Greentech Lead U.S: Global Photonic Energy Corporation
(GPEC), a developer of a sustainable Organic Photovoltaic (OPV) technology that
enables ultra low-cost solar power generation, has demonstrated a thin-film
solar cell that can potentially provide electricity at grid parity, or the cost
of traditionally provided electricity.
The breakthrough is based on a patent-pending invention
that reuses the same Gallium Arsenide wafer multiple times to produce solar
cells. This unlimited wafer reuse approach to conventional “epitaxial lift off”
technology that typically leads to wafer damage, and hence only a very limited
number (1 to 2) of wafer reuses, has the potential to reduce the cost of a
typical Gallium Arsenide solar cell to below $1 per Watt (peak), according to
Dr. Stephen R. Forrest of the University of Michigan.
“This exciting development implies that ultra-high
efficiency solar cells based on Gallium Arsenide can eventually produce
electricity at or below grid parity.” Dr. Forrest stated. “Using integrated
solar concentrators and our adhesive-free, cold-weld bonding technology to
plastic substrates, we estimate electricity could be produced as low as $0.45
cents per Watt, compared to traditional grid parity of $1 per Watt.”
In addition to its dramatically reduced cost structure,
this demonstration in the University of Michigan laboratories can be used for
numerous applications because these high-efficiency solar cells, deployed on
roll-up plastic sheets, are ultra-lightweight and flexible. These applications
include use in off-grid locations, spot powering of vehicles, mobile military
equipment and satellites.
Dean Ledger, president and CEO of GPEC said GPEC will
commercialize its technology through licensing of its intellectual property,
becoming part of its foundational portfolio of more than 425 patents.