French INES aims to become leading solar power R&D centre - report

Nov 4, 2011 - French national solar power institute INES seeks to become by the end of 2012 one of the three world leaders for research and development on solar energy, French daily Les Echos said.
INES targets to rank after US National Renewable Energy Laboratory and German Fraunhofer Institut Center for Silicium Photovoltaics.
By the end of next year, INES, based in the department of Savoie, southeastern France, will have a total 500 researchers, compared to the current 370.
The Institute associates 130 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and 30 large companies and has an annual budget of EUR 80 million (USD 110.6m).
INES, in partnership with private companies, has developed several innovative processes, such as the New Industrial Cell Encapsulation and the metallurgical silicon production process Photosil.

(EUR 1.0= USD 1.384)

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