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Press Release Eikos Awarded Phase I SBIR through the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Thin Film Solar Cell Electrodes FRANKLIN, MA (May 29, 2007) - Innovator of nanotube coatings funded to assist in the development the next generation of high performance thin film solar cells. Eikos, Inc., innovator of highly transparent carbon nanotube (CNT) inks for conductive coatings, today announced it has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I by the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The program will be monitored by Air Force Research Labs at Kirtland Air Force Base. Eikos, Inc will use Invisicon®, the world's only high performance transparent hole conductor, to increase the performance of flexible thin film photovoltaics (TFPVs). The most efficient TFPVs have an active layer of Copper Indium diSelenide doped with Gallium (CIGS). These devices have reached 19.5% efficiency at AM1.5 illumination on thick glass substrates. To displace c-Si for terrestrial applications and multi-junction PVs for space applications, TFPVs must be highly efficient, lightweight, flexible, and low cost. The most technologically feasible way to achieve these characteristics is to stack a wide bandgap TFPV on top of a narrow bandgap TFPV to absorb both high energy and low energy light from the solar spectrum to make a "tandem" device. Eikos will partner with a leading thin film solar cell developer and manufacturer to improve the efficiency and transparency of wide bandgap TFPV by incorporating Eikos' hole conducting transparent electrode. These devices will target 15% efficiency and 70% sub-bandgap transparency, enabling high efficiency, high power density tandem PVs. We will fabricate the devices on flexible substrates, which will increase manufacturability and reduce cos. "Eikos has already demonstrated that Invisicon® is an ideal hole conducting contact for solar cells," says Eikos CEO, Joseph Piche. "This program will allow us to further develop our materials and demonstrate insertion in a commercially viable thin film solar cell." About Eikos Contact ### |