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http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/3/8/155330.shtml?s=te
Solar Technology Gets White House Boost
NewsMax.com Wires Friday, March 9, 2007
BOSTON -- A company trying to harness energy from sunlight and interior
light to wirelessly power everything from cell phones to signboards now has
financial backing from the White House.
President Bush's program to help solar energy compete with conventional
electricity sources will help fund Konarka Technologies' development of
flexible plastic solar cell strips - material that could be embedded into
the casings of laptop computers and even woven into power-producing clothing
to energize digital media players or other electronics.
The technology, which received its first Pentagon funding three years ago,
offers a lightweight, flexible alternative to conventional rigid
photovoltaic cells on glass panels.
Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman is scheduled Thursday afternoon to tour
Konarka's headquarters in a former textile mill in Lowell, where he's
expected to announce funding from Bush's Solar America Initiative.
The award amount and other details were to be announced in a news conference
at Konarka, a six-year-old private company that has attracted nearly $60
million in venture capital funding.
Konarka's nearly $10 million in grant money to date from U.S. and European
governments includes funding from the Pentagon to supply lightweight
portable battery chargers and material for tents to draw power from
sunlight.
Chief Executive Howard Berke said the new White House support is a milestone
for Konarka.
The first commercial product using Konarka's technology isn't expected to
hit the market until next year, and the company isn't saying what that
product might be. Konarka expects to provide prototypes in the second half
of this year to commercial partners that would bring the technology to
market.
Konarka's approach "is potentially a great breakthrough technology, but like
all breakthroughs, they don't happen instantaneously," Berke said in a phone
interview.
Observers say Konarka has a good chance of becoming a leader in solar power,
an industry enjoying a recent surge in initial public stock offerings by
startup companies as well as growing investments from traditional energy
companies - for example, one of Konarka's financial backers is Chevron Corp.
Konarka's development of plastic solar cell strips that can be manufactured
like rolls of photographic film "has the promise of becoming a low-cost
manufacturing technique," said Jeffrey Bencik, a Jefferies & Co. analyst who
follows the solar industry. "Some of their laboratory production has worked
as advertised. But can they mass-produce it and get the same result? That's
the biggest question."
Among developers of solar technology for small-scale uses, Konarka is
"definitely doing the best job at developing what ultimately will have to be
a mass-manufactured material," said Dan Nocera, a Massachusetts Institute of
Technology chemistry professor.
However, Nocera said it remains to be seen whether Konarka's so-called
"Power Plastic" is sufficiently chemically stable to convert energy
efficiently both when light is dim and when it's bright.
Konarka, which takes its name from an ancient temple in India dedicated to
the sun god Surya, was founded by Berke and Alan Heeger, who shared the 2000
Nobel Chemistry prize for showing that certain plastics can be made to
conduct electricity.
The discovery about polymers - long considered to be useful only as
electrical insulators - led to the development of new types of plastics to
create flexible and lightweight alternatives to traditional solar cells on
heavy glass panels.
Konarka developed low-cost plastics that could be used as the top and bottom
surfaces of the photovoltaic cell. The 50-employee company says it has more
than 280 patents and patent applications for materials, manufacturing and
other processes and devices.
The company says its solar cells are efficient across a much broader
spectrum of light than traditional cells, allowing them to draw energy from
both the sun and indoor lighting.
Konarka says its material is lightweight and flexible so that it can be
colored, patterned and cut to fit almost any device. The firm envisions
embedding its material in cell phones, laptops and toys to provide power on
the go. Clothing could be woven with the material to supply power for
handheld electronics, and signboards, traffic lights and rooftops could be
fitted with solar strips.
Berke foresees wide use of such technology in the developing world and areas
off the electrical grid.
To that end, Berke said Konarka has held confidential discussions with the
manufacturer of an inexpensive portable computer developed for the nonprofit
One Laptop Per Child project, which seeks to provide computers to young
students in the developing world. The project's current design features a
hand crank for charging batteries.
"In the developing world, great demand exists for off-the-grid support of
electronic devices," Berke said.
Solar Technology Gets White House Boost
NewsMax.com Wires Friday, March 9, 2007
BOSTON -- A company trying to harness energy from sunlight and interior
light to wirelessly power everything from cell phones to signboards now has
financial backing from the White House.
President Bush's program to help solar energy compete with conventional
electricity sources will help fund Konarka Technologies' development of
flexible plastic solar cell strips - material that could be embedded into
the casings of laptop computers and even woven into power-producing clothing
to energize digital media players or other electronics.
The technology, which received its first Pentagon funding three years ago,
offers a lightweight, flexible alternative to conventional rigid
photovoltaic cells on glass panels.
Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman is scheduled Thursday afternoon to tour
Konarka's headquarters in a former textile mill in Lowell, where he's
expected to announce funding from Bush's Solar America Initiative.
The award amount and other details were to be announced in a news conference
at Konarka, a six-year-old private company that has attracted nearly $60
million in venture capital funding.
Konarka's nearly $10 million in grant money to date from U.S. and European
governments includes funding from the Pentagon to supply lightweight
portable battery chargers and material for tents to draw power from
sunlight.
Chief Executive Howard Berke said the new White House support is a milestone
for Konarka.
The first commercial product using Konarka's technology isn't expected to
hit the market until next year, and the company isn't saying what that
product might be. Konarka expects to provide prototypes in the second half
of this year to commercial partners that would bring the technology to
market.
Konarka's approach "is potentially a great breakthrough technology, but like
all breakthroughs, they don't happen instantaneously," Berke said in a phone
interview.
Observers say Konarka has a good chance of becoming a leader in solar power,
an industry enjoying a recent surge in initial public stock offerings by
startup companies as well as growing investments from traditional energy
companies - for example, one of Konarka's financial backers is Chevron Corp.
Konarka's development of plastic solar cell strips that can be manufactured
like rolls of photographic film "has the promise of becoming a low-cost
manufacturing technique," said Jeffrey Bencik, a Jefferies & Co. analyst who
follows the solar industry. "Some of their laboratory production has worked
as advertised. But can they mass-produce it and get the same result? That's
the biggest question."
Among developers of solar technology for small-scale uses, Konarka is
"definitely doing the best job at developing what ultimately will have to be
a mass-manufactured material," said Dan Nocera, a Massachusetts Institute of
Technology chemistry professor.
However, Nocera said it remains to be seen whether Konarka's so-called
"Power Plastic" is sufficiently chemically stable to convert energy
efficiently both when light is dim and when it's bright.
Konarka, which takes its name from an ancient temple in India dedicated to
the sun god Surya, was founded by Berke and Alan Heeger, who shared the 2000
Nobel Chemistry prize for showing that certain plastics can be made to
conduct electricity.
The discovery about polymers - long considered to be useful only as
electrical insulators - led to the development of new types of plastics to
create flexible and lightweight alternatives to traditional solar cells on
heavy glass panels.
Konarka developed low-cost plastics that could be used as the top and bottom
surfaces of the photovoltaic cell. The 50-employee company says it has more
than 280 patents and patent applications for materials, manufacturing and
other processes and devices.
The company says its solar cells are efficient across a much broader
spectrum of light than traditional cells, allowing them to draw energy from
both the sun and indoor lighting.
Konarka says its material is lightweight and flexible so that it can be
colored, patterned and cut to fit almost any device. The firm envisions
embedding its material in cell phones, laptops and toys to provide power on
the go. Clothing could be woven with the material to supply power for
handheld electronics, and signboards, traffic lights and rooftops could be
fitted with solar strips.
Berke foresees wide use of such technology in the developing world and areas
off the electrical grid.
To that end, Berke said Konarka has held confidential discussions with the
manufacturer of an inexpensive portable computer developed for the nonprofit
One Laptop Per Child project, which seeks to provide computers to young
students in the developing world. The project's current design features a
hand crank for charging batteries.
"In the developing world, great demand exists for off-the-grid support of
electronic devices," Berke said.
