President's Host is Longtime Pioneer in Energy Research
Posted on: Monday, 20 February 2006, 06:00 CST
By Alejandro Bodipo-Memba, Detroit Free Press
Feb. 20--Rochester Hills-based Energy Conversion Devices Inc. has been at the forefront of alternative energy research and development for nearly five decades.
Founded in 1960 by current president and chief scientist Stanford Ovshinsky and his wife, Iris Ovshinsky, ECD makes photovoltaic panels to generate electricity from sunlight. Through its joint ventures and subsidiary companies, ECD also builds hydrogen fuel cells, nickel hydride batteries and commercially available solar heating systems.
The company is Michigan's poster child for exploring frontiers in nanotechnology and alternative and renewable energy. It holds more than 350 U.S. patents for a variety of materials and processes.
With growing demand for alternative energy sources, companies like ECD are key cogs in the state's effort to demonstrate that it can compete in the arena of providing new fuel alternatives to power the cars and trucks of the future.
Earlier this year, an ECD joint venture company signed an agreement to provide a nickel metal hydride battery system for General Motors Corp.'s 2007 Saturn Vue Green Line hybrid SUV.
Another ECD joint venture recently signed a long-term licensing agreement with Samsung Electronics Co. to produce thin-film semiconductor memory technology.
And last week, the company announced plans to expand the solar module manufacturing capacity of its United Solar Ovonic subsidiary to 300 megawatts by the year 2010. President George W. Bush is scheduled to visit that Auburn Hills plant today.
"Expanding our capacity should enable us to continue to strengthen our position in the rapidly growing market for solar power systems," said ECD Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert Stempel, a former chairman and CEO of GM. "Global demand for solar power systems is expected to grow in excess of 20% annually."
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Source: Detroit Free Press
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