BioSolar, Inc., the engineers of revolutionary bio-polymers (materials based on renewable plant sources and suitable for standardized manufacturing processes which are quickly gaining ground against more costly materials) announced this morning plans to offer two different BioBacksheets for crystalline silicon (c-Si) Photovoltaic (PV) module manufacturers.
The sort of breakthrough bio-polymers BSRC is known for include a perfect, high-efficiency, low-cost alternative for making standard components in solar cells, and this recent announcement adds to the growing list of remarkable bio-based backsheet products – made from renewable resources as opposed to toxic materials found in the widely used petroleum-based backsheets – which BSRC now offers solar manufacturers.
The two types of BioBacksheets designed specifically to meet current and future needs of potential customers are: a multilayer BioBacksheet-C for “conventional” applications; and a monolayer BioBacksheet for premium applications.
This continued development of a variety of grades of backsheet affirms BSRC’s commitment to providing manufacturers with a wide selection of products so they can easily choose the one that meets their specific cost and durability requirements.
The Company’s uniquely environmentally friendly products were recent hailed in a major engineering and design publication, Design News, wherein BSRC was called one of a select few companies “developing plastics from sustainable resources”. The article also clearly pointed out that these sorts of bio-polymers, based on non-food agribusiness, represented a potential spark to the PV cell industry, which is on the “verge of an explosive growth burst”.
CEO of BSRC Dr. David Lee commented on how the Company was “uniquely positioned” to capitalize on continued increase in global demand for solar energy by offering a low-cost, high-performance alternative to c-Si PV module manufacturers who represent 70% of the industry.
Dr. Lee noted the soundness of the strategy to develop a complete line of bio-backsheets, both in terms of more rapid revenue generation and in terms of ease of use (and therefore uptake from the industry itself), by saying that these steps were key to the Company’s continued innovation to “make solar power a more viable and eco-friendlier alternative energy option”.
Dr. Lee pointed out in a recent article on The Green Economy that – while solar cells are unlikely to see “dramatic sot reductions” – the ‘non-active material components’ were “ripe for the kind of cost reduction that could make solar competitive, even without government subsidies”.
Dr. Lee’s statements seem justified by a new Lux Research report, cited by the article, on solar cell component materials, which pointed out the 15-48% base cost from the “largely unknown” non-active components and their surprisingly manifold impact on overall cell efficiency as a direct contrast to the surfeit of talk about semiconductor materials.
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