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How Our Unique Partnership Works

The Bay Area Photovoltaic Consortium is a unique partnership joining universities, industry, and the US Government with the mission of developing advanced technologies to deliver high-performance photovoltaic modules at low-cost. BAPVC brings a revolutionary approach to creating the environment needed to promote great innovation. While setting the scope for university research in topics with explicit industry support assures relevance of results, our premise is that it is the interaction among the leading scientists from both industry and universities that will catalyze generation of the disruptive ideas that can change the face of PV manufacturing in the United States.

Spurring Innovative Research That Immediately Benefits Industry

The consortium was established in 2011 by the US Department of Energy to help the US PV manufacturing industry. Our goal is to find and fund the best research in universities around the United States to advance photovoltaic manufacturing technologies, developing innovations that can be transferred to industry within three to five years. Current projects are reported in our Research Catalogue. 

The Role of Our Industry Members

Industry members are an important part of the BAPVC because they identify areas of research emphasis, review and rank proposals, monitor research, and commercialize innovations. Membership by leading companies from every position in the PV supply chain provides a fast and continuous channel for transitioning new products and processes into the U.S. photovoltaic market.