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Nanowire Solar Panel More Efficient at No Additional Cost

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Sol Voltaic's "Aerotaxy" Process Produces Gallium Arsenide Nanowires Faster and Cheaper for More Efficient Solar Panels
Sol Voltaic’s “Aerotaxy” Process Produces Gallium Arsenide Nanowires Faster and Cheaper for More Efficient Solar Panels

Solar installation prices continue to fall as solar panel manufacturers add to the glut of solar panels on the market already.

The standard silicon-based solar panel is no more efficient than before, and there are just too many on the market to make a profit. Other technologies could make solar panels more efficient, but not without a significant investment and adding to the cost of manufacturing. One of these technologies, gallium arsenide nanowires, could increase solar panel efficiency by 25%. Again, the problem is with implementation, and standard nanowire production is complicated and expensive.

A startup in Sweden, Sol Voltaics, has developed a low-cost alternative to nanowire production, which it believes could be implemented for perhaps pennies per panel while realizing a 25% increase in solar panel efficiency. Instead of synthesizing gallium arsenide nanowires in a solid phase, Sol Voltaic’s aerotaxy process sythesizes the nanowires in a gas phase. The nanowires form in seconds and are then stored in a liquid matrix, forming an ink of sorts. The ink is then printed onto standard silicon-based solar panels, boosting their light absorption.

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