We've talked oh so much about NanoSolar in the last year. Their technology has seemed promising, their government grants outstanding, and levels of commitment from smart investors exceptional. It seems like a recipe for success...but only if they could take it from the lab into a $100 million manufacturing plant.

Well, they've done it. The 200,000-square-foot factory is online and producing cells! And apparently, despite the initial costs, it's producing cells cheaper than anyone else can produce them. The secret is a new technique for printing solar panels. Instead of producing huge sheet of single-crystal silicon (extremely expensive) nanosolar actually prints a mixture of rare metals in an extremely thin layer on a substrate (in the beginning, a strip of aluminum).

The result are solar panels that are less efficient, but can be produced much more quickly and cheaply than silicon solar panels. The first batch of Nanosolar panels is destined for a solar power plant in Germany (where there are very progressive solar subsidies).

Already, Nanosolar says that they can sell panels for roughly $1 per watt, which will result in $2 per watt installations. Suddenly, that starts to look a lot like the $2.1 per watt that it costs to build a coal plant.

And that is extremely exciting news.

Via NYTimes

Comments (28)

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real progress!
written by brill , December 19, 2007

sweet! which metals are they using and where are those mined from, and in which state are those materials processed?

cheers

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written by Matt , December 19, 2007

Where's the manufacturing plant?

Cali and Germany
written by Free Thinker , December 19, 2007

The latest is in San Jose, California

Another massive on is in Berlin

Finally Affordable Solar!
written by Rob , December 19, 2007

About time! When do you anticipate NanoSolar panels being available for residential use? by finally making PV there is bound to be a massive, positive impact on the environment. I cant wait!

CIS?
written by Maheanuu Allain , December 19, 2007

is it what we call CIS (Copper Indium di-Selenide)?

Finally! Though don't start holding you
written by RhapsodyInGlue , December 19, 2007

I agree that this is terrific news. I offer a big round of applause and wish them so much success that they get no sleep for the next five years and have to continually expand their factory.

However, demand for solar is growing so quickly that it is outstripping supply, so prices for end users are unlikely to come down anytime soon. Just because someone CAN make something cheaply doesn't mean you can buy it at that price if others are willing to pay more. Check out solarbuzz.com to see that solar prices have increased in the past few years due to supply/demand issues.

Congratulations to NanoSolar
written by weee , December 20, 2007

I wish them every success and commend the German government/power plant for their belief and commitment to NanoSolar - the decision to go with NanoSolar must have been quite a tough one.
$1 per watt is very promising - especially as oil isn't going to get much cheaper and coal isn't going to get much cleaner...

Great news
written by Andy , December 20, 2007

I feel that this technology is a much better option than the off shore windfarms the uk govenrment is purposing.

I would definatley pay to get my roof hooked up with solar panels. The only advantage windfarms have is that they work equally well day or night with enough wind.

If countries are serious about going solar we need to be able to store excess power ready for use in peak times though.

Would using excess electricity to produce hydrogen for use in industrial fuel cells to turn by to electricity at peak times work?

Good stuff
written by Home Build Nut , December 20, 2007

I need to get these to make into tiles for my roof, how durable are they? Lets get them in wallmart.

High voltage direct current
written by Rob , December 20, 2007

High voltage direct current between countries may be another option to having to store the solar excess. Grid the planet

popular science article - Green Tech awa
written by Ray , December 20, 2007

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/f...em_59.html

Nice article with a couple links....

efficiency
written by chris brandow , December 20, 2007

I can't find any info on their efficiency, but based on the size of the panels, it can't be that much worse than standard panels.

if these prices turn out to be true then they are going to be selling them as fast as they make them for some time. I see a couple more plants in their near-term future. of course, their primary competitor is not the price of oil, but coal. and if they are anywhere near the price of coal-generated electricity, as they seem to be, then utilities and governments have tremendous incentive to create solar electricity plants rather than coal plants. And that is aside from global warming concerns.

So awesome!
written by Katie L. , December 20, 2007

This information is so sweet! I'd love to have them on my house-we defianately need them around where I live. We need to get them popular! I wonder how durable they are....this will make a massive impact I'm sure, especially if their more easily priced for those who couldn't by the more expensive ones. Can't wait till their able for residential use!

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written by himi , December 20, 2007

Super news. I wish there were more goverment support when comes to solar technology. I wish those come to daily use soon!

Good news
written by Conrad , December 20, 2007

It should be noted that Sharp plans to build the world's largest solar cell plant in Japan, which will also produce thin-film solar cells.
http://www.reuters.com/article...onmentNews

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written by Orion , December 20, 2007

The first 18 months worth of production are completely spoken for. Their first plant is rated for 430MW/yr production and they are opening a 2nd plant in Germany early next year that will have even more capacity. Even with that it will several years before you can order these at Home Depot, I'm afraid.

And don't forget about HelioVolt....
written by Mark R. , December 21, 2007

they just announced the location of their new Plant. Any guesses where? thats right. Austin, Tx.

http://www.news.com/8301-11128_3-9836003-54.html?tag=newsmap

Solar Electrolysis Hydrogen Storage
written by Brandon R. , December 26, 2007

I want to see a simple residential system that can pull power off a solar roof, split some water, and compress the hydrogen in a tank or store the hydrogen in a fuel cell. This system CAN work and will make our lives MUCH better.

Better have a huge roof!
written by gone solar , December 30, 2007

Nano-Solar seems to be a big winner - for commercial applications that is. Unless your house is the 30k 2' module enjoyed by our own Nobel Piece prize winning Al Gore, chances are your roof just can't accomodate the amount of thin film it'l take to displace the silicon cells we use now.

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written by Sylvie LG Pollard , January 25, 2008

nanosolar is great great news, but so is HHO electrolysed straight from water. No need to store hydrogen when it is available at a switch of a button!Take a look at this company Epoch Technology Corp in Taiwan, they have produced various HHO generators for several applications, it seems Japan are very keen.

It's the future
written by Technology Transfer Company , February 11, 2008

We will soon use alternative energy considering that oil reserves are getting poorer by day. Water, wind and sun energy will be used more then anything else. People already use solar panels on their houses to heat water without consuming electricity.

I need affordable solar panels now
written by Red , March 11, 2008

These sound great, but how long before I could actually buy them. In the mean time I need solar now, as I live off the grid and gas keeps going up.

Stats
written by mike , March 15, 2008

I can cover my roof with these at a dollar a watt but just how many watts will it yield. If I can only put 100 watts on my roof at 200 dollars great but that's not going to solve my electricity problems. Before I get excited I need to see the numbers. It's already been stated that efficiencies are less then silicon based solar. WE need to know how many watts per set measurement before we get crazy about this. In the end it can be argued that this technology can be placed anywhere from roofs to shingles but imagine the complexity involved in harvesting and installing this kind of system as opposed to other technologies. I’m all ears.

...
written by Jeffrey Coney , March 27, 2008

Well isn't that typical, someone starts producing something affordable and within the financial grasp of the general public and we're told sorry all the big corporations have swooped in and put a strangle hold on any units produced for years. It'll be a decade before you can buy any, until them you can keep paying those high prices to those same corporations, leave a message at the beep and we'll call you back if GE has not bought us out before then. BEEP. No wonder I've been having trouble trying to find anyone that sells these. The bottom line is that solar still does not quite pay for it's self when considering power company rates vs. FULL LIFE CYCLE COSTS over the long haul. The day it does I hope I can buy a system. Sounds like that may be a dream only realized by my grandchildren (which have yet to be born or even thought of). I wish there was as stream near my property A water wheel and a generator (maybe two) and I'd be happy! I'm all ears too...

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written by emilio castro , April 05, 2008

Hola soy de la ciudad de Panamà, y navegando por internt, vi su producto de energia solar varata, que puedo hacer para que ustedes que son fabricante de este producto lo pueda adquirir para que yo lo pueda vender en mi pais, ya que en areas muy inacsesibles no se cuenta con energia de nigun tipo, les boy a pedir que me contesten en español
Gracias

Estimated Efficiency
written by Chris G , April 17, 2008

NanoSolar's website says it will take 10 acres to produce 2 MW. This is about 40,000 square meters. Solar flux is about 1 kW per sq meter (peak) on the earth's surface. This makes the efficiency of the panels about 5%. Of course, 1 kW per sq meter is peak, and most of the day you are getting big losses from the sun angle and the weather, etc., so the average power is likely much lower than the 2 kW cited.

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written by Krister , April 22, 2008

Is 5% good? Still have a big room for improvement i think... But at least there a lot of actions done. Consequences of global warming are pretty scary and its rates are very alarming. So continue improving these things and for sure the threat of climate change will be out in no time.^_^

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written by jeremy , July 01, 2008

We really need to know the efficiency to know if they will even be viable for the residentiol market. 5% just won't cut it if that is the true efficiency. I've read around quite a bit and from everything I've read it looks like 10-12%....hopefully. At that level an averare house without a lot of shade would be able to produce more energy than it could use. So long as it's not a massive energy hog.

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