Maybe castor beans are good for something besides castor oil – California based BioSolar has come up with a high-performance protective backsheet for solar panels made partly from a castor bean resin. The bio-based product is cheaper than conventional backsheets, helping to lower the cost of photovoltaic installations.
High tech gains in solar cell efficiency may grab the banner headlines, but behind-the-scenes companies like BioSolar are also scoring points for helping to make solar energy more cost-competitive with fossil fuels by tweaking other components of a solar energy installation.