Emcore Corp of Albuquerque, NM, USA, which makes compound semiconductor-based components and subsystems for the fiber-optic and solar power markets, has received the Association of University Research Parks' (AURP) Innovation Award for its pioneering work in the development and commercialization of high-efficiency multi-junction solar cells for space and terrestrial solar power applications. The award was presented to president & CEO Dr Hong Q. Hou on 26 September at the AURP's International Conference Awards Luncheon.
Annually, the AURP presents Awards of Excellence in several categories including the Innovation Award (presented to Emcore) and the Outstanding Research/Science Park Award (presented to Sandia Science & Technology Park in 2008).
Emcore began designing and manufacturing radiation-hardened, high-efficiency multi-junction solar cells for satellite and space power applications at Albuquerque's Sandia Science & Technology Park (SS&TP) in early 1998. The R&D team (led by Dr Hong Hou, who had come to Emcore from Sandia National Laboratories) licensed background intellectual properties related to multi-junction solar cells from Sandia, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). From there, Emcore formed its Photovoltaics division in Albuquerque and built its 160,000 square foot wafer fabrication facility (now one of the world's largest multi-junction solar cell manufacturing plants).
Emcore says that its multi-junction solar cells have led the way in the transformation of the space solar power industry over the past 15 years, advancing solar cell energy conversion efficiency from 17% (the standard for silicon-based technology prior to 1998) to 37% for its latest-generation Inverted Metamorphic Multi-Junction (IMM) solar cells (currently being introduced to volume production). With the commercialization of high-efficiency multi-junction solar cells for space power applications, Emcore relocated its corporate headquarters from New Jersey to the SS&TP in Albuquerque in 2006.
"I would also like to thank the Sandia National Laboratories and the SS&TP for their superb resources and support of our efforts from the very beginning," says Hou.
