SoloPower invest $200 milion in thin-film solar cells manufacturing
After Nanosolar’s investment of $300 milion this week it is SoloPower which is raising almost $200 million to speed up manufacturing of its thin-film solar cells.
SoloPower is based in San Jose, California. The company makes solar cells from CIGS, which is a combination of copper, indium, gallium, and selenide which a number of solar companies are betting can undercut traditional crystalline silicon.
Those solar cells are thin-film based. Yes, the are less efficient at converting sunlight to electricity but use much less material than silicon, making it potentially cheaper.
CIGS cells are also flexible, enabling things like solar rooftop shingles. At the same time, fabricating cells with that combination of materials has not been as easy.
But it’s the future, because the mass production will bring the costs per watt down to about $1.4.
Source: Cnet
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