JDSU acquires critical assets from QuantaSol for concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) solar-cell systems
Milpitas, CA--JDSU (NASDAQ: JDSU) (TSX: JDU) revealed that it has acquired critical product design, patented intellectual property, and other assets from QuantaSol (Surrey, England), which makes concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) solar-cell systems.
QuantaSol's CPV intellectual property includes multiple-quantum-well (MQW) technology, which raises the efficiency of CPV cells: in the technology, MQWs are used to tune the individual cells of a multijunction solar cell. JDSU plans to transfer key assets from QuantaSol to the JDSU headquarters in Milpitas, California over the next six months.
"The CPV market is gaining momentum with major installations happening worldwide," said Alan Lowe, president of the Communications and Commercial Optical Products unit at JDSU. "Incorporating key QuantaSol technology will allow us to further differentiate our products and expand our position in the CPV solar market as popularity for CPV continues to grow."
JDSU's multijunction CPV cells will result in conversion efficiencies exceeding 40% in the next few years, says the company. The CPV cells are specifically designed to capture sunlight at 500X to 1000X concentration ratios.
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John Wallace | Senior Technical Editor (1998-2022)
John Wallace was with Laser Focus World for nearly 25 years, retiring in late June 2022. He obtained a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and physics at Rutgers University and a master's in optical engineering at the University of Rochester. Before becoming an editor, John worked as an engineer at RCA, Exxon, Eastman Kodak, and GCA Corporation.