Solexant's flexible solar cell
For another sign of solar technology’s rapidly evolution you need only look at three promising Silicon Valley startups.
Each offered a peek into its technology at the Dow Jones Alternative Energy Innovations conference this week in Redwood City. And each projected cost savings that would help make solar steadily more competitive with oil and other fossil fuels.
At the top of the list is OmniPV of Palo Alto, the least developed of the three. It expects a prototype solar cell within year with less than one hundredth the amount of silicon in an ordinary cell, saving in materials and manufacturing costs.
It plans to use a thin layer of a non-silicon luminescent material to gather energy from the sun instead of silicon. The material will coat a piece of glass and on both sides a sliver of silicon will transfer the power from the cell.
“If we can make this work, it will significantly lower costs,” said John Midgley, CEO.
SV Solar said it is working to raise $10 million in series B funding to advance its use of crystalline, or very pure, silicon to improve on the traditional solar cell. Crystalline silicon has the potential to more efficiently convert solar radiation into energy.
The company has a pilot line in Sunnyvale and expects to begin volume production in 2009. Its Sol-X panels reduce cost by eliminating more than 50 percent of silicon necessary in more traditional photo-voltaic panels, he company says. If Sol-X reaches the market, it could prove an attractive alternative to thin-film solar cells.
“We’re actively raising money,” announced CEO Steve White.
Solexant projects it will have early commercial production underway by 2010. The company plans to print solar cells on metal foil using a non-silicon material, a promising alternative to traditional cells.
The company hasn’t yet said what it expects the efficiency of the cell to be.
