Nanosolar follows through on cutting-edge solar technology

Nanosolar, the Palo Alto solar company that will print solar cells made of nanoparticle ink on just about any surface, has selected San Jose and Germany for its manufacturing.

Nanosolar said earlier that it would make a decision by the end of this year (see our piece). The step is significant because multiple so-called “thin film” start-ups are racing to establish themselves in the market, and Nanosolar appears to be first to hit the large-scale manufacturing stage. Nanosolar is picking high-cost Silicon Valley for its manufacturing, even though costs in China are much lower. It says it will build enough solar cells to generate about 400 megawatts of electricity — or about three times the country’s current output. Nanosolar’s Martin Roscheisen told VentureBeat about the decision late yesterday.

There are more details in the Mercury News today.

The company has financial backing from Mohr, Davidow Ventures, and the Google co-founders, among others.

Next Story: Indian travel site Cleartrip raises $8M from DAG Ventures — because DAG can react within 48 hours
Previous Story: Red 5 Studios wants to bring Web 2.0 to games — raises $18.5M