Nanosolar Powersheet 625r6z

Background  Cost has always been one of solar’s biggest

problems.  Traditional solar cells require silicon, and silicon is an expensive commodity  And up to 70 percent of the silicon gets wasted in the manufacturing process.  That means even the cheapest solar s cost about $3 per watt of energy

 Nanosolar is revolutionizing the solar industry by

making the solar as thin sheets instead of traditional bulky solar s.  Nanosolar’s cells use no silicon, and the company’s manufacturing process allows it to create cells that are as efficient as most commercial cells for as little as 30 cents a watt.

Why It’s Cool  It’s Better, Faster, and Cheaper than

conventional solar s.

Better  More versatile and durable than conventional solar

s  Can be placed in many more places under more conditions.

Faster  Printed like a newspaper instead of assembled  Less time to install

Cheaper  Costs less to manufacture and only $0.30/watt to

produce electricity, versus $3/watt for conventional solar s, and $1/watt for coal.  Maintenance and installation costs are lower as well.

How It’s Made  The sheet is made of 5 layers in 3 easy

steps  An aluminum foil is pressed out for the bottom layer  A thin layer of the element molybdenum is printed onto this foil layer  Another press is used to cover it with 3 more layers consisting of a semiconducting ink, a P/N junction layer, and a zinc oxide electrode conducting layer.

How It Works  Light es to the middle

semiconducting ink layer, which breaks up the electrons.  The molybdenum on the fourth layer acts as an electrode, and as the end of the circuit.  The second layer is a P/N junction, which conducts the electrons through to the top layer.  The top layer conducts the electrons and work as the beginning of the circuit.

Uses  Can be placed nearly anywhere Rooftops, Cars, Laptops, Cell Phones, etc.

 Help develop 2nd and 3rd world countries It’s cheap, durable, and soon will be a plentiful source of electricity

Additional advantages  Instead of using glass as a substrate, Nanosolar uses

aluminum foil foil is much cheaper, the end result is very lightweight.  efficiency of Nanosolar’s cells is now the highest in the thin-film industry,can convert a maximum of 16.4% of the solar energy  could potentially deliver product to the market at 1/10th the cost of traditional silicon

References  Moyer, Michael. “The New Dawn of Solar”. Popular Science. Dec

2007: pg101-103.  Mahony, John. “Innovation of the Year Nanosolar…”. PopSci.com. Dec 18 2007.  nanosolar. 2008.

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