“China is a key market for DuPont and will remain so, in spite of the global recession,” said Douglas Muzyka, president of DuPont Greater China, in a May 4 statement.

About one-third of the world’s output for crystalline photovoltaic cells and modules is in China, DuPont said. While the export-oriented Chinese photovoltaic makers took a strong hit in the economic downturn, DuPont said the new China center will build closer links with customers and better integrate research, development and technical support.

“The center will allow us to collaborate more closely with our customers in the [photovoltaic] industry, to provide technical support and to develop new materials technologies to meet the market needs,” Muzyka said. “We will be able to help create solar modules that run more efficiently, last longer and make solar energy a more viable alternative.”

DuPont’s solar energy center will have three labs focusing on cell to module manufacturing, photovoltaic metallization and photovoltaic module and reliability testing. It is part of a larger US$25 million (170.6 million yuan) DuPont research facility in Shanghai’s Zhangjiang High-tech Park.

Wilmington, Delaware-based DuPont has made other solar-related investments in China recently. Last year, it said it was building research and manufacturing centers in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, and in Hong Kong, for the amorphous silicon thin-film market.

Worldwide, it expects its sales in photovoltaic solar energy markets to triple to more than US$1 billion (6.82 billion yuan) by 2012. It reported total 2008 sales in greater China of US$2.07 billion (14.4 billion yuan).