Nanosolar receives a prestigious DARPA contract in the amount of $10.3 million
By Nanosolar Communications - August 20, 2004Prestigious Contract Funds Development of Next-Generation Solar Electricity Cells
PALO ALTO, California - August 20th, 2004 - Nanosolar, Inc., a technology leader in roll-printed solar electricity cells with unprecedented cost effectiveness, confirmed today that it has been awarded a research and development contract by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the amount of $10.3 million. The award was made through DARPA's Microsystems Technology Office (MTO) and is dedicated to promoting innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances in performance, device design, and manufacture of solar electricity cells.
U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer announced: "This grant is exciting because it promises new technology to address our energy needs and because it again demonstrates the strength of the Bay Area's innovative private sector partnered with its world-class universities and research facilities."
More than 100 leading technology companies competed under this program, with four of them making the final cut and contracts being awarded to: Nanosolar ($10.3 million), Konarka ($6.1 million), Nanosys ($2.3 million), and NREL (the National Renewable Energy Laboratory).
Nanosolar is collaborating with Stanford University, the University of California at Berkeley/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories, and Sandia National Laboratories on the development of next-generation solar cells that match and exceed the efficiency and lifetime of conventional solar cells but are far less expensive, less heavy, and less fragile.
Nanosolar is focused on making solar electricity ubiquitous and profitable by bringing to market solar-electric foils that are unprecedented in their cost effectiveness. Unprecedented cost advantages result from the solar cells being two orders of magnitude thinner than those commonly found on the market today as well as the economics of simply being able to print them with high-throughput roll-to-roll processes using the company's proprietary printable semiconductor technology, a technology designed for high yield and enabled by self-assembling nanostructures.
The solar electricity industry is one of the fastest growing technology industries in the world at this time, with the industry's compound annual growth rate averaging 40% in the past eight years and new technologies advancing the affordability of solar electricity. Solar cells found most commonly on the market today are based on crystalline Silicon but advances in nanostructured materials combined with new process technology now offer new ways of substantially further lowering the cost of solar electricity.
Nanosolar also confirmed today that it has received significant amounts of funding from the California Energy Commission as well as the National Science Foundation.
