Ascent Solar Technologies Selected By U.S. Air Force For Advanced Flexible Lightweight Photovoltaics

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!

 
Ascent Solar Technologies was selected for the Air Force SBIR (Small Business Innovative Research) Phase 2 award to demonstrate its next flexible lightweight photovoltaic technology built upon its existing flexible, monolithically integrated, thin-film CIGS (Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide) one.

The Air Force SBIR Phase 2 program is expected to operate for 24 months with a program value of up to $750,000.

Ascent Solar Powered Phone Charger.

“Solar cells perform best at lower temperatures, but they can get hot during normal operation,” stated Victor Lee, President and CEO at Ascent Solar Technologies, a developer of flexible, thin-film solar technology.

“Modifying our existing technology can improve its performance at higher temperatures. This Air Force program builds upon significant work already conducted by our team in this area. After program completion, we envision a new product that will perform over 30% better under some operating conditions that utilize process modifications that can be used in our existing manufacturing line.”

Looks promising.
 
Chip in a few dollars a month to help support independent cleantech coverage that helps to accelerate the cleantech revolution!
 

The Problem With Solar Panels

Unfortunately, solar panels need to receive as much sunlight as possible, and some sunlight turns into heat when it reaches the panel, while the rest is converted into electricity. More sunlight translates to more heat, and lower efficiency, but still a greater power output.

Fortunately, power output can be increased more by cooling the solar panels using heat sinks, or liquid cooling systems. Heat sinks can be helpful without using any electricity if they are passive, but the active type performs much better. The active type utilizes a fan to pass air through it to help dissipate the panel’s heat faster.

Another innovative idea is to get the most out of electricity-generating solar panels by utilizing the heat they absorb from the sun to heat water, increasing their overall energy yield.

Otherwise, improvements in performance like those Ascent Solar is delivering are certainly helpful.

Source: Business Wire
Photo Credit: Ascent Solar Website


Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.

Latest CleanTechnica TV Video


Advertisement
 
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.

Nicholas Brown

Has a keen interest in physics-intensive topics such as electricity generation, refrigeration and air conditioning technology, energy storage, and geography. His website is: Kompulsa.com.

Nicholas Brown has 594 posts and counting. See all posts by Nicholas Brown