Comments on: Ultra-Thin-Solar-Cell Company Unstealths, Aims to Cut Cost of Solar Cells in Half! (Images) http://cleantechnica.com/2012/03/14/ultra-thin-solar-cell-company-unstealths-aims-to-cut-cost-of-solar-cells-in-half-images/ Clean Tech News & Views: Solar Energy News. Wind Energy News. EV News. & More. Mon, 29 Dec 2014 19:32:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.1 By: A Kumar http://cleantechnica.com/2012/03/14/ultra-thin-solar-cell-company-unstealths-aims-to-cut-cost-of-solar-cells-in-half-images/#comment-235399 Fri, 18 Jul 2014 09:48:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=36032#comment-235399 With such a thin silicon wafer, reducing the reflection will also be a challenge, as textures are of few microns laterally and vertically. This will further reduce the thickness of the wafer.

]]> By: Anthony http://cleantechnica.com/2012/03/14/ultra-thin-solar-cell-company-unstealths-aims-to-cut-cost-of-solar-cells-in-half-images/#comment-181554 Wed, 11 Sep 2013 16:43:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=36032#comment-181554 Hey Zachary can you get me a sample of this new thin solar cell?

]]> By: Bob http://cleantechnica.com/2012/03/14/ultra-thin-solar-cell-company-unstealths-aims-to-cut-cost-of-solar-cells-in-half-images/#comment-149265 Thu, 31 Jan 2013 09:14:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=36032#comment-149265 Solyndra didn’t fail because of a glut in the market (there is/was no glut). Solyndra failed because its product was expensive because it didn’t rely on silicon. During the great silicon shortage, Solyndra was doing great because it was inexpensive relative to its competitors (and had low installation costs), but all shortages must end and when it did, prices for silicon dropped rapidly and Solyndra was left as a fiscally nonviable option. This was all pretty predictable, but oh well. As for the poor solar manufacturers; that’s life. There are numerous manufacturers right now and eventually there will be only a few. That shake-out occurs in every industry and is what keeps markets efficient. Only government regulation can destroy a market system and force it to be inefficient.

]]> By: Ethan Anderson http://cleantechnica.com/2012/03/14/ultra-thin-solar-cell-company-unstealths-aims-to-cut-cost-of-solar-cells-in-half-images/#comment-136914 Thu, 11 Oct 2012 20:00:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=36032#comment-136914 And then, when everyone is using cheap solar power, it’ll be.. not fantastic? You can’t really own an idea, and I’d rather be dependent on china than saudi arabia any day of the week.

]]> By: Zachary Shahan http://cleantechnica.com/2012/03/14/ultra-thin-solar-cell-company-unstealths-aims-to-cut-cost-of-solar-cells-in-half-images/#comment-127923 Wed, 25 Jul 2012 15:50:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=36032#comment-127923 i’d contact the company about that.

]]> By: thesyfyguy http://cleantechnica.com/2012/03/14/ultra-thin-solar-cell-company-unstealths-aims-to-cut-cost-of-solar-cells-in-half-images/#comment-127782 Tue, 24 Jul 2012 11:26:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=36032#comment-127782 Can these cells be made to order into custom shapes and sizes?

thesyfyguy@yahoo.com

]]> By: thesyfyguy http://cleantechnica.com/2012/03/14/ultra-thin-solar-cell-company-unstealths-aims-to-cut-cost-of-solar-cells-in-half-images/#comment-127783 Tue, 24 Jul 2012 11:26:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=36032#comment-127783 can these panels be make into custom shapes and sizes?

]]> By: New Solar Cell Company Promises Solar Power for $0.50/Watt (Not Twin Creeks) - CleanTechnica http://cleantechnica.com/2012/03/14/ultra-thin-solar-cell-company-unstealths-aims-to-cut-cost-of-solar-cells-in-half-images/#comment-115913 Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:36:11 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=36032#comment-115913 […] March 19, 2012 By Mathias Leave a Comment SharePin It   Last week you might’ve read about Twin Creeks Technologies and its super-thin solar cells. This company aims to cut the cost of solar cells in half. Ampulse Corporation, another upcoming […]

]]> By: New Manufacturing Process Promises Solar Power for $0.50/Watt (Another One) - CleanTechnica http://cleantechnica.com/2012/03/14/ultra-thin-solar-cell-company-unstealths-aims-to-cut-cost-of-solar-cells-in-half-images/#comment-115912 Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:33:10 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=36032#comment-115912 […] March 19, 2012 By Mathias Leave a Comment SharePin It   Last week you might’ve read about Twin Creek Technologies and their super thin solar cells. This company aims to cut the cost of solar cells in half. Ampulse Corporation, another upcoming […]

]]> By: mds http://cleantechnica.com/2012/03/14/ultra-thin-solar-cell-company-unstealths-aims-to-cut-cost-of-solar-cells-in-half-images/#comment-115848 Sat, 17 Mar 2012 21:50:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=36032#comment-115848 Sometimes there is more than one way to skin a cat.
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/SiGen-Using-Ion-Implant-to-Thin-Silicon-Wafers/ – February 2011
“SiGen and a Crop of Startups Target Thinner Silicon Wafers” “SiGen promises kerf-free wafering via an implant-and-cleave process that is still in the early stages of development but could yield wafers with thicknesses down to 20 microns.”
” ‘AstroWatt also stated the theoretical peak silicon solar cell efficiency can be achieved with a 25 um silicon wafer thickness.’ ”

http://www.swinburne.edu.au/chancellery/mediacentre/alumni/news/2012/02/australian-innovators-in-solar-world-first – February 2012
“Australian innovators in solar world first” “In a boon for the local solar industry, a team of researchers from Swinburne University of Technology and Suntech Power Holdings have developed the world’s most efficient broadband nanoplasmonic solar cells.”
“In their most efficient cells yet, the researchers went one step further, using what are known as nucleated or ‘bumpy’ nanoparticles.”
“ ‘What we have found is that nanoparticles that have an uneven surface scatter light even further into a broadband wavelength range. This leads to greater absorption, and therefore improves the cell’s overall efficiency.”

We’ll soon see if 20 um can make cells with competitive conversion efficiency.

]]> By: Zachary Shahan http://cleantechnica.com/2012/03/14/ultra-thin-solar-cell-company-unstealths-aims-to-cut-cost-of-solar-cells-in-half-images/#comment-115800 Sat, 17 Mar 2012 19:14:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=36032#comment-115800 Hmm, never read about that…

]]> By: Zachary Shahan http://cleantechnica.com/2012/03/14/ultra-thin-solar-cell-company-unstealths-aims-to-cut-cost-of-solar-cells-in-half-images/#comment-115799 Sat, 17 Mar 2012 19:13:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=36032#comment-115799 Yeah, this could be truly disruptive(!).. hope it doesn’t let us down. :D

]]> By: Jesse Williams http://cleantechnica.com/2012/03/14/ultra-thin-solar-cell-company-unstealths-aims-to-cut-cost-of-solar-cells-in-half-images/#comment-115626 Thu, 15 Mar 2012 01:16:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=36032#comment-115626 Hum… There is a big problem here they don’t address. Silicon has an indirect band gap. In layman’s terms, it’s not very good at absorbing light. If I remember my numbers right, silicon only absorbs 90% of the incident light within 100 microns. That’s why silicon PVs have to be thick. So 10 – 20 micron thick layers sounds like a terrible idea (read the efficiency will be very low).

In contrast, CIGS and CdTe have direct band gaps, which makes them very good at absorbing light. PVs made out of these materials have ~3 micron thick absorbing layers.

]]> By: Rambob http://cleantechnica.com/2012/03/14/ultra-thin-solar-cell-company-unstealths-aims-to-cut-cost-of-solar-cells-in-half-images/#comment-115618 Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:22:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=36032#comment-115618 Fantastic! until China steals the technology and floods the market with their subsidized version or just increases their already existing subsidies.

]]> By: sola http://cleantechnica.com/2012/03/14/ultra-thin-solar-cell-company-unstealths-aims-to-cut-cost-of-solar-cells-in-half-images/#comment-115617 Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:15:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=36032#comment-115617 Now, this may be a very encouraging breakthrough.

It looks like these guys are really up to something.

The most encouraging factor is that they already have a 25MW production line testing their equipment and process.

I hope they can quickly sell a lot of lines.

Dropping to $0.50/W would be awesome if it happens in a few years.

]]> By: Solar Startup Looking to Cut Costs of Solar Panels 50% | Planetsave http://cleantechnica.com/2012/03/14/ultra-thin-solar-cell-company-unstealths-aims-to-cut-cost-of-solar-cells-in-half-images/#comment-115611 Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:29:06 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=36032#comment-115611 […] changes to the solar cell manufacturing process. There’s more detail on this solar startup’s cost-cutting solar cell manufacturing process available on sister site CleanTechnica, but here are some key points on the solar industry today […]

]]> By: Solar Startup Looking to Cut Costs of Solar Cells 50% | Planetsave http://cleantechnica.com/2012/03/14/ultra-thin-solar-cell-company-unstealths-aims-to-cut-cost-of-solar-cells-in-half-images/#comment-115609 Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:22:08 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=36032#comment-115609 […] changes to the solar cell manufacturing process. There’s more detail on this solar startup’s cost-cutting solar cell manufacturing process available on sister site CleanTechnica, but here are some key points on the solar industry today […]

]]> By: Flexible CIGS Solar Panel Efficiency Record Set by SoloPower - CleanTechnica http://cleantechnica.com/2012/03/14/ultra-thin-solar-cell-company-unstealths-aims-to-cut-cost-of-solar-cells-in-half-images/#comment-115548 Wed, 14 Mar 2012 08:45:13 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=36032#comment-115548 […] Of course, the solar panel industry is highly competitive and different technologies using different materials and manufacturing equipment are all vying for their seat in the sun. As I just wrote about an hour ago, a newly unstealthed solar-manufacturing-equipment startup has found a way to cut the cost of silicon solar wafers in half! […]

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