BioSolar among companies leading 'Greening of the Solar Industry'

SANTA CLARITA, USA: BioSolar Inc., a developer of a breakthrough technology to produce bio-based materials from renewable plant sources that reduce the cost of photovoltaic (PV) solar modules, was featured in an August 31 Solar Novus article.

Solar Novus Media Today, the article’s publisher, is a leading eco-friendly on-line publishing company covering the solar markets, products, and technologies relating to today’s solar energy industry.

The Solar Novus article states, “To truly clean and green the solar industry, every material and every manufacturing process must be sustainable,” and also points out “the manufacturing of traditional silicon-based solar panels may present health and environmental hazards.”

According to the article, an important step outlined by the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC) in its January 2009 report “Toward a Just and Sustainable Solar Industry,” was for solar manufacturers to move away from environmentally hazardous materials.

The same Solar Novus article says “recent governmental regulations and heightened sustainability concern among businesses are giving rise to a new consciousness” and touts BioSolar’s “technology that produces bio-based materials from renewable plant sources for use in photovoltaic panels,” as a step in the right direction, adding “by using plant-based polymers, solar manufacturers can eliminate petroleum-based plastic PV components… the intent of the BioSolar approach was not only to make solar panels more environmentally safe, but also to lower costs.”

“Regardless of how green the components are, it is imperative for PV module manufacturers to be guaranteed long term reliability for each component. To ensure long term reliability, which translates to demand for stricter product specifications and longer adoption cycles, BioSolar engages PV manufacturers to ensure customized quality through the joint development of individual internal testing requirements suited to each manufacturer - a process we will continue over the coming months,” said Dr. David Lee, the company’s CEO.

Higher production volumes in the solar PV industry have magnified the financial consequences of premature PV module component failure for manufacturers, translating into tighter regulations on the components that are used in the construction of a complete PV module.

Dr. Stanley Levy, the company’s CTO, said: “While some PV module component manufacturers may find the additional requirements to be problematic, it is providing us with opportunities to excel.

“Stringent testing often increases the timeframe for the adoption of a new component, but BioSolar is making measurable progress toward widespread PV industry acceptance. Due to the nature of time it takes to adopt new components, most PV module manufacturers are looking for components to meet not just the current requirements, but additional future requirements potentially to be imposed for PV module certification under the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) or the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards.

“We anticipate that our BioBacksheet, in its current form, will satisfy all future requirements that existing backsheets may not, another competitive advantage in addition to lower cost.”