The Faces: What it's like to work with the Chinese

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‍Close cooperation on infrastructure, economy, and technology between China and its partner nations has significantly thrived since the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013.

Thanks to these deepening ties, more foreigners realize the value of working with a Chinese company.

CGTN is sharing the personal stories of seven employees who work in Chinese companies based in their own countries.

In the seventh episode of "The Faces," Dr. Michael Harr shares his own story of pursuing a career and dream in the cadmium telluride photovoltaics field.

Dr. Michael Harr is having a meeting with his Chinese colleagues. /CGTN Photo

In his 70s, Harr flies to China several times a year. He looks for solutions with his Chinese colleagues for new technical problems that come up during their research on the application of cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar modules, a crucial part of the future development of the solar cell industry.

After he had received his Ph.D. in Physics in 1977, Harr started his research in the fields of solid state physics, space technology, and photovoltaics, and established his own factory that commercially produced CdTe solar modules.

Five years later, the factory collapsed due to a lack of financing sources. It was not until 2008 that the physicist returned to the CdTe technology field when he established CTF Solar GmbH, continuing his research on solar modules. In 2012, CTF Solar joined China Triumph International Engineering Co., Ltd. (CTIEC) and became a member of the China National Building Material Group Co., Ltd. (CNBM). Hence the company entered a period of rapid development.

Dr. Michael Harr is talking with a colleague. /CGTN Photo

As of now, CTF Solar's staff has expanded from eight to 50 and has set up new offices in Kelkheim and Dresden, Germany. The company holds 23 international patents, with 110 patent applications filed for processing.

Meanwhile, CTF Solar, as the sole technology solution provider, joined China's first big module-size CdTe solar cells factory in southwest China's Chengdu city, the first of its kind. The factory was put into use in 2017 and is capable of producing 455,000 solar modules each year, generating 100 MWP of electricity yearly.

With China's growing demand for renewable energy, Harr's company has been playing an increasingly important role, and it is expected an even more promising future for its building materials for glass facades.

Now, with its international team of employees working both on-site in China and Germany, Harr sees that the product lines of his factory are set to expand further, and the factory can dream even bigger, to combine resources from all over the world that could bring the production costs down even more.

Supervisor: Mei Yan

Project Manager: Li Tianfu

Producer: Li Xiangyang

Director: Zheng Songwu

Video Editor: Chen Bin, Zheng Songwu

Videographer: Chen Bin

Animation and Special effect: Ma Zhiyuan

Designer: Li Yueyun

Copy Editor: Josh McNally

Chief Editor: Wang Dewei

Story Source: SASAC News Center

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