www.bluglass.com.au