QD Soleil Issued Patent Based on the Use of Nanostructures for Solar Concentrators

QD Soleil™, a division of Nanosys Inc. focused on the use of proprietary nanotechnology in solar panel cell designs, announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has allowed the company patent claims based on the use of nanostructures for solar concentrators. Solar concentrators magnify the sun’s rays on a small area of highly efficient solar cells. Such concentrators can dramatically reduce the cost of solar energy systems because the active solar cells can be made much smaller and thinner. Concentrator technology can be used in traditional utility-scale solar farms in addition to novel window glass applications, where the window tinting can be used to generate electricity by integrating a PV cell at the glass edge. QD Soleil uses its quantum dot technology to efficiently capture and concentrate light in a very narrow band at the edge of the glass. The properties of quantum dots make them particularly well suited and superior to other approaches for light concentration, such as organic dyes which have short lifetimes.

“We feel strongly that these new nano-enabled light concentrator systems will allow U.S. companies to replace large areas of expensive crystalline solar cells with cost-advantaged metal and plastic concentrator systems and efficient small-area solar cells,” said Vijendra Sahi, vice president and general manager of QD Soleil. “Our quantum dot technology and strong IP position provide a winning advantage for companies that want to establish a leadership position with these new enabling solar applications.”

QD Soleil is a division of Nanosys Inc. focused on the use of proprietary nanotechnology in solar panel cell designs. QD Soleil controls a seminal intellectual property estate that includes over 500 patents and patent applications. The technology has been refined over many years by Nanosys and exploits best in class inorganic material compositions, processing and integration chemistries, and includes the most stable nanomaterial formulations known in the field. Applications of the technology and intellectual property are broad and include additive enhancement layers for light conversion engineering, nano-particle inks, light waveguide concentrators and nanomaterial composites for enhancing overall solar cell efficiency.