Friday, March 31, 2006

More Progress In Solar Cells

OrionSolar Develops Advanced Second Generation Solar Cell.

OrionSolar® Photovoltaics, Ltd., a leading global developer of solar energy photovoltaics, today announced that it has completed development of an advanced second generation photovoltaic solar energy cell. The new patented technology significantly reduces the high cost of producing solar electricity with polycrystalline silicon photovoltaic cells by over 50 percent. In marking today's milestone, OrionSolar also announced the receipt of $1 million Series B financing from its sole institutional investor, New York-based 21Ventures LLC.

The company will use this upfunding to finance its marketing initiatives and to develop the pilot production and manufacturing program for the new energy cell. Monies will also be used for additional R&D activities related to optimizing OrionSolar's solar technology for solar home systems in Developing Nations and "Do It Yourself" home installation. OrionSolar's technology will be ready for market in 2007.

"The solar energy market is growing at a rate of 35 percent annually, but it still only accounts for less that 0.5 percent of the world's energy consumption," discussed David Anthony, Managing Partner of 21Ventures. "In the past, solar energy was hindered by the prohibitive costs of solar technology, but with the development of OrionSolar's new photovoltaic cell, this is no longer an issue. Given this combined with the worldwide need to eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels, 21Ventures believes OrionSolar is poised for tremendous success. They have strategically important Intellectual Property aimed at a very large global market opportunity and are supported by the most talented engineers and scientists in the solar energy industry."

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Will Third World Nations(residents ) be able to install a solar home system with limited technical knowledge,and at what cost that is affordable to their budget. Likewise, can the average U.S. homeowner truly engineer a " Do It Yourself Kit ", given all the rules and regulations enforced by Local ordnances and State laws ? Both Nassau and Suffolk Counties in New York, have so many laws restricting the installation to a GRID ( LIPA ), that I think there are some limits that restrict the concept of " Do It Yourself "---more likely, LIPA will provide enough stumbling blocks that prevent residents from installing their own KIT, and attempt to capture the entire distribution and installation market that Orion develops,for their bottom line.Is there a real solution to installing a solar kit, without the same monopoly,LIPA, seeking control of the Solar Energy market, and the price of energy on Long Island, being maintained on parity with existing oil consumption costs ?