Solar Developer, Energy Lab Sign R&D Deal

Ultra small solar cell (New Energy Technologies Inc.)

New Energy Technologies Inc. in Columbia, Maryland has signed a research and development agreement with National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado to advance the company’s technology for generating solar electric power through window glass. NREL is a division of the U.S. Department of Energy.

New Energy’s system, marketed under the trade name SolarWindow, generates power using small organic solar cells developed by physicist Xiaomei Jiang at the University of South Florida, and licensed to New Energy. The cells are about one-quarter the size of a grain of rice, and can be implanted in transparent plastic or sprayed on normal window glass at room temperature.

Under the agreement, New Energy will share its intellectual property with NREL to boost the output of electric power from SolarWindow systems, by improving the performance, processing, reliability, and durability of the electricity-generating coatings. NREL will also help the company optimize the coating process on window glass, increase the size of the active layer area in SolarWindow systems.

The NREL agreement is expected to help New Energy further develop its SolarWindow technology for the marketplace. The company views its market as the 5 million commercial buildings and 80 million single detached homes in the U.S.

Read more: Window Glass Solar Power Prototype in Development

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