Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Kopin lands NASA solar cell contract

By Mass High Tech staff

Liquid crystal display maker Kopin Corp. has won a $600,000 NASA contract for nanostructured solar cells made of indium gallium phosphide (InGaP) materials. These materials will contribute to a NASA II Small Business Innovation Research program for an efficient, cost-saving solar cell design.

The design calls on Kopin’s InGaP barriers to improve open-circuit voltage for photovoltaic cells.

The solar cell design is expected to reach more than 40 percent efficiency with one p-n junction device, which would be an increase of 20 percent over current multi-junction solar cells, Kopin president and CEO stated in a press release.

Kopin (Nasdaq: KOPN) received its first NASA contract earlier this year to develop nanostructured solar cell technology that resists extreme heat and other conditions.

Yesterday, the Taunton-based Kopin initiated a stock repurchase program, aimed at retrieving $15 million worth of the company’s common stock.

In the third quarter of this year, the 360-person company reported $30.7 million in revenue, a jump of $5 million over the previous quarter and $1 million over the same period in 2007. In the first three months of 2008, Kopin reported $85.7 million in total revenue, an increase of $16.5 million over last year.