News Article
Nano Crystalline Patent
United Solar awarded patent for nano-crystalline technology
United Solar announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. Patent 7,902,049, “Method for depositing high-quality microcrystalline semiconductor materials” to Subhendu Guha, Jeff Yang and Baojie Yan for United Solar.
“This is yet another confirmation of the unique and innovative technological processes that United Solar is committed to developing, now and into the future,” said Mark Morelli, President and CEO of Energy Conversion Devices. “The proprietary technology covered in this patent will enable us to achieve our 12% aperture-area conversion efficiency in 2012, as outlined in our technology roadmap. The direct result of this is that we will be able to harness the sun's energy in a more cost-effective manner.”
Earlier this year, the company announced that the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), an official U.S. Department of Energy laboratory, had conducted independent testing and confirmed that United Solar's Nano-Crystalline technology achieves 12% initial conversion efficiency in a large-area encapsulated cell, a world-record for thin-film silicon solar technology.
United Solar has been awarded nearly 70 United States patents for various technological advancements in its 25-year history.
