Lots of announcements (including 4 billion USD in contracts and 11%
production panel efficiency) and an impressive video of their
automated panel factory, published on 9/9/9 on their blog
http://www.nanosolar.com/company/blog
<<
Today Nanosolar demonstrated the completion of its European panel-
assembly factory as part of an inauguration event attended by
Germany's Minister of the Environment, the Governor of the State of
Brandenburg, and a host of other leading public officials. Located in
Luckenwalde near Berlin, the fully-automated factory processes
Nanosolar cells into finished Nanosolar panels using innovative high-
throughput manufacturing techniques and tooling developed by Nanosolar
and its partners.
The panel factory is automated to sustain a production rate of one
panel every ten seconds, or an annual capacity of 640MW when operated
24x7. Nanosolar also today announced that serial production in its San
Jose, California, cell production factory commenced earlier this year.
"Getting to the point of serial production with the unusual cost
reduction involved in our technology is an accomplishment due to the
incredible work and perseverance of our team," said CEO Roscheisen.
Production is presently set at approximately one MW per month. As
Nanosolar's customers attain project financing from commercial banks
for the new panel product, the company will increase its monthly
production rate to deliver on its contractual customer commitments
totaling $4.1 billion to date.
Said CEO Roscheisen: "With almost all large solar installations credit
financed, broad based product bankability is our key next commercial
goal. We have long prepared for this, including through the technology
choices we have made, the strong balance sheet we have maintained, the
quality of customers we have secured, and the local production we have
built."
Nanosolar Unveils Nanosolar Utility Panel™ Technology
By Martin Roscheisen, CEO - September 9, 2009
In conjunction with today's inauguration of our panel-assembly serial-
production factory, we today also unveiled the technology behind our
first product, the Nanosolar Utility Panel™, and its unique features
and benefits.
The Nanosolar Utility Panel™ is the industry’s first solar
electricity panel specifically designed and developed for utility-
scale solar power system deployment.
Through its innovative product design, the panel effectively
eliminates the “balance-of-system penalty” that medium-efficient
thin panels have conventionally carried relative to higher-efficiency
(yet far more expensive) silicon panels.
The IEC-61646 certified Nanosolar Utility Panel™ is electrically and
mechanically optimized for utility-scale solar power systems:
- Electrically, it is the industry’s highest-current thin panel, by
as much as a factor of six. It is also the industry’s first
photovoltaic module certified by TUV for a system voltage of 1500V, or
50% higher than the previously highest certified. Together this
enables utility-scale panel array lengths and results in a host of
substantial cost savings during the deployment of solar power plants.
- Mechanically, the package used for the panel is distinctly stronger
than that of conventional thin-film-on-glass modules, achieving almost
twice the mounting span and thus substantially lower mounting cost.
More information about how the Nanosolar Utility Panel™ delivers the
industry's lowest total-system cost for solar power plants can be
found on our website as well as in detail in our utility panel
technology white paper.
NREL Certifies 16.4% Nanosolar Foil Efficiency
By Martin Roscheisen, CEO - September 9, 2009
It was May 2006 when we last released information about our power-
conversion efficiencies to the public (for a cell sample on glass
actually back then). We have made a lot of progress since then; so an
update is appropriate.
Our lab and production teams have managed to make more progress on
efficiency than we had planned on in any of our business plans.
Recall that we print CIGS onto inexpensive metal foil, that is,
something that some have been skeptical can work while others have
been wondering whether it can deliver efficient cells.
So we are pleased to announce that our low-cost printed-CIGS-on-metal-
foil cell stack and process produces quite efficient cells: Earlier
this year, NREL independently verified several of our cell foils to be
as efficient as 16.4%.
At 16.4% efficiency, our foil cells represent two world records in
one: It's the most efficient printed solar cell of any kind (all
semiconductor and device technologies) as well as the most efficient
cell on a truly low-cost metal foil (with a material cost of only a
cent or two per square foot and mil thickness).
In terms of our current baseline production process, our best
production rolls now achieve higher than 11% median efficiency
measured as equivalent to panel efficiency, with very tight cross- and
down-web uniformity.
A comprehensive description of our cell technology platform as well as
NREL's efficiency certifications can be found in our cell technology
white paper.
>>
Michel
