VentureBeat

Hewlett-Packard, tapping into its IP back catalog, recently announced that it would license its thin film transparent transistor technology to Livermore, Calif.-based Xtreme Energetics (XE) to develop advanced concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) solar arrays for rooftops and utilities.

HP’s thin, flat transistors, which are made of cheap, plentiful zinc and tin, will create a tracking system that directly focuses sunlight on XE’s proprietary solar concentrators. These will allow XE’s concentrators to achieve double the conversion efficiency of conventional silicon solar panels. XE’s solar trackers could also be adapted for concentrated solar thermal applications, opening the door to other potentially lucrative deals.

The transparent electronics, in addition to preventing light from being blocked as with conventional systems, allows for a greater degree of aesthetic appeal by enabling the placement of artistic patterns on the arrays — which means they could eventually be incorporated into a variety of building materials and in facades.

Furthermore, the use of HP’s transistors avoids the need for mechanical tracking devices, which incur high maintenance costs and are one of the biggest obstacles to installing CPV systems — often casting shadows onto themselves. XE CEO Colin Williams told CNET that its final design would call for a multilayered solar panel with HP’s transparent transistor technology, a high-efficiency solar cell and a plastic internal reflection concentrator. In an industry where space and efficiency come at a premium, XE could grab a large slice of the rooftop solar market with its flat, compact systems. The ease of use and adaptability its transparent electronics offer means XE could break into other, more specialized markets — especially given their aesthetic value.

Though the company has yet to develop an actual prototype, it expects to have its first-generation array model for utilities available next year. Williams said his firm’s array would be able to convert up to 43 percent of sunlight into energy at a cost of $1.50 per watt once it reaches a 100 megawatt production capacity.

It is currently in the process of raising a $5 million first round of funding and plans on raising another $35 million round within the coming months. It will use these funds to continue its product development and to build national and international manufacturing, marketing and sales operations.

The field of high-profile CPV startups has grown by leaps and bounds over the past year. Silicon Valley Solar, which develops internal concentrator modules, Cool Earth Solar, which received funding a few months ago to develop plastic balloon concentrators, and Sunrgi, which has claimed 5 - 7 cents per kilowatt prices from its solar concentrator design, are just a few of the companies we’ve covered.

According to the San Francisco Business Times, HP is considering 150 licensing deals with applications in solar and energy efficiency. Other tech firms that have parlayed their expertise into energy efficiency technologies include IBM and Intel. IBM unveiled a new line of small, modular data centers and green financing software as part of its Project Big Green initiative this week while Intel, which showcased 70 research projects at its recent Research@Intel event, is developing energy efficient platforms and environmental sensing systems, among others

When looking at next-generation renewable technologies, you’ll hear a lot of claims about how cheaply they can create electricity. Usually the figures hover around 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is about low enough to compete with the mix of coal, oil and nuclear power most utilities use.

No such small ambitions, for a new startup called Sunrgi, which is unveiling its technology today at the annual National Energy Marketers Association convention. Sunrgi claims it can provide power for as little as half the above figure, at about 5-7 cents per kWh. That’s low enough to undercut damn near everything, with the possible exception of cheap, dirty coal — for which prices have been going up. Conventional solar cells cost upwards of 20 cents per kWh.

Sunrgi uses a concentrating solar power design, which generally means you start off with a tiny, highly efficient solar panel and focus in the sun’s rays on it with mirrors and lenses. A variety of companies already do this, including SolFocus, which has raised heaps of cash and even sparked a small bidding war toward commercializing the concept.

It’s debatable whether concentrated solar power can compete, long-term, with regular solar panels, but Sunrgi says it has two tricks to magnify CSP’s advantage. The first is a special, lens-only concentrating design with built-in solar trackers, which can focus over 1,500 “suns” on a single point (by comparison, one of the previous biggest claims for concentration levels was Greenvolts’ 625 suns). For an idea of how this might work, try to think of the most ingenious way possible to torch ants with magnifying glasses.

This scheme causes a problem, namely heating the solar cell that’s supposed to be generating electricity to over 1,600 degrees Celsius (or over 3,000 Fahrenheit). That’s where the second part of Sunrgi’s technology comes in, with a special cooling design, combining active and passive measures, that keeps the cell at around 30-40 degrees C (86-104 F).

Cooling is important above a certain level to avoid actually burning the solar cell, and below that point to reduce the failure rate. This ties in heavily to the cost equation, co-founder Dr. KRS Murthy told me in an interview — where other companies will have to pay heavy maintenance and replacement costs, Sunrgi’s well-chilled cells will last much longer, he said.

But beyond the details I’ve laid out, Sunrgi isn’t saying a great deal. The members of the management team who joined me on a call declined to give any further details of exactly how they cool the solar cells. While they did suggest a size for their utility-scale generation modules — 14 inches square, with a solar cell of less than a centimeter square in the center — they are still applying for patents, and so don’t want to describe the units further (although you can get an idea from the pictures at right and below).

What they did say is that they’re still conducting field testing on the units, continuing to optimize the basic design, and working on models for different markets (aside from utility generation, they’re looking at smaller commercial and industrial applications). That said, perhaps the second most surprising assertion Sunrgi has to make, after the price, is that they’ll be manufacturing within 12-15 months.

If Sunrgi can pull it off, that would be one of the faster production turnarounds a new energy generation technology has yet seen. On the other hand, if the price claims can be proven on a large scale, there will be plenty of investment dollars lining up to grease the industrial gears.

Speaking of funding, that’s the one missing part in the company’s claims. While the founders and executives have solid backgrounds, they haven’t yet announced where their backing is coming from. I’m told that several top VC firms are in talks with the company, though, as well as a “major strategic partner”, with announcements due in a week or two — so stay tuned for more.