Germany Increasing its Focus on Solar Energy

In the wake of the 11 March nuclear disaster at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima nuclear power complex, the government of German Chancellor Angela Merkel decided to shutter the country’s nuclear power plants, which in turn has increased Berlin’s interest in renewable energy sources.

Merck KGaA, a multinational pharmaceutical and chemical group is displaying its newest components of a solar power system at the 26th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition in Hamburg.

The German Merck KGaA conglomerate is exhibiting key system materials including solar panels, etching pastes, organic semiconducting polymers and electrolytes in its lineup entitled “isishape.”

In a press release Merck KGaA said, “The unique concept behind ‘isishape’ offers environmentally friendly and highly efficient materials for smart and simple structuring in the photovoltaic industry. The materials are regularly used for various applications by leading solar cell manufacturers.”

About 950 companies and organizations from more than 100 countries have gathered in Hamburg for the exhibition.

Merck KGaA’s “isishape SolarEtch” has become a proven structuring method in various production lines of leading solar cell manufacturers allowing the optimization of new cell designs that seek to provide higher cell efficiencies at a competitive cost structure in the highly competitive photovoltaic PV market.

By. Charles Kennedy, Deputy Editor OilPrice.com