Monday, September 21, 2009 at 12:28:30 PM - by Nate Lew

1366 Technologies, which spun off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2008, headed by MIT professor and inventor Dr. Emanuel Sachs, recently released statements saying it had arrived at cell texturing and metallization techniques that could deliver greater efficiencies for mono-crystalline solar cells manufacturers.

By 1366’s own description, the technology “breaks the historic efficiency and cost tradeoff of photovoltaics (PV) by providing mono-crystalline equivalent cell efficiencies at multi-crystalline cell costs”, and does so with what it is calling SAC (Self-Aligned Cell) architecture.

According to 1366 Co-founder and President, Frank van Mierlo, the technology could potentially allow solar cell manufacturers to save $50 billion over the next five years, putting solar on the same footing as coal in terms of production costs.

Cutting through the hype and hyperbole, what 1366 has done is create a three-dimensional pattern, like a honeycomb, on the surface of cells so that sunlight touches the cell at many angles over a longer period, allowing more solar radiation to be absorbed. This feature reportedly increases efficiencies up to one percent.

The second innovation is ultra-fine metallization (30 microns) on upper cell surfaces via electroplating. Screen printing, while more economical in production terms, can’t create these ultra-fine contacts, and the industry standard is closer to 120 microns. Thus the 1366 technology reduces contact shading to 2 percent, as compared to the industry average 9 percent, increasing cell efficiency another 75 percent and reducing production costs over back-contact solar cell designs.

According to Sachs, these advances – which can be easily integrated into existing assembly lines – will, when coupled with manufacturing upgrades, help solar power meet 7 percent of global electricity demand during the coming decade, as well as inspiring one of the biggest manufacturing revolutions in history.

Company engineers say they will achieve 19-percent efficiency within nine months, without adding to manufacturing costs. The company has already licensed a technology where grooved surfaces on the backs of solar cells reflect light back to the surface of said cells – a development likely advanced by the research grant provided earlier this year by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, an operational arm of the U.S. Department of Energy.

While 19 percent is no longer cutting-edge in terms of solar cell efficiency, with Innovalight recently announcing 18 percent for silicon-ink printed solar cells, Suntech trumpeting 18.8 percent efficiency, and even Mitsubishi calling its cell 18.9-percent efficient, 19 percent is now a target to shoot for.

And that, more than anything, is what will drive the solar revolution and put solar on grid parity with fossil fuels; a free-market shoving contest that will deliver benefits not only to the best solar cell manufacturer, but to an energy-hungry public eager to claim clean “green” solar energy as a viable alternative to coal-fired generation, with its legacy of pollution.