A startup company hopes to bring down the cost of generating power with concentrated sunlight by using microscale solar cells that can utilize twice as much light as other panels, without the need for expensive optics or cooling systems. Panels made from the tiny cells, which the Durham, NC-based company Semprius developed using a novel microprinting technology, also offer significant savings on materials costs. In late January, the company announced a joint agreement with Siemens to develop demonstration systems based on its technology. Semprius plans to begin volume production of the modules in 2013.

Adding concentrating lenses to solar panels increases the amount of electricity they can produce. But photovoltaic concentrators add a great deal of expense to a solar installation. The optical systems themselves are expensive and bulky--the larger a cell, the larger its paired lens must be. More intense light also means that more performance-degrading heat must be dissipated using heat sinks or fans. Although the cost is partly offset by the efficiency of high-concentration photovoltaics, it limits the potential power of such concentrator systems. The two major suppliers of concentrated solar modules, Amonix and Emcore, both sell systems based on conventional-size cells that operate under 500 times concentration sunlight with costly cooling systems.

Semprius's solar modules contain arrays of square cells that measure just 600 micrometers on each side. These cells have three semiconducting layers--each of which is based on gallium arsenide and absorbs a different band of sunlight--and they are made using a combination of chemical etching and printing, which means fewer raw materials are wasted. They can operate under sunlight concentrated 1,000 times using cheap optical systems. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratories, the efficiency of the resulting modules ranges from 25 to 35 percent and they can provide electricity for about 10 cents a kilowatt hour. The company expects the final costs, including installation, to be $2 to $3 per watt.

Last year, a study by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM, suggested that microscale solar cells might offer various cost and design advantages. "You reduce the amount of semiconductor you need, so there can be a big cost savings," says Gregory Nielson, head scientist on the Sandia project. "And you can do things with the optics that you can't do with larger cells."

Smaller solar cells are more efficient at dissipating heat. "When the cells are below a millimeter, they reject the heat so efficiently they'll be just as cool as a one-sun panel," without the need for any cooling systems, says Nielson. This is because the tiny cells have a much greater percentage of total area given up to heat-diffusing edges.