DuPont says it expects to nearly triple its annual PV sales to more than US$1 billion in 2012.

The facility contains three labs focusing on processes including cell to module manufacturing, PV metallisation and PV module and reliability testing.

“China is a key market for DuPont and will remain so, in spite of the global recession,” says Douglas Muzyka, President at DuPont Greater China. “The centre will allow us to collaborate more closely with our customers in the PV industry, to provide technical support and to develop new materials technologies to meet the market needs.”

In 2008 the output of crystalline silicon PV cells and modules in China was about one third of the total volume in the world, according to DuPont.

In addition to product evaluations, troubleshooting and modifying material properties, the centre could play a “key role as a technical focal point, connecting the China market with other technical networks in the region and with the Experimental Station, DuPont’s global R&D headquarters in the United States,” DuPont says.