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| ==Funding== | ==Funding== | ||
| Incorporated in 2002, Nanosolar is headquartered in ], and has received financing from premier technology investors including ], ], and ] and ], the founders of ]. Nanosolar recieved the second most ] funding in the United States during Q2 2006, with 76 million USD of new funding secured |
Incorporated in 2002, Nanosolar is headquartered in ], and has received financing from premier technology investors including ], ], and ] and ], the founders of ]. Nanosolar recieved the second most ] funding in the United States during Q2 2006, with 76 million USD of new funding secured<ref>{{cite news|title=Venture Capital Funding|url=http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=17&issue=20060724|publisher=]|date=2006-07-24}}</ref>. Nanosolar plans on building a 100 million USD production facility in the ] and a panel manufacturing plant in ] in the near future, with an estimated capacity of 430 ], enough to roughly triple total American ] production, moving it from third worldwide to second, behind Japan<ref>{{cite news|title=Largest Solar Cell Factory Coming to Bay Area|url=http://nanosolar.com/cache/GlobeSt100MM.htm|publisher=]|date=2006-06-241}}</ref>. | ||
| ==Process Details== | ==Process Details== | ||
Revision as of 22:30, 5 August 2006
Nanosolar is a world leader in solar power innovation. Based in Palo Alto, CA, Nanosolar's printable solar cell manufacturing process has the potential to revolutionize the energy industry with its low cost. Founder and CEO, Martin Roscheisen is a serial technology entrepreneur with a track record of creating a series of three technology companies with a combined value of more than $1.2 billion.
Funding
Incorporated in 2002, Nanosolar is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, and has received financing from premier technology investors including Benchmark Capital, MDV, and Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google. Nanosolar recieved the second most Venture Capital funding in the United States during Q2 2006, with 76 million USD of new funding secured. Nanosolar plans on building a 100 million USD production facility in the San Francisco Bay Area and a panel manufacturing plant in Berlin in the near future, with an estimated capacity of 430 Megawatts, enough to roughly triple total American solar cell production, moving it from third worldwide to second, behind Japan.
Process Details
Technical details of Nanosolar's new manufacturing techniques of Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide thin film solar cells have not been made public, but general information of their process has been made available. Nanosolar has developed a semiconductor ink that allows it to make a solar cell using a simple printing process. The ink is deposited on a flexible substrate (the “paper”), and the nanocomponents in the ink align themselves properly via molecular self-assembly. This method has several advantages. One advantage is that the printing process makes it easy to deposit a uniform layer of the ink, resulting in a layer with the correct ratio of elements everywhere on the substrate. Also, the ink is printed only where needed, so there is no waste of material. Last, the substrate material on which the ink is printed is much less expensive than the stainless steel substrates that are often used in thin-film solar panels.
Nanosolar claims that these solar cells successfully blend the needs for efficiency, low cost, and longevity. Furthermore, the solar panels will be easy to install due to their flexibility and light weight. Most importantly though, Nanosolar estimates the cost of these cells will cost between 1/10th and 1/5th the industry standard per kilowatt; this is a significant breakthrough and could revolutionize the solar industry and possibly the entire energy industry. Nanosolar is presently focused on building out its production capacity and on thoroughly testing its first product samples through both outdoor and through accelerated indoor tests suites.
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External links
References
- "Venture Capital Funding". Investor's Business Daily. 2006-07-24.
- "Largest Solar Cell Factory Coming to Bay Area". Globe Street. 2006-06-241.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Manufacturing Plans". San Jose Mercury News. 2006-06-21.