Ink-Jet Solar Cells

     One of the major limiting factors in solar energy technology is the price per-solar cell production. These prices have slowly been going down over the years and as new technologies come online their production costs are expected to drop much more. In order for alternative technologies to really compete with fossil fuel energies they must first become as inexpensive to produce. 
     Just recently a new method for printing solar cells has been developed that will dramatically decrease their production price as well as increase each cell's performance. The newly developed process uses sort of a ink-jet printing method to make electrical connections within a solar cell. This new "ink-jet" process is much more precise, so it uses less material for these connections. The print heads also don't need to make contact with the silicon it's self, so this method works on thinner silicon wafers. The ink-jet printer is built by a company called iTi Solar, in Boulder, CO.
     The new ink-jet method uses silver ink that is printed on the solar cells. The silver ink collects the electrons that have been converted from sun light by the silicone. The collection of these electrons creates an electrical current. Instead of using silver ink, the old process used silver past. The new silver ink is said to be far more conductive then the old silver paste. The higher conductivity allows for much more efficient electron gathering. This also allows for thinner lines that need to be printed,(35 to 40 micrometers wide), compared to (100 to 125 micrometers wide with screen printing). In addition to being much, much cheaper, the smaller lines also mean an increase in performance since the thinner silver lines cover less active material in shade.
     This new process could allow for manufacturers to cut the amount of silicone needed for production in half! "Since silicon can account for about three-quarters of the cost of conventional solar cells, this could significantly lower the price of solar power. The technique can reduce the amount of other materials used and improve solar-cell performance." (-Technology Review) This cost cut should dramatically influence the industry and lead to a much more widespread usage of solar technology.
     The new solar cell printing technology can be dropped into existing solar-cell manufacturing lines, which will allow for quick deployment. Commercial production of ink-jet solar cells is expected with-in a years time.