João-Pierre arrived in 1997 at the door of NJBIZ, then known as Business News New Jersey, as an intern and was hired that same year as a staff writer. For more than 12 years he has covered the retail, technology, and media industries in the state. He also handles principal online news writing at NJBIZ.com. João-Pierre is a lifelong resident of the state and graduated from Rutgers University. 
As the pursuit of renewable energy continues across the country, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, in Newark, is set to receive a $1.5 million grant over three years from China’s Apollo Solar Energy Inc. to build a solar-research center. NJIT will host representatives from the company at a reception on its campus Tuesday afternoon.
NJIT said it will use the grant to explore more uses of tellurium in solar-cell production. Apollo owns and operates a tellurium mine in China.
Apollo chief executive Renyi Hou is scheduled to speak along with Ken K. Chin, the solar-research center’s director and others. Chin said NJIT was approached to research cadmium telluride material so photovoltaic devices can be improved.
“Thanks to Apollo and its investment banker, we got this grant to do cadmium telluride research,” Chin said in an interview with NJBIZ prior to the press conference. He said $500,000 will go to research, $500,000 for the facility and the remaining $500,000 will go toward personnel and expenses.
“Cadmium telluride is the most cost effective photovoltaic technology,” he said. Chin said solar panels with cadmium telluride thin films represent about eight percent of the market. “The capitalization of all the firms, cadmium telluride is more than one-third.”
Chin said in 2007 and 2008, the market price for solar technology shot up quickly. However, the limited supply of tellurium sobered the market.
E-mail João-Pierre Ruth at jpruth@njbiz.com
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