May 30, 2018 — Recent reports forecast solar power will become the world’s cheapest form of energy within the decade. The dramatic decrease in the price of photovoltaic (PV) solar modules in recent years (now hovering around 31 cents per watt peak) has resulted from new advances in production — the price per module was scaled down by approximately 20 percent as production volume doubled. On the performance side, there were continuous improvements in solar cell design. In particular, efficient light management...

BRIARCLIFF MANOR, N.Y., Oct. 24, 2017 — Solar-Tectic LLC has been awarded a patent for its production of III-V thin-film tandem solar cells with high performance by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patent, the first ever for a thin III-V layer on crystalline silicon thin-film,...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Jan. 23, 2014 — A technology called “photonic crystals” could increase the light-trapping capability of thin-film solar cells and help bring about lower-cost solar energy. Researchers from Purdue University’s Birck Nanotechnology Center and School...

DÜBENDORF, Switzerland, Jan. 24, 2013 — Thin-film solar cells on flexible polymer foils, based on copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS), have set an efficiency record of 20.4 percent for converting sunlight into electricity.

Feb 1, 2012 — Laser and optical systems manufacturer Jenoptik of Jena, Germany, is doubling its semiconductor laser capacity with a ⇔10 million (about $13.2 million) expansion of its Berlin-Adlershof site. The larger facility is expected to be available for...

Dec 1, 2011 — At the close of a year in which the industry weathered global economic storms and tragic natural disasters, we’re happy to report a little good news: After prices for cerium oxide and other rare-earth elements climbed to stratospheric levels...

JENA, Germany, Nov. 30, 2011 — The Lasers & Material Processing Div. of Jenoptik will supply US plants with laser processing systems used in a new application to fabricate high-tech glass. High-tech glass is used for manufacturing smart windows that can be...

Oct 1, 2011 — Advances in laser drilling, coatings and polygon scanner technology promise to speed up photovoltaic panel production – and drive down costs, too. The closer you get to Germany by plane, the more the country seems to glitter. Shiny solar...

ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 22, 2011 — The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy (DoE) have announced that they will fund an engineering research center (ERC) that will develop interdisciplinary research and education programs to address energy challenges, such...

COLLEGE PARK, Md., May 10, 2011 — A new design for thin-film solar cells that requires significantly less silicon — and may boost their efficiency — is the result of an industry and academia collaboration between Oerlikon Solar in Switzerland and the Institute of...

May 1, 2011 — A new manufacturing method using an ultrafast pulsing laser could make thin-film solar cell arrays a more efficient and less expensive means of power generation. The current method of connecting solar panels into arrays that generate usable...

STANFORD, Calif., Feb. 14, 2011 — A multidisciplinary team of Stanford engineers led by Mike McGehee, Yi Cui and Mark Brongersma, and joined by Michael Graetzel at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) announced a new technology using plasmonics to...

CHEMNITZ, Germany, Feb. 4, 2011 — 3D-Micromac AG, a laser micromachining systems supplier, was honored with the SPIE 2011 Green Photonics Award at Photonics West in January in San Francisco, it said. Tino Petsch, CEO of the company, received the prize for the scientific...

BERKELEY, Calif., Nov. 22, 2010 — Sunlight represents the cleanest, greenest and far and away the most abundant of all energy sources, and yet its potential remains woefully underutilized. High costs have been a major deterrent to the large-scale applications of silicon-based solar...

DURHAM, N.C., June 10, 2010 — Tiny copper nanowires are small enough to be transparent, making them ideal for thin-film solar cells, flat-screen TVs and computers, and flexible displays. "Imagine a foldable iPad," said Benjamin Wiley, an assistant professor of chemistry at...

Nov 1, 2008 — Analysts predict that the future solar landscape will be painted with thin-film solar cells rather than the big, bulky aluminum-framed photovoltaic (PV) panels of yesterday. Thin is in for many reasons, not the least of which is that thin-film PV...

May 1, 2008 — Unidym Inc. of Menlo Park, Calif., a majority-owned subsidiary of Arrowhead Research Corp., will collaborate with Nippon Kayaku Co. of Tokyo. The companies will work to integrate the American company’s carbon nanotube-based printable transparent...

ERFURT, Germany -- Schott Solar GmbH of Alzenau, a manufacturer of thin-film technologies, and ersol Thin Film GmbH, a subsidiary of ersol Solar Energy AG, have signed an agreement to jointly develop micromorphous technology for thin-film solar cells. They will...

Apr 1, 2008 — In Germany, ersol Thin Film GmbH, a subsidiary of ersol Solar Energy AG, based in Erfurt, and Schott Solar GmbH of Alzenau have signed an agreement to jointly develop micromorphous technology for thin-film solar cells. They will combine their...

Feb 12, 2008 — Solar Energy AG subsidiary ersol Thin Film GmbH of Erfurt, Germany, and Schott Solar, of Alzenau, announced a research alliance to develop micromorphous technology for thin-film solar cells, for which they will share staff. Unlike amorphous...

Feb 1, 2008 — Although the supply of sunlight is endless, the ability to effectively harness this vast power source remains limited. Most of the photons that hit low-cost thin-film solar cells simply bounce off, and their energy is never captured. In recent...

Sep 1, 2007 — Thin-film solar cells have been fabricated from double-walled carbon nanotubes, a material that is relatively untapped in photovoltaic designs but that offers high photoconductivity, mobility and stability. Researchers from Tsinghua University in...

TOKYO, July 31, 2007 -- Sharp Corp. said Tuesday it will build a new 380 billion yen ($3.2 billion) LCD panel and solar cell plant in Sakai City, Osaka. Corning Inc. also has plans to construct facilities at the center, according to the Nikkei Japanese business daily. On...