Abengoa is an international company that applies innovative technology solutions for sustainable development in the energy and environment sectors, generating electricity from the sun, producing biofuels, desalinating sea water and recycling industrial waste, it was founded way back in early 1940s. Abengoa has its headquarters in Seville (Spain) and has more than 23,000 employees (roughly 900 in R&D) and through its affiliation societies and joint companies, installations and offices in more than 70 countries around the world. while operates through its four business groups: Solar, Bioenergy, Environment services and Industrial construction, who nurse other recently created business units like Abengoa Sea Power or Abengoa Hydrogen. Abengoa Research (AR), is a newly created R&D company within multinational renewable energies company Abengoa. Just in its second year of operation, AR has a competitive R&D budget and is committed to fulfill Abengoa´s essential objective to become an international reference on R&D for knowledge generation, manpower training and its application into energy and sustainability. Most of Abengoa’s investment in R&D+i relates to applied research and the development of technological innovation, with a focus on fulfilling the company’s strategic objectives. The manpower at AR consists of 50-60 permanent scientific staffs of which 10 are senior scientists with a proven international scientific record and researcher. Currently 20 PhD students are hosted in AR and additionally, AR also collaborates with prestigious universities to host around 20 PhD students today, and a planned 40 students in the near future.

Spain is blessed with Sun and AR wish to capitalize the opportunity not only for tourist purpose but also as a green and clean source of energy, to compete with future technology. Solar Photovoltaics experience in Abengoa is first class as this is one of the most important business areas for the company, and subsequently AR has a relevant share of its activity dedicated to solar PV in its Materials and Nanotechnology program. AR research staff is composed of specialists in seven different disciplines, such as Mechanics of Solids and Structures, Fluid Mechanics, Materials and Nanotechnology, Thermal Engineering, Chemical Process Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Biotechnology. Abengoa Solar, is working on many new technologies and its commercial feasiblity. Abengoa Solar has developed high concentration photovoltaic technology, which is based on high efficiency multi junction III-V cells, and can achieve 30% efficiency almost doubled than crystalline silicon modules. This new technology is running on pilot plant scale at places and schedeule to be installed in many countries on commercial scale. Apart from of its other flagship companies have laboratory space, AR has a modern fully equipped laboratory (>1200 m2) including state of the art general chemistry and materials science labs along with “Energy and Nanophotonics Lab” which is created by Abengoa Solar and the Spanish Government, a unique facility in its kind in Europe, with material characterization equipment as well as pilot plant development laboratory.


Seminar, January 21, 2013, 12:00. Seminar Room

Hosted by Dr. Silvia Carrasco