SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Innovalight, Inc., a
privately-held firm selling a platform of silicon ink-based high
efficiency solar cell materials and technology, today announced
that the company has achieved a new record of 19 percent conversion
efficiency with silicon ink processed solar cells. The conversion
efficiency of a solar cell is the proportion of sunlight energy
that a cell converts to electrical energy.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) in
Germany, an official independent
solar cell testing center also measured the results on industry
standard size cells made by Innovalight.
Innovalight's proprietary platform, Cougar™ offers a readily
transferable process to crystalline silicon solar cell
manufacturers that allows them to improve solar cell performance,
reduce cost and boost output capacity by adding a simple step to
already installed manufacturing lines. The opportunity is
significant – this year close to four billion crystalline wafers
will be processed into solar cells, according to Navigant
Consulting, Inc., a leading solar industry research firm.
"We continue to push toward our goal of delivering over 20
percent conversion efficiency to our customers," said Homer Antoniadis, chief technology officer at
Innovalight. "Our patented solar cell process with silicon ink is
simple and optimized for use with silicon wafers and widely adopted
industry printing tools," he added.
Dr. Antoniadis will present these results at the 2010 SNEC 4th
International Photovoltaic Power Generation Exhibition and
Conference which will take place from May 5
to 7 in Shanghai,
China.
Innovalight is currently working with several solar cell
manufacturing companies and is ramping production of silicon ink in
Sunnyvale, California.
In February, the company was awarded a key patent by the US
patent and trademark office for the manufacturing of crystalline
wafer solar cells with silicon ink. Innovalight has filed for over
60 patents for silicon ink and high efficiency solar cells using
silicon ink processes.
About Innovalight
Innovalight is based in Sunnyvale,
California. The company licenses a low-cost,
high-performance solar energy technology using proprietary silicon
ink nanotechnology to solar cell manufacturing companies.
Innovalight is venture capital backed and has received additional
development funds from the U.S. Dept. of Energy. For more
information visit www.innovalight.com.
About the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy
Systems (ISE)
The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) conducts
research on the technology needed to supply energy efficiently and
on an environmentally sound basis in industrialized, threshold and
developing countries. To this purpose, the Institute develops
systems, components, materials and processes in the areas of
thermal use of solar energy, photovoltaic, solar building, electric
power supplies, micro-energy technology, chemical energy
conversion, energy storage and rational use of energy. The
institute's work ranges from investigation of scientific
fundamentals for solar energy application, through the development
of production technology and prototypes, to the construction of
demonstration systems. The institute plans, advises and provides
know-how and technical facilities as services. For more information
please visit www.ise.fraunhofer.de.
SOURCE Innovalight, Inc.