Thin-film- Solar startup XsunX, Inc. is moving forward on building out its 25 megawatt Thin Film photovoltaic (TFPV) solar module manufacturing plant in Oregon. A recent company press release describes the companies efforts to align material resources with low cost manufacturing process for its 90,000 square foot facility. The company expects to begin commercial production in early 2009.

Last week we reported on the opening of the first 1 Gigawatt capacity Thin Film Solar plant operated by Konarka. (Konarka image shown) XsunX now appears to be on track to add to real production capacity for the thin film solar market.

Energy forecasters believe that growth of thin film solar could soon surge around its advantages over traditional glass-based solar panels.

While thin film’s performance (by energy conversion efficiency) is lower than traditional solar panels, it has a cost advantages per-watt because of its lower materials and manufacturing ‘roll to roll’ costs. Thin film can also be integrated into more products and building materials, and sold over retail shelves at Home Depot, Walmart and Tesco.

If XsunX and Konarka (Image) stay on course, soon solar panels will be produced on the same types of ‘reels’ that spit out newspapers using inkjet printing processes.

Category: Environment
Year: 2009
Tags: solar, electricity, energy, thinfilm, storage, distributed, power