PV manufacturing R&D project status & accomplishments under "in-line diagnostics & intelligent processing"

In 1991, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories embarked on a research partnership with the U.S. photovoltaic (PV) industry by cost-sharing industry-based R&D efforts. The PV Manufacturing R&D (PVMR&D) Project, an extension of the earlier PV Manufacturing Technology (PVMaT) Project, aims at streamlining and improving the current PV manufacturing technology to enable U.S. manufacturers to compete in the global marketplace. Currently, PVMR&D has ten active subcontracts with manufacturers working in several facets of the U.S. PV industry; four subcontracts were completed within the past year.