November 7, 2008—Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) took home high honors from Editors of R&D Magazine recently for two separate solar cell technologies that were named “the most revolutionary technologies of the year.”
R&D Magazine announced that an NREL-developed process that uses ink-jet printing to manufacture thin-film photovoltaics, and an ultra-light, highly efficient solar cell called the Inverted Metamorphic Multi-Junction solar cell were selected for Editor’s Choice Awards. Only four Editor’s Choice Awards were given among a field of the top 100 technologies that received 2008 R&D 100 Awards.
The inkjet manufacturing process is a new technology for manufacturing Hybrid CIGS, or thin film PV employing layers of copper indium gallium diselenide. Thin films may not achieve the highest solar conversion efficiency levels set by crystalline silicon cells, but they can be manufactured quickly and in large volumes using inks that cost a fraction of the cost of silicon. The thin-film photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing process combines NREL’s precursor inks with a rapid reactive bonding technique being commercialized by HelioVolt Corp. of Austin, Texas. This combination eliminates complex manufacturing methods and could create enough of the flexible film to turn entire buildings and other structures into small, self-sustaining power plants.
The Inverted Metamorphic Multi-Junction Solar Cell represents a new class of solar cells with clear advantages in performance, engineering design, operation, and cost. It employs an entirely new way of constructing solar cells. The cell, which is being commercialized by Emcore Corp. of Albuquerque, NM, set three world records for solar conversion efficiency, with a top solar conversion rate that exceeded 40%.
With these two Editor’s Choice awards, NREL has now accumulated a total of 44 R&D 100 Awards, the “Oscars of Invention” which annually recognize the year’s most significant technology developments.
