Air Force contracts for solar cell tech

LITTLETON, Colo., March 20 (UPI) -- The U.S. Air Force says it has selected Colorado-based Ascent Solar Technologies Inc. to develop highly efficient solar cell technology.

Ascent Solar, a designer of thin-film photovoltaic modules for solar cells, has received a phase II contract from the Air Force to research a way to achieve a 20 percent efficiency rate in flexible thin-film tandem solar cells. The Air Force Small Business Innovative Research initiative under the Office of the Secretary of Defense announced the deal potentially worth approximately $750,000

Officials say the tandem solar cell gathers energy from separate parts of the solar spectrum by stacking two cells on top of each other. "Tandem cells require two solar cells that not only have the desired electrical and optical properties, but that also share compatible manufacturing processes," the release said.

"This phase II project follows our success in phase I of the U.S. Air Force program, and builds upon work already performed by our scientists in the areas of wide band gap and durable bottom cell thin-film photovoltaic technologies," Ascent Solar Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Joseph Armstrong said in a statement. "Our objective in phase II is to demonstrate an ability to make tandem solar cells using new material systems we developed during phase I."