From Vinod Kosla's well-publicized investments in Biofuel to the Kleiner Perkins funded capacitor for vehicles of the future, Silicon Valley VCs have proven that they have a vision that our president does not; our future depends on replacing traditional energy sources with new ones.
Two Silicon Valley startups, Nanosolar and Miasole, have just announced new rounds of funding to develop more cost effective, thinner solar cells. Miasole just received $16M from a round led by Kleiner Perkins, and Nanosolar $20M in a round led by Mohr Davidoff.
Both companies are making traditional silicon based solar panels obsolete, by using newer copper based CGIS alloys (copper-indium-gallium-diselenide ) that are thinner and roughly 19.5 percent efficient.
Production processes and costs still remain a challenge for this fledgling technology, but a flurry of research papers have been produced with ideas on tackling this issue. Production is also a highly toxic process.
Miasole has innovated a proprietary vacuum deposition sputtering technology which is used to apply a thin-film of CGIS on a stainless steel foil.
When solar panels become more attractive and less costly - homeowners will flock to use them which will be great for our electric bills AND the environment.
