Cost has always been one of solar’s biggest problems. Traditional solar cells require silicon, and silicon is an expensive commodity and upto 70 percent of the silicon gets wasted in the manufacturing process. That means even the cheapest solar panels cost about $3 per watt of energy they go on to produce. To compete with coal, that figure has to shrink to just $1 per watt. Now, leave silicon aside for a moment and lets concentrate on Nanosolar Powersheets.
The ultimate motive is still cheap solar power generation! Nanosolar, a Palo Alto company in California, is currently mass-producing an ultra-thin, paint-like material that converts the Sun’s rays into electricity at a very affordable price. The company produces its PowerSheet solar cells with printing-press-style machines that set down a layer of solar-absorbing nano-ink onto metal sheets as thin as aluminum foil, so the panels can be made for about a tenth of what current panels cost and at a rate of several hundred feet per minute. With backing from Google’s founders and $20 million aid from the U.S. Department of Energy, the company aims at outclassing coal.
Nanosolar’s cells use no silicon, and the company’s manufacturing process allows it to create cells that are as efficient as most commercial cells for as little as 30 cents a watt. Right now, the biggest question for Nanosolar is not if its products can work, but rather if it can make enough of them.
