Updated: Thursday, 21 Jul 2011, 5:59 PM CDT
Published : Thursday, 21 Jul 2011, 5:58 PM CDT

One Austin company is working to make solar technology affordable for more people.

Applied Nanotech has developed a way to make some of the technology cheaper which in turn could reduce the cost of solar panels.

“A collection of solar wafers make up a solar panel. Embedded on the wafer is a grid of metal contacts, usually aluminum and silver, which capture and move energy from sunlight. These metals are spread on the wafer, just like spreading butter on toast. However, the silicon wafer is very thin, and in this process, it can break, which increases costs.

“The majority of the cost is in the silicon wafer,” Dr. Zvi Yaniv, President of Applied Nanotech said. “If we could cut the silicon wafer thickness by 50% or by 40%, we will get the cost of the solar cell almost at the same level with wind."

That is one of the challenges to making solar more competitive and affordable: use a cheaper, thinner wafer, and a more efficient way to apply the metallic ink without breaking the wafer.

What Applied Nanotech has developed is a way to literally spray the metallic inks on the wafer without touching it. The process they have developed works like an ink jet printer. The company actually sprays the metallic ink onto the wafer, but with no contact. The risk of breakage is eliminated, and the spray process uses the ink very efficiently with little waste. Even the inks they have developed are using cheaper metals.

The cut in production costs will lead to cheaper solar cells in solar panels, and those savings will soon make solar more affordable. This could mean good news for Austin.

“Green energy combined with high-tech is definitely sort of the wave of the future,” Dr. Jamie Novak of Applied Nanotech said. “When you combine that with alternative energy sources, too, it really brings a nice sort of synergy between all of the different industries together and they all happen to be right here in Austin."

With this new innovation in solar cell production, it could not only mean more affordable solar panels, but jobs for Austin.

http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/news/foxe/FOXe-Affordable-Solar-Panels-20110721-ktbcw#axzz1SscUCfNm