News Article
Ascent Solar climbs higher with U.S. Air Force funding
The firm's new copper-indium-gallium-diselenide technology should benefit products that operate at higher temperatures
Ascent Solar Technologies has been selected for an Air Force Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase 2 award.
The reason for the award is to demonstrate a next-generation photovoltaic product that builds upon Ascent's flexible monolithically integrated CIGS technology.
Subject to contract finalisation, the Air Force SBIR Phase 2 program is expected to run 24 months with a program value of up to $750,000.
“Solar cells perform best at lower temperatures, but they can get hot during normal operation,” states Victor Lee, President and CEO at Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc.
“Modifying our existing technology can improve its performance at higher temperatures. This Air Force program builds upon significant work already conducted by our team in this area. After program completion, we envision a new product that will perform over 30 percent better under some operating conditions that utilise process modifications that can be used in our existing manufacturing line,” concludes Lee.
The reason for the award is to demonstrate a next-generation photovoltaic product that builds upon Ascent's flexible monolithically integrated CIGS technology.
Subject to contract finalisation, the Air Force SBIR Phase 2 program is expected to run 24 months with a program value of up to $750,000.
“Solar cells perform best at lower temperatures, but they can get hot during normal operation,” states Victor Lee, President and CEO at Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc.
“Modifying our existing technology can improve its performance at higher temperatures. This Air Force program builds upon significant work already conducted by our team in this area. After program completion, we envision a new product that will perform over 30 percent better under some operating conditions that utilise process modifications that can be used in our existing manufacturing line,” concludes Lee.