Specialized Technology Resources, abbreviated as STR, was an American corporation headquartered in

Enfield, Connecticut Enfield is a New England town, town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, first settled by John and Robert Pease of Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region. ...

. It had two divisions – Solar Cell Encapsulant Manufacturing and

Quality Assurance Quality assurance (QA) is the term used in both manufacturing and service industries to describe the systematic efforts taken to assure that the product(s) delivered to customer(s) meet with the contractual and other agreed upon performance, design ...

Services for Consumer Products. On September 14, 2023, the dissolution was announced.

Solar Encapsulant Manufacturing

STR's Solar Encapsulant Manufacturing business is a provider of

solar Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...

encapsulants, for the

photovoltaic Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially ...

solar module A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

. STR supplies many of the major

manufacturers in the world. The company, in conjunction with the predecessor to the U.S. Department of Energy, was the first to develop modified ethylene-vinyl-acetate, or EVA, encapsulants used in commercial solar module manufacturing in the 1970s, and has sold its EVA encapsulants commercially since then. STR’s encapsulants are used in both of the prevailing

solar panel A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...

technologies, crystalline and thin-film. STR has developed many significant innovations since it first commercialized its products, including encapsulants with dimensional stability, advanced laminates, ultra-fast curing formulations and thermoplastic encapsulants designed specifically for thin-film

photovoltaics Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commerciall ...

. The company operates production facilities in five locations – three in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, one in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, and one in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Quality Assurance Services

STR’s Quality Assurance Services business is part of the consumer products

quality assurance Quality assurance (QA) is the term used in both manufacturing and service industries to describe the systematic efforts taken to assure that the product(s) delivered to customer(s) meet with the contractual and other agreed upon performance, design ...

market. STR has offered quality assurance services since 1983 and has more than 45 internationally recognized accreditations and memberships. STR’s

business has a network of 16

laboratories A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which science, scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratories are found in a variety of settings such as s ...

, 72 inspection and audit offices and 22 sales offices in 37 countries across

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. The Quality Assurance Service Unit was sold to Underwriters Laboratories in 2011.

History

STR was founded in 1944 under the name DeBell & Richardson Inc.Howard French. as the first dedicated plastics research and development firm in the

. In 1972, then-president Robert C. Springborn purchased the company, changed the name to Springborn Laboratories, and broadened the scope to include testing, analysis, and quality assurance for the chemicals and plastics, electrical/electronics, and consumer products markets. STR launched its quality assurance business in 1983 and commenced sales of its solar encapsulant products under the PhotoCap

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...

in the late 1970s. When the business was sold in 1991, and subsequently split and merged in 1996, the company changed its name to Springborn Testing and Research and branded the letters “STR.” In 1998, the company again changed its name to Specialized Technology Resources and still is referenced as “STR.” In June 2007,

DLJ Merchant Banking Partners aPriori Capital Partners is a private equity investment firm focused on leveraged buyout transactions. The firm was founded as an affiliate of Credit Suisse and traces its roots to Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, the investment bank acquired by Cr ...

, a division of

Credit Suisse Credit Suisse Group AG (, ) was a global Investment banking, investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. According to UBS, eventually Credit Suisse was to be fully integrated into UBS. While the integration ...

, purchased STR. On November 6, 2009, STR had its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol, STRI. in September 2023 the Board of Directors announced the dissolution of STR.

References

{{Reflist

External links

STR WebsiteSTR QA WebsiteSTR Solar Website
Solar energy companies of the United States

Solar Encapsulant Manufacturing

Quality Assurance Services

History

See also

References

External links