- 11 August 2005 -

'Lighter, more stowable and lower cost'

United Solar Ovonic Corp, an Energy Conversion Devices Inc subsidiary has been awarded a $6.7m, 18-month contract to continue development of its ultra-light weight, high-efficiency solar cell technology.

The award from the Air Force Research Laboratory in Kirtland, New Mexico for technology development for use in space and airship vehicles, addressing defense and homeland security applications. The Advanced Space Power Generation Group in the Space Vehicles Directorate of AFRL will administer the contract.

"Our performance goals for the next generation solar arrays include lighter, more stowable and lower cost than those currently available," said Dr Donna Senft, program manager of the AFRL Advanced Power Generation Program at Kirtland AFB.

"We are pleased with the performance of United Solar Ovonic's ultralight, high efficiency solar cell technology and the progress made to date under AFRL contracts to address these goals."

Uni-Solar space photovoltaic products offer an ultralight, low-cost alternative to conventional space PV modules made of crystalline Si or GaAs. United Solar Ovonic's triple-junction modules, originally developed for terrestrial applications, are made of amorphous silicon-based thin-film alloys, which are deposited on a 5-mil flexible stainless steel substrate.

By using a polymeric substrate rather than stainless steel, new space cells will be developed that have a specific power density greater than 1,000 W/ signifi-cantly higher than what is currently available.

A high specific power density is required for airship application. The radiation hardness and superior high-temperature performance of amorphous silicon make it an attractive material for space application.

"This award provides us with yet another opportunity to continue our successful collaboration with the Air Force to develop our ultralight solar cells. This is a valuable technology that will be very beneficial to AFRL and to our nation's security," said Subhendu Guha, president and COO of United Solar Ovonic.

Stanford R. Ovshinsky, chairman and CEO of United Solar Ovonic and president and CTO of ECD Ovonics noted: "We recently broke ground for a second 25MW module manufacturing facility in Auburn Hills, Michigan because of the growth in demand for our thin-film, triple-junction solar products for terrestrial applications worldwide - an important step in United Solar Ovonic achieving its goal of becoming a leader in this field."