JA Solar and Innovalight team up to commercialize 'silicon ink' solar cells
By Donald Melanson 
posted Sep 18th 2009 8:11PM
posted Sep 18th 2009 8:11PM
We've seen a few different approaches to printable, and occasionally paintable solar cells over the years, but it looks like JA Solar was particularly taken with Innovalight's so-called silicon ink-based solar cells, and it's now announced that its teaming up with the company to commercialize the technology. In addition to being "printable" and cheaper to manufacture than traditional solar cells, the company also claims that the silicon ink solar cells also boast an impressive 18 percent conversion efficiency, which has apparently just been backed up by both the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory and The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems. Details on the deal are otherwise a bit light, but JA Solar says that it'll manufacture the new cells using its existing solar cell manufacturing lines, which should lower the cost even further and, if all goes as planned, allow for "initial commercialization" sometime in 2010.[Via CNET News Green Tech]
Supa Clean!
It's super effective!
WOW! go technology!
I cant wait till they have a system where they can print or paint the solar cells directly to the shell of the car to give it the largest power generation possible.
Free power to the masses. :D
FREE ENERGYZ PLZ.
Sweet! Cover a Tesla Whitestar coupe with the stuff and SOOOOOLD, American$...
I see solar powered beach umbrellas for all your powered accessories such as the refrigerated beer cooler.
hmmm, can I patent the concept? :)
It won't have the power capt'n!
Are ye givin' her all she's got, Wolfticket?!
I will take 50% of your business for a $50,000 investment?
Wake me up when I can pick these up at Home Depot.
Wake up! Hey! Hey! Listen! Wake up! (* Repeat it 100 times)
And no, it is still not in Home Depot, im just being annoying. =3
You read a gadget blog, yet you are only interested in technology when it is widely available...?
Seems fair, it's a gadget blog not a science or research blog, or lab-blog, and it's only a gadget once it's assembled isn't it?
Double that efficiency and we'll be good to go.
need some actual pricing here. Just how cheap is "cheap" ?
+1
"...and The Fraunhofer Institute..."
Yeah, but at what bitrate? And does it work on the latest iPod?
CorwinB in the Read link says that Nanosolar (nanosolar.com) has started production, a statement confirmed at the company's own blog. Their cells are supposed to be 16.4% efficient and the cost is only 2-3¢/square foot for materials and $20/square meter for finished product. And they make them in California and Germany, not China. They are ramping up production now, but they have a huge backlog of some $4.1 billion in existing orders.
These printed cells are not only much less expensive, they are much thinner and lighter, so they won't require the supporting structure that conventional glass-based cells need.
FWIW: The printing refers to the process, not the materials. The sprayed material is printed onto a foil material, not just whatever you want to spray it on. Though a flexible foil should be much more easily applied to a car shell than would a glass plate...
But.. what's the lifetime? UV can do a lot of harm, and 'printed' indicates increased vulnerability from the sound of it, so I'd not invest in that until they gave some numbers and assurances, unless I was running a pension fund and didn't give a damn (sarcasm).
If we can get this, piezoelectric, and themoelectric efficiency up and commercialized, it would make electricity extremely convenient, cheap, clean, and reliable to create.
But then what will we fight wars over?
Soon, oh so very soon, my precious...
she kinna take the strain, capt'n!
Slap 2 of them on my aZZ and light up a big RED NEON arrow on my back pointing out the pannels on my rear with the words "FREE ENERGY" blinking away.
Now that, is good use!
XD