As part of the opening session of Intersolar North America in San Francisco today, NREL Director Dan Arvizu signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems; and Japan’s Research Center for Photovoltaic Technologies, a research unit of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology.

 

The goal of the Global Alliance of Solar Energy Research Institutes is to accelerate progress toward shared solar research and development goals as well as to ensure sustainable long-term use of solar energy.

 

“NREL has been a solar energy pioneer since its inception as the Solar Energy Research Institute 35 years ago,” NREL Director Dan Arvizu said. “We are proud to join in this alliance with the leading institutions in Germany and Japan to enhance international solar energy research cooperation.”

 

The main focus of the Global Alliance of Solar Energy Research Institutes will be a researcher exchange program where each organization will send researchers to the other participant’s labs for collaborative research lasting anywhere from six months to two years.

 

NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy’s primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for DOE by The Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

 

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