Solar3D submits patent application for breakthrough 3-D solar cell

SANTA BARBARA, USA: Solar3D Inc., the developer of a breakthrough 3-dimensional solar cell technology to maximize the conversion of sunlight into electricity, announced that it has filed a patent application for its innovative solar cell design and methods of fabrication.

“With the filing of this patent, we are poised to create something truly exciting,” said Jim Nelson, CEO, Solar3D. “Many industry observers and analysts have said that for the solar industry to truly make a difference, the developers of the next generation solar technologies will have to step up. This application represents our intention to step up and make a real difference in the world.”

Inspired by light management techniques used in fiber optic devices, the company’s innovative solar cell technology utilizes a 3-dimensional design to trap sunlight inside micro-photovoltaic structures where photons bounce around until they are converted into electrons. The company’s management believes that this breakthrough solar cell will be dramatically more efficient, resulting in a lower cost per watt that will make solar power affordable for the world.

According to Nelson, “Our objective is grid parity or better. By re-engineering the solar cell to manage the light and extract all of its available power, we intend to make it: (1) significantly more efficient and (2) production friendly. In doing so, we attack the economic issue from both sides to deliver electricity at a substantially reduced cost per kilowatt hour.

“While our 3-D technology can be applied to various photovoltaic materials, such as gallium arsenide, we are currently focused on using silicon, an abundant material with a very mature production industry. We intend to push silicon to its theoretical limits.”

“We believe that the Sun, an infinite source of energy, should be used to provide a substantial percentage of electricity used by the world. By combining micro-photovoltaics with advanced light management technology into a novel 3-dimensional solar cell, we believe that will be possible,” Nelson concluded.