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Konarka plans first US TiO2
solar module production in 2003
Konarka Technologies Inc., which intends to begin the first US-based
commercial manufacturing of dye-sensitized titanium-dioxide (TiO2)
solar modules in 2003, says it raised $3.5 million of additional
funding in a second financing round, completed during the first
quarter of 2002.
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© Konarka Technologies |
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To dye
for: A computer-generated image of Konarka's new
dye-sensitized cell on a flexible plastic substrate. |
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According to Paul Wormser,
president and COO, the cells will be manufactured at room atmospheric
pressure and below 150°C on flexible plastic substrates, using a
non-liquid electrolyte. Lowell, Massachusetts-based Konarka, which
grew out of polymer engineering research at the University of
Massachusetts, currently has a working module that it is testing
in-house. Wormser, who would not reveal the anticipated production
cost per watt, also declined to specify the efficiency, saying only
that it is »quite attractive and very competitive.« He says the
company already has a »multi-watt« production machine, which will be
installed in the autumn and put into production by the end of the
year.
Wormser expects the first application to be with wireless electronic
devices, but not cell phones. He foresees commercial manufacturing
being taken over by partners »with channels into those [wireless
electronics] markets.« Roof applications would come later, probably in
2004, after module testing and certifications have been completed.
Michael Graetzel, inventor of the TiO2
cell, who would have to license Konarka before commercialization, is a
member of Konarka's advisory board. The company also has a curious
connection to Evergreen Solar Inc., the manufacturer of string ribbon
modules based in nearby Marlboro. Another of Konarka's advisors is
Jack Hanoka, Evergreen's chief technology officer. And Zero Stage
Capital, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based venture capital firm that
provided Konarka with $500,000 in seed money when it started up in
Aug. 2001, was an early Evergreen investor. Zero Stage's Bic Stevens
sits on Konarka's board.
Wormser says Konarka, which raised $1 million in its first funding
round, will definitely need more money »before the company can
continue to grow on its own income stream.«
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William P.
Hirshman
© PHOTON International, May 2002
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