Jeonbuk National University (JBNU)'s New and Renewable Energy Materials Development Support Center (Director Kim Jong-il, Professor, Department of Science Studies), which was selected in 2011 for a project sponsored by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, has received an 'Excellent' rating for the Solar Testbed Project for two consecutive years.

Accordingly, JBNU received additional project funding from the government, strengthening the foundation to carry out the project more smoothly.

The 'Solar Testbed Project' creates a testing environment to evaluate and demonstrate the performance, reliability, and market viability of components and new-technology products developed by small and medium-sized enterprises before they are launched to market.

The project is a large-scale undertaking led by JBNU's New and Renewable Energy Materials Development Support Center, located in the Buan New & Renewable Energy Complex, with participation from the Korea Testing Laboratory and a total investment of KRW 11.8 billion over three years.

In the second-year evaluation, JBNU was highly rated for establishing 18 types of photovoltaic material evaluation equipment, enabling systematic support across all stages from product development and performance assessment to outdoor field demonstration.

To date, the project has established 10 types of wafer and module performance evaluation equipment (KRW 2.8 billion). These facilities have been used by 282 companies and institutions, amounting to 1,605 cases.

Additionally, the center provided 152 on-site technical guidance and consultation cases requested by companies (e.g., battery material development, silicon solar cell/module process efficiency analysis). It issued 196 performance evaluations and test reports for photovoltaic materials (such as EVA sheets and copper paste) commissioned by companies. The center also conducted 74 short- and mid-term training sessions and technical seminars to develop photovoltaic technical personnel, through which 1,292 company technical staff received retraining.

In particular, in February of this year, with support from North Jeolla Province, the project completed the 'Solar Materials Research Building' within the project's dedicated space, at a construction cost of KRW 900 million and a total floor area of 579 m². The facility operates equipment across the entire production process — from wafer and cell fabrication and performance analysis to finished-module production and evaluation — providing full-scale support to related companies.

Center Director Kim Jong-il said, 'Following the Phase 1 testbed, which runs through next year, our center plans to play a central role in Phase 2, currently being promoted on a KRW 300 billion scale, to establish the nation's leading photovoltaic industry cluster. In particular, by linking with the renewable energy sites planned for Saemangeum and building an internationally competitive photovoltaic testbed, Saemangeum and Buan will be able to serve as central hubs leading Korea's green industry.'