UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 29, Page 2
April 30, 1992
AstroPower receives $6.4 million for research

     AstroPower Inc., whose basic research involves photovoltaics or
the conversion of sunlight to electricity, received two major
competitive  awards totaling $6.4 million from the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of Commerce this month.
     The company, which operates under license with University of
Delaware patents, leases its facility on Wyoming Road at One Solar
Park from the University, which also holds stock in the company.
     The DOE award is a contract for a three-year, $5 million project
entitled "Silicon-Film (tm) Photovoltaic Manufacturing Technology,"
signed with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The overall
project, which also is funded by industry, has as its goal keeping the
nation's photovoltaics industry the leader in the commercial
development of photovoltaic systems.
     According to Allen M. Barnett, AstroPower president and professor
of electrical engineering at the University, the contracts were
awarded to those companies that "clearly demonstrated a winning
project and promising manufacturing technology."
     AstroPower will work on establishing low-cost manufacturing
capability for the company's Silicon-Film(tm) wafers, solar cells,
modules and panels. The work will be carried out in an environmentally
safe manner.
     In addition, Commerce Secretary Barbara Hackman Franklin
announced that AstroPower was awarded a three-year, $1.4 million
research and development contract under the Advanced Technology
Program of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
The project is entitled "Manufacturing Technology for High Performance
Optoelectronic Devices Based on Liquid Phase Electro-Epitaxy."
     AstroPower is the fourth largest manufacturer of photovoltaic
products in the country.
     -Sue Swyers Moncure