Nanosolar was started in 2001 by Martin Roscheisen and Brian Sager, who met through their friend Reid Gershbein, and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. The company has received financing from a number of technology investors including Benchmark Capital, MDV, and Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google. Nanosolar received the largest amount in a round of Venture Capital technology funding, amongst United States companies during Q2 2006, with 100 million USD of new funding secured.
Solar powered buildings and homes might just become standard in the future, thanks to this innovative technology by Nanosolar Inc. Nanosolar has developed proprietary process technology that makes it possible to produce 100x thinner solar cells 100x faster. The underlying technology for these solar cells is nothing new, having been around for decades, but Nanosolar has created the actual technology to manufacture and mass produce the solar sheets. The solar cells are produced by a solar printing press of sorts rolling out these aptly named PowerSheets rapidly and cheaply. The machines apply a layer of solar-absorbing nano-ink onto metal sheets as thin as aluminum foil reducing production costs to a mere tenth of current solar panels and at a rate of several hundred feet per minute. The first commercial cells for consumer use are scheduled to be released this year.
These solar cells successfully blend the needs for efficiency, low cost, and longevity and will be easy to install due to their flexibility and light weight. In order to compete with the energy produced from coal solar has been in need of finding a way to shrink its costs down from $3 per watt to $1 per watt. Nanosolar's cells use absolutely no silicon as is the standard for current solar production and the efficiency of the PowerSheet cells are competitive with the traditional systems as well. The golden kicker, the cost to produce these solar coatings is a mere 30 cents per watt!!
Nanosolar has built what is soon to be the largest solar plant in world in San Jose and once full production begins early next year the facility is capable of producing a whopping 430 megawatts per year, more than the combined total of every other solar manufacturer in the U.S. The biggest problem for Nanosolar is keeping up with the impending solar boom. California recently launched the Million Solar Roofs initiative providing tax breaks and rebates to encourage the installation of $100,000 solar roofs per year for a solid decade. Thanks to the innovative approach Nanosolar is poised to launch the solar revolution and we the consumer stand to benefit greatly as the result.
More Read on Nanosolar:
http://www.nanosolar.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanosolar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4riNlqZHCTQ
As Ralph Nader quotes “The use of solar energy has not been opened up because the oil industry does not own the sun.”
It's time the Sun shines real bright!!!
...Anand Varadaraja
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