Solarmer's R&D team launched operations in July, 2007 and has grown to a fully operational research and development effort occupying 9,000 square feet of lab and office space in El Monte, CA. This team has its origins in the research lab of Professor Yang Yang at the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, where Solarmer's fundamental technology was developed.
The R&D team is currently focused on development of the initial commercial grade prototype of Solarmer's plastic solar cells and on post-prototype development activities. Solarmer has defined this commercial grade prototype as having 8% efficiency and 3+ years lifetime in a solar cell that is 50 cm squared and plans to demonstrate this prototype by the end of the third quarter of 2009. Key to achieving this goal is the R&D team's material development and device engineering expertise. The R&D team is led by Solarmer's Director of Research and Development, Dr. Yue Wu.
