Solarever Announces Alliance with UNAM and USTC

Solarever reported the formation of The International Alliance for Technological Innovation in Renewable Energy with UNAM’s Renewable Energy Institute (IER) and the Chinese University of Science and Technology (USTC). The goals of this partnership include building a technological maturation laboratory, the developing of research projects and creating new patents that will help boost the Mexican solar sector.

The alliance was signed on Dec. 9, 2022, in Mexico City, during the 10th anniversary of Solarever in the Mexican energy market. “The International Alliance of Technological Innovation in Renewable Energy seeks to materialize the best research projects to promote the use of clean energy in Mexico and the world,” said Carlos Gutiérrez, Subdirector of Production, Solarever.

Karla Cedano, Secretary of Technology Management and Linkage, IER, stated that the collaboration between industries and universities allows for generating results with greater benefits to society. "We want to share all the knowledge generated from these projects so a lot of people can benefit. This is what social innovation is all about: managing knowledge in a participatory way to define projects, programs and public policies that improve the quality of life of people and their communities," she said.

USTC stated it aims to develop technology that improves the efficiency, capacity and functionality of solar panels, solar energy inverters and electric vehicles manufactured by the company. “One of the projects in which we are currently working is an artificial intelligence system, which will be applied to Solarever Electric Vehicles for autonomous driving,” said Sun Haiding, Associate Researcher, USTC.

During the presentation of the alliance, three main objectives were announced. The first goal is to build the technology maturation laboratory, a virtual lab that will be open to receiving initiatives from all interested universities, as well as from private companies in the solar power industry. The laboratory will be financed by Solarever with an overall budget of MX$800,000 (US$40,429) and it is expected to be fully operational in 2H23. Secondly, the alliance seeks to carry out research in perovskite solar cells as well as in silicon solar cells with passive layers. Finally, along with the Autonomous Metropolitan University, the project will recycle solar panels and cells. 

Hailin Hu, Professor and Researcher, IRE, also attended the ceremony. Professor Hu’s line of research focuses on the development of organic and inorganic materials for application in third-generation solar cells. She is the most experienced academic in Mexico in the development of organic and inorganic semiconductor materials for use in photovoltaic cells. Likewise, Fadlala Akabani, Minister of Economic Development of Mexico City, was also present. Akabani said that the installation of the first phase of the Distributed Generation Photovoltaic Systems project on the roofs of Mexico City’s Central Market will conclude this year. Solarever has been selected to supply the panels for this first stage, and the second phase of the project will begin in January 2023.