Scrooge McSam
12-18-2007, 07:06 PM
Nanosolar says they can do it.
From New York Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/18/technology/18solar.html?_r=1&oref=slogin)...
Nanosolar’s founder and chief executive, Martin Roscheisen, claims to be the first solar panel manufacturer to be able to profitably sell solar panels for less than $1 a watt. That is the price at which solar energy becomes less expensive than coal.
“With a $1-per-watt panel,” he said, “it is possible to build $2-per-watt systems.”
According to the Energy Department, building a new coal plant costs about $2.1 a watt, plus the cost of fuel and emissions, he said.
:eek:
They've redesigned the entire manufacturing process. No more piecing together individual cells. They're printing the circuitry directly onto the substrate.
The company, which has raised $150 million and built a 200,000-square-foot factory here, is developing a new manufacturing process that “prints” photovoltaic material on aluminum backing, a process the company says will reduce the manufacturing cost of the basic photovoltaic module by more than 80 percent.
The Nanosolar website (http://www.nanosolar.com/) has lots of into on the process. Also says their entire output for the next year is already sold (dammit).
Check em out
From New York Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/18/technology/18solar.html?_r=1&oref=slogin)...
Nanosolar’s founder and chief executive, Martin Roscheisen, claims to be the first solar panel manufacturer to be able to profitably sell solar panels for less than $1 a watt. That is the price at which solar energy becomes less expensive than coal.
“With a $1-per-watt panel,” he said, “it is possible to build $2-per-watt systems.”
According to the Energy Department, building a new coal plant costs about $2.1 a watt, plus the cost of fuel and emissions, he said.
:eek:
They've redesigned the entire manufacturing process. No more piecing together individual cells. They're printing the circuitry directly onto the substrate.
The company, which has raised $150 million and built a 200,000-square-foot factory here, is developing a new manufacturing process that “prints” photovoltaic material on aluminum backing, a process the company says will reduce the manufacturing cost of the basic photovoltaic module by more than 80 percent.
The Nanosolar website (http://www.nanosolar.com/) has lots of into on the process. Also says their entire output for the next year is already sold (dammit).
Check em out