NextGen Solar has announced that it has raised half of the $1 million it needs to bring its “solar paint” to customers. The company claims its paint-on solar cells can hit 40 percent efficiency and will cost only a third of traditional solar PV panels.
The NextGen solar paint is a liquid material that forms webs of nanoscale solar cells when it dries and it can be painted onto practically any surface. Developed by the Argonne National Laboratory, the solar paint beats out thin-film PV cells in efficiency because it captures more wavelengths of light.
The company is working with ambitious clean tech investors, hoping to get the prototype out of the lab and onto roofs, windows and walls soon. A commercial breakthrough of this type of clean energy technology – one that is cheap and efficient enough to go up against coal – could make a big impact.
via Cleantechnica