Nanosolar

Nanosolar is a developer of solar power technology. Based in San Jose, CA, Nanosolar has developed and commercialized a low-cost printable solar cell manufacturing process. The company started selling panels mid-December 2007, and plans to sell them at around $1 per watt. When first announced that was just one fifth the price of the silicon cells, but in 2010 brand name silicon cells sell from around $1.70 reducing Nanosolar's cost advantage significantly.234

Financial backers and manufacturing

Nanosolar was started in 2002 and is headquartered in San Jose, California. The aggregation has accustomed costs from a cardinal of technology investors including Benchmark Capital, Mohr Davidow Ventures, and Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google. Nanosolar accustomed the better bulk in a annular of Adventure Basic technology allotment amidst United States companies during Q2 2006, with 100 actor USD of fresh allotment secured5. It additionally accustomed the better bulk of costs of any clandestine aggregation in 2008 (USD 300 actor in Q1).

Nanosolar planned to body a ample assembly ability in San Jose and in Germany6, with an anniversary accommodation of 430 megawatts. Nanosolar is additionally architecture a console accomplishment bulb in Luckenwalde (Berlin). Several German activity and adventure basic companies accept heavily invested in this aggregation as a aftereffect of the favourable economics for solar activity in Germany due to government subsidies.7

On December 12, 2007 the aggregation announced8 that it had started solar corpuscle assembly in its San Jose factory, with its German ability slated to go into operation in the 1st division of 2008. The aggregation said in 2006 that the San Jose factory, back absolutely built, would accept the accommodation to aftermath 430 megawatts of beef anniversary year.9

On December 18, 2007 the aggregation began aircraft its aboriginal solar panels for a one-megawatt borough ability bulb in Germany.10

As of 2008 Nanosolar has aloft about 500 actor USD in absolute allotment by clandestine investors Benchmark Capital, Mitsui Ventures, Mohr Davidow Ventures, OnPoint, Capricorn Management, Firelake Basic Management, GLG Partners, Grazia Equity, Swiss Re, Beck Energy, Omidyar Network, Lone Pine Capital, Activity Basic Partners, Riverstone Holdings, EDF, The Skoll Foundation, EDS (HP) and The Carlyle Group.

Management

On March 22, 2010, above Rambus CEO Geoff Tate was called CEO, replacing co-founder Martin Roscheisen who had been the company's Chairman & CEO for the accomplished eight years; no acumen was accustomed for Roscheisen's exit.12 EVP Operations is Werner Dumanski who ahead led IBM's $4.5 billion storage-disk manufacturing; and co-founder and VP Corporate Development Brian Sager, a biotech adept who has brash added than 50 high-growth companies.

Technology

The aggregation uses chestnut indium gallium diselenide—which achieves up to 19.9% ability in class samples13—to body their attenuate blur solar cells. The company's technology acquired aboriginal industry acceptance with the presentation of a Small Times Magazine accolade at a arch nanotech business accident in 2005.14 Nanosolar's solar beef accept been absolute by NREL to be as able as 14.6% in 200615 and 15.3% in 2009.16 Technical accommodation of Nanosolar's fresh accomplishment techniques accept been appear in apparent applications.17 Some advice about their action has become accessible in a Scientific American commodity (in German). 15 These accommodation absorb a semiconductor ink that it claims will accredit it to aftermath solar beef with a basal press process, rather than application apathetic and big-ticket high-vacuum based thin-film degradation processes. The ink is deposited on a adjustable substrate (the “paper”), and again nanocomponents in the ink adjust themselves appropriately via atomic self-assembly. In September 2009, Nanosolar appear the barrage of assembly at a amount of 640 MW annually18; however, ramp-up to aggregate assembly afterwards the advertisement took an added six months,19 attached absolute assembly in 2009 to an estimated 4 MW,20 and as of August 2010 the bulb is still ramping up against its appear capacity.21 Since the hiring of fresh CEO Geoff Tate, the aggregation has beneath to altercate its absolute accomplishment capacity,1920 but has said that its ambition for 2010 is to address panels for "several ... megawatt-size projects" and "build panels for projects that accept been articular that can advice body the case for an operating history and bankability in 2011."19 Efficiencies for accepted assembly panels are said to be 8-9%, with affairs to abide panels with 10-11% ability for IEC acceptance in the abatement of 2010.19