Natcore to return to China to present new technology

RED BANK, USA: Natcore Technology Inc., which in June formed a joint venture in Hunan Province that could make solar energy cost-competitive with conventional power, has accepted an invitation to return to China in order to present some of its other technology at a conference in Shandong Province.

Two Natcore co-founders, John Calhoun and Andrew R. Barron, will be keynote speakers at the Binzhou International Sustainable and Economic Development Conference, to take place in Binzhou from August 23 to 27. According to their invitation, Binzhou is hosting this conference in order to build relationships "with professionals, corporations and agencies who can set up joint ventures to develop sustainable and other kinds of businesses."

The 200 attendees, city and provincial officials who want to develop the Yellow River Delta, which includes Binzhou and neighboring cities, will hear 11 speakers representing businesses or educational institutions. Natcore was invited because of its success in establishing a joint venture in Zhuzhou City, a success that the Chinese would like to replicate in Binzhou.

Calhoun, a Director of Natcore, will describe some of the company's specific technical capabilities and their potential commercial applications. For example:

* A process using silicon quantum dots with the potential to produce super-efficient (30 percent+) solar cells;
* Techniques to craft unique sizes and shapes of solar cells that can be applied to a variety of surfaces, which could lead to unusual applications in architecture, mass transit, and textiles;
* A method for coating carbon nanotubes could evolve into flexible or fabric solar cells or into a cloth to deflect x-rays;
* A method for depositing a dielectric thin film on a flexible conductive substrate could allow roll-to-roll fabrication of thin film solar cells and other electronic and optoelectronic devices;
* A liquid phase deposition (LPD) process that can be used to control the emissivity of architectural glass surfaces or for passivating the surface of silicon solar cells.

Prof. Barron, the Charles W. Duncan, Jr.-Welch Endowed Chair of Chemistry and Professor of Materials Science at Rice University, will identify the Rice Alliance, a Houston collaboration between business, government and academia, as a potential model for the development of Binzhou. He will also explain the technology behind Natcore's portfolio and its usage in clean energy, environment and health.

"While we're trying to find joint venture opportunities to accelerate Natcore's growth in our own country, we can't ignore opportunities such as Binzhou when they present themselves. We're a public company with obligations to our shareholders," says Chuck Provini, Natcore's president and CEO. "When someone approaches us about a joint venture, as they did before Zhuzhou City, we listen." Natcore is headquartered in Red Bank, NJ.