Fiberstars Receives Funding for R&D to Help Speed Development of Higher Efficiency Solar Cells
Fiberstars, Inc. announced $240,000 in funding through the Very High Efficiency Solar Concentrator Consortium (VHESC). Fiberstars was selected to join the consortium in 2006; this new installment will fund Fiberstars contributions through the next stage of the project.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) established the VHESC program to demonstrate at least 50% efficiency in a photovoltaic (PV) device. The Consortium is led by the University of Delaware and includes some of the top solar teams in industry and academia. Fiberstars has been working with this group of prominent universities and corporations including University of Rochester, BP Solar and DuPont, to develop materials, processes and optics to speed the solar industry’s development of higher efficiency solar cells.
The VHESC is tasked with the ambitious goal of more than doubling the efficiency of the most efficient solar cell from 24.7% to 50% by 2010. The consortium is exploring new processes for fabricating novel structures for advanced high-efficiency PV solar power sources. Building on the advances made with new very high performance crystalline silicon solar cell platforms, the group is researching other innovative technologies that can further boost efficiency levels. Fiberstars’ EFO optical solutions currently provide unique high quality lighting solutions for large retailers, grocery stores and hotels and the company is investigating ways the patented fiber optic technology can be applied to deliver direct sunlight to solar cells.
