NREL, iTi Solar partner to make solar energy cheaper

clipped from www.worldofrenewables.com Boulder-based iTi Solar, a new division of industrial inkjet company iTi Corp., on Wednesday announced NREL installed tailored versions of the Boulder company's Materials Deposition Systems as part of a new Atmospheric Processing Platform, a multi-functional process line to develop atmospheric processing methods and materials for photovoltaic applications. "We certainly believe that what we're doing is important in achieving the objective of making solar more affordable for people," said Bruce Morgan, chief executive officer of the 32-employee iTi. "That's a driver for us." Inkjet technology, Morgan said, could be more cost-effective than some of the solar cell manufacturing processes currently used. Now, metallic-based grids are essentially screen-printed on the panel faces, Morgan said, adding that there are more opportunities to waste expensive metals such as silver and not be able to use thinner substrates.