Bandgap Engineering Issued 2 Solar Patents

Silicon nanowire solutions supplier Bandgap Engineering has secured a pair of patents that represent significant breakthroughs in solar energy conversion efficiency and cost, it announced.

Titled “Designing the host of nano-structured optoelectronic devices to improve performance,” US Patent 7,973,995 covers technology to improve the performance of solar cells by placing scattering centers in volume around the nanomaterials. The composite that results absorbs more of the incident light for energy conversion.

The company also secured related US patent 7,893,512, which exploits nanowire and matrix interfaces. It nanoengineers the band structure of silicon to optimize it for solar energy conversion.

“These latest patents demonstrate the effort Bandgap is making to advance nanowire technology for widespread commercial adoption,” said Dr. Marcie Black, Bandgap Engineering founder and CTO. “Both patents point the way to cost-effective advances in solar power efficiency.”

For more information, visit: www.bandgap.com