SINGAPORE, 4 SEPTEMBER 2008 -- Global technology and services supplier, Bosch, has established its Asia-Pacific regional headquarters for research and advanced engineering in Singapore.
The Research and Technology Centre Asia-Pacific (RTCAP) will study technology trends and market opportunities in the region. The facility is also expected to enable long-term partnerships with leading R&D institutions through project collaborations.
“Bosch invested EUR3.6 billion (US$5.2 billion), or 7.7 per cent of total sales, on R&D in 2007,” said Cem Peksaglam, president and managing director, Bosch (Southeast Asia). “Of this amount, EUR1.5 billion (US$2.1 billion) went into R&D expenditure for environmentally-friendly products.”
RTCAP role
Singapore was chosen as the site for locating RTCAP as the country has highly competent researchers, as well as excellent universities and research institutions, according to Dr Gerhard Felten, Bosch’s executive vice president, applied research and production.
“It also has a stable economy and good infrastructure, with strong support from the government for renewable energy initiatives,” he added.
Besides studying technology trends, RTCAP will explore research topics of interest to the company. “We plan to invest up to S$30 million in this facility and high-tech equipment over the next five years,” Dr Felten said.
While Bosch has two existing Asian research groups in Tokyo and Shanghai, their role is mainly exploratory and both lack the advanced equipment found in RTCAP, he noted. RTCAP’s equipment and staff are currently housed at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU), pending completion of the permanent facility in the Bishan area.
“We expect to move RTCAP’s operations to the Bishan facility in September 2009,” said Dr Matthias Gernsbeck, Bosch’s senior manager of RTCAP.
Organic photovoltaics
RTCAP’s inaugural project is on organic photovoltiacs (OPV), or third generation solar cells. According to Dr Gernsbeck, first generation solar cells use crystalline silicon, while second generation ones are thin film cells. OPVs include organic, nanocrystalline solar cells and are still in the developmental stage.
“We will continue with our silicon solar cell business, although our long-term goal is to expand our OPV offerings,” he said. “There will still be areas where silicon solar cells are needed.”
For the project, Bosch will collaborate with NTU’s School of Materials Science and Engineering, and leverage on equipment from both organisations. Goals include reducing the cost of electrical energy gained from solar light, and raising efficiency and service life of solar cells using nanotechnology and material science.
OPV potential and challenges
OPVs hold great potential, according to Dr Christoph Treutler, director for RTCAP, Bosch (Southeast Asia). “The global conventional photovoltaic market was already worth EUR8 billion in 2007.”
According to Bosch, production of materials used in organic solar cells is less energy- intensive compared with inorganic silicon-based solar cells. “The versatile nature of organic solar cells offers a wide range of applications like foldable cell phone chargers, handheld devices, or even building facades,” Dr Felten said.
However, the company also noted that achieving research targets would be a challenge, as current organic solar cell samples convert only five per cent of available solar radiation into electrical energy. The project plan is to raise this energy-conversion efficiency up to 10 per cent or more within three years. “An optimistic target would be to commercialise this technology in five to 10 years,” Dr Felten said.
NTU will also benefit from the collaboration. “Like Bosch, we see this as a long-term partnership, which is especially important for joint training and supervision of research students, who will provide future research leadership in this vital area,” said NTU provost, Professor Bertil Andersson.
