Vol.4 No.4 2012

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Research paper : Development of high efficiency flexible solar cells (A. Masuda )−197−Synthesiology - English edition Vol.4 No.4 (2012) 4.2 Management of the monthly research meetingThis consortium employed the concentrated research method in which the researchers were dispatched from the participating companies to AIST. A monthly research meeting in which the researchers of all companies participated was held to share the results. Through the discussions at the meetings, the setting of the collaborative topic among the participants and the review of the direction of the research topic were done flexibly. Through such activities, derivative results that were not expected at the start of the research were obtained. Therefore, comments at the monthly research meetings were considered extremely important, and the minutes of the meetings were kept carefully, since they might become evidences for recognizing a patent.Since the companies that may be mutual competitors participated in this consortium, we set the following rules for the joint monthly research meetings. The synthesis methods and know-how that were regarded as the most important factors by the materials manufacturers that were the main members of the consortium did not have to be disclosed. The synthesis of the materials would be basically done within the participating company, and in principle, the findings should not be shared. On the other hand, the results concerning the fabrication of solar cells were considered as common knowledge among the participating companies, and in principle, disclosure was required for the characteristics of the materials that may affect the solar cell performance. Also, when combining the materials, it might be necessary to know the synthesis method for the component materials, and in such cases, separate non-disclosure agreements were signed among limited members. We believe one factor of the success of this consortium was to clearly separate the technologies that should be shared by the participants and the technologies that would be developed individually. By doing so, the advantages of consortium participation were maximized and the individual interests of the companies were protected.4.3 Management committee and patent strategyWe set the Consortium Management Committee composed of the representatives of the participating companies and AIST to be the highest decision-making body. The Management Committee determined the handling of the results, recognized the inventor when a patent was made, and adjusted the conflicting interests. By having the participants follow its decisions, fair and transparent management of the consortium became possible and smooth management was realized. For the patents created in the consortium, the organization to which the inventor belonged became the applicant, and the share was divided according to the degree of contribution. However, participants who were not applicants may be licensed to use the patent upon payment of the appropriate licensing fee. This meant that one of the motivations to participate in the consortium was that there would be no domination by a single company. The handling of the patents became possible by setting the two basic principles: the results pertaining to solar cells were common assets of the consortium, and the findings and know-how pertaining to the materials that came from the R&D within the participating companies should not be brought into the consortium. Moreover, the results obtained at the consortium would be basically published after the patent application was filed. 4.4 Policy for training young researchersAlthough this consortium was operated by private funds without public money, majority of the apparatuses used in the research were purchased by AIST’s research funds before the establishment of the consortium, and much know-how applied to the research was developed by AIST. Also, AIST provided matching funds where the upper limit was the total of joint research fundings from the private companies. Considering these situations, the research results are actively published to fulfill the mission as a public research institute. In the publication of research results, we believe it was beneficial in training the young researchers dispatched from the participating companies, to do presentations at international academic conferences and to write papers in English. There were cases where the research greatly advanced from the comments provided at the academic conferences, and cases where business opportunities expanded for the participating company through newly formed human networks. Many seminars were held as part of the consortium activities for the joint researchers dispatched to AIST for the purpose of acquiring a wide-range of knowledge about solar cells, so they would be able to act as experts on solar cells at their respective companies after the completion of the joint research.5 Results of the consortium researchThe result of the consortium research was the development of the base material consisting of UV curable acrylic resin onto which the surface texture of Asahi-U, the glass with Fig. 4 Photograph of PEN film onto which the texture of Asahi-U has been transferred

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