One of the world's largest steel producers, India-based Tata Steel Group, announced on June 10 that it has produced the world's largest dye-sensitized photovoltaic module in association with Dyesol, a global solar technology company.
Manufactured at Tata Steel's Shotton site in North Wales, UK, the module is over three meters in length and approximately one square meter in area. According to Tata Steel, this achievement represents an important step in the development of large-scale micro energy generation capability within infrastructure. Produced as a single length of coated steel rather than separate cells connected together, the breakthrough will lead to development of a manufacturing process that can produce long roofing panels with an integrated dye-sensitised photovoltaic function.
Following the successful completion of the first three years of their joint development project in June this year, Tata Steel and Dyesol recently announced that they will be increasing the number of personnel at the Shotton site from 30 to 50 as the project moves into the pre-industrialisation phase.