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Print Edition StoriesTuesday, January 12, 2010
NREL contract prompts Spire to make concentrator solar cell
By Rodney H. Brown
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Solar technology equipment company Spire Corp. said that its wholly owned subsidiary, Spire Semiconductor LLC, has been awarded part of a federal contract from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory to help develop a solar concentrator chip.
For part of the 18-month, $3.7 million cost share subcontract, Spire Semiconductor is developing technology to cost-effectively manufacture concentrator solar cells for concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) systems that would be 42 percent efficient. Spire Semiconductor won the Phase 2 subcontract because it was able to show in Phase 1 that it could help make a chip with greater than 39 percent efficiency in converting sunlight into electricity.
A typical non-concentrator solar cell, such as is used in roof-top installations today, has an efficiency of about 12 percent.
Spire Semiconductor is working to meet NREL goals in key performance parameters of competitive Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE); annual manufacturing capacity potential; direct manufacturing cost; and cell Mean Time Between Failure.
NREL develops renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies and practices, advances related science and engineering, and transfers knowledge and innovations to address the nation’s energy and environmental goals.
In September of 2009, Spire Corp. (Nasdaq: SPIR) left the biomedical products business through a sale of its hemodialysis catheter business to Bard Access Systems Inc. for $15 million. For 2008, Spire reported a profit of $4.78 million on revenue of $68.65 million.
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