After Gutenberg

Via the Big Gav, we receive an update on slivered technology from Technology Review. Kevin Bullis informs that a company now has formed that slices silicon into thin strips and spaces them apart so that they only account for about half the panel’s area.

Solaria, a start-up based in Fremont, CA, intends to cut the cost of solar panels by decreasing the amount of expensive material required. It has recently started shipping its first panels to select customers. This spring the company will begin production of solar panels at a factory built to produce 25 megawatts of solar panels per year.

Credit: Solaria

Solaria cuts silicon into strips (left) and uses a clear molded plastic cover (right) to funnel sun on to the strips of silicon. This approach saves money; the total cost of the molded plastic, other extra materials, and added manufacturing steps still is less than the current cost of additional silicon used in conventional solar panels.

Solaria has reduced the cost of manufacturing these innovative solar cells by adapting equipment already in use by the semiconductor industry.

Silicon prices are high now. But the element is abundant, and already new facilities are coming on-line to produce more refined silicon. For Solaria is to be competitive in the long run, it will need to implement other cost-saving measures, especially improving the overall efficiency of its solar panels, says Tonio Buonassisi, a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT.