New Energy Discovery Boosts Performance of See-Through Solar Cells

New Energy Technologies Inc. announced that researchers have successfully achieved faster fabrication time, improved transparency and a two-fold increase in power conversion efficiency. Researchers achieved these advances by way of a novel, patent-pending breakthrough, which enables fabrication of large-scale mini-module SolarWindow devices, important to commercial deployment of the world’s first-of-its-kind glass window capable of generating electricity.

Generating electricity on glass windows is possible when New Energy researchers spray ultra-small, see-through solar cells on to glass surfaces. These spray-on techniques have been pioneered, advanced and unveiled in operating prototypes by scientists who initiated early research efforts with New Energy Technologies under a sponsored research agreement at the University of South Florida (USF). The company’s SolarWindow technology has since progressed significantly beyond early research, and is now in advanced product development.

This announcement is the outcome of spray-related improvements achieved during the completion phase of New Energy’s early sponsored research at USF, led by Dr. Xiaomei Jiang. Researchers report that these latest spray-on techniques have successfully:
• Boosted power conversion efficiency of each individual cell by two-fold compared to previous fabrication methods, leading to overall power output improvement of SolarWindow.
• Reduced fabrication time from several days down to only a few hours, or 1/6th of the time normally required.
• Improved the transparency or ‘visual light transmission’ of SolarWindow modules, creating a widow ‘tint’ effect.
• Achieved an aesthetically attractive, uniform coating on to glass – important to consumer appeal.

Researchers are hopeful that this breakthrough in mini-module spray-on device fabrication leads to improved spray-on techniques for large-scale devices, a precursor to the Ccompany’s product for commercial launch.

“This latest breakthrough is an exciting testament to our ongoing efforts as we continuously work to improve the quality and performance of our SolarWindow mini-modules,” said John Conklin, president and CEO of New Energy Technologies, Inc. “Moving forward, we remain devoutly focused on producing large surface area prototypes which are compatible with high-speed production methods, important to commercialization of SolarWindow.”