A*STAR Ups Collaborative R&D in Green Technologies to Spur the Growth of Eco-friendly Industries [Press Releases]

To spur the growth in eco-friendly industries, A*STAR’s research institute, SIMTech, is spearheading a slew of R&D initiatives in green technologies in collaboration with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and National University of Singapore (NUS). Three Joint-Labs with NTU to develop technologies relevant to Remanufacturing are set up and Remanufacturing and Green Packaging Initiatives for industry are rolled out.

SINGAPORE, 16 November 2011: The Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), a research institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), is taking on the challenge of green manufacturing by spurring R&D collaborations on remanufacturing technologies with NTU and NUS as well as launching initiatives to grow eco-friendly industries .

Investing in 10 New Projects in Remanufacturing Technologies

2. SIMTech is engaging with NUS and NTU on 10 new projects to jointly develop competitive remanufacturing technologies for Singapore’s manufacturing companies. This is the first such instance of significant investment in remanufacturing projects by the Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) of A*STAR. The projects were awarded by SERC in September 2011. Read more

A*STAR’s Experimental Power Grid Centre to spur R&D collaborations for future energy and smart grid solutions [Press Releases]

1. Singapore, 1 November 2011. The Experimental Power Grid Centre (EPGC), one of the largest experimental power grid facilities in the world was officially opened in Singapore, today, by Mr. S. Iswaran, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Home Affairs and Trade & Industry.

2. Located on Jurong Island, EPGC, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research’s (A*STAR’s) centre for energy research is established to support Singapore’s goal toward developing a smart energy economy. The facility will pave the way for cutting-edge research and research collaborations with local and international partners to develop future energy technologies in areas of electrical power networks and energy distribution and renewable energy resources, for eventual commercialisation. Read more

Cheaper, more efficient thin-film solar cells developed [News]

By Channel NewsAsia, 12 Oct 2011.

Researchers in Singapore have managed to develop a highly efficient and yet cheaper silicon solar cell.

With this development, they hope the cost of solar energy can be halved.

Developed jointly by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and A*STAR Institute of Microelectronics (IME), the new thin-film silicon solar cells are designed to be made from cheaper, low-grade silicon.

But the NTU said the new solar cells are able to generate electric current close to that produced by traditional solar cells made from more costly, high-quality silicon. Read more

New polymeric material brings companies one step closer to cheaper plastic solar cells and electronics [Press Releases]

Scientists from Singapore’s Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), an institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) have created a new polymer with both high charge mobility and high power conversion efficiency for application in both plastic electronics and organic solar cells.

1. Singapore, 16 August 2011 – A single polymer that can be used in both new age plastic electronics as well as plastic solar cells could spell greater cost-savings and open up new design options for electronic and solar cell companies. A*STAR’s IMRE has developed a new polymer that not only produces a high charge mobility of 0.2 cm2/V.s, which is the same value achieved by commercially available semiconducting materials but also has a high solar power conversion efficiency of 6.3%. This makes IMRE’s polymer one of the few that has both these properties. In addition to this, polymers of the same class as IMRE’s, which are those that use thiophene and benzothiadiazole as the building blocks, could only achieve 2.2% power conversion. Read more

NUS and A*STAR Launch Research Programmes in New Growth Area of Green Electronics [Press Releases]

Programmes to train and equip NUS graduates with knowledge and skills to plan and design green data centres, and pioneer next-generation power devices for green automotive and energy harvesting

The National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) jointly launched two new research programmes today to nurture and train skilled professionals to power Green Electronics, a new growth area in the electronics sector. These programmes will lead to a PhD degree for successful candidates who may be supported through scholarships provided by A*STAR and NUS.

Green Electronics have been identified by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) to transform the electronics sector into a new engine for economic growth, alongside BioElectronics, Plastic Electronics and Security. EDB recently reported that the electronics sector experienced a 27 per cent growth and generated $89.9 billion in fixed asset investment last year. Read more

A*STAR Musters a Line-up of Four Industry Players to Develop Future Energy Technologies

Groundbreaking of A*STAR’s Experimental Power Grid Centre (EPGC) on Jurong Island paves the way for cutting-edge R&D to develop Singapore as a ‘living laboratory’ for smart grid solutions

1. Four companies, namely, Rolls Royce, Vestas, SP PowerGrid and CEI Contract Manufacturing entered into strategic partnerships with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) today to develop smart grid and distributed energy solutions. This was announced at the groundbreaking ceremony of its smart grid research facility of the Experimental Power Grid Centre (EPGC) by Guest-of-Honour, Mr Ravi Menon, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Trade & Industry.

2. The technologies and solutions being jointly developed will form the key components to be integrated into the intelligent grid system. Said Mr. Lim Chuan Poh, Chairman, A*STAR: “Smart grid R&D is critical to transforming Singapore into a smart energy economy and EPGC is an important enabling infrastructure that will bring us a step closer to realising an intelligent national energy grid. With this infrastructure in place, Singapore will be well-positioned to take R&D in energy solutions to the next level.” Read more