Natural Powers: Boise City to Build Thinnest “Silver” Solar Cells Ever Made

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Boise City to Build Thinnest “Silver” Solar Cells Ever Made

Less than a month after Boise, Idaho Mayor Davie Bieter announced the planned construction of a 10-megawatt photovoltaic power plant, the city is primed for another addition to its solar repertoire. On Thursday, officials from Transform Solar revealed plans to bring a thin-film solar cell production plant to Boise. The so-called "Sliver" solar cells to be produced are, the company says, super thin and highly efficient. They should be ready for distribution next year.

transform silver solar cells

Transform Solar as a company is a joint venture between Boise-based Micron Technology and Australia's Origin Energy. An old computer chip plant belonging to Micron will be converted to manufacture the solar cells, which will be assembled into solar panels at a separate plant in nearby Nampa, Idaho.

How Does it Work?

transform thin film solar cells

Sliver solar cells are made with monocrystalline silicon, but require much less of the semiconductor than conventional crystalline silicon solar cells, reducing material costs by 90 percent. They are 50 microns thick (less than two-thousandths of an inch) and able to collect solar energy on both sides of the cell. They are the thinnest solar cells currently in production.

Transform Solar has already hired 70 workers to operate the plant and plans to hire up to 50 more. Their "sliver" technology was introduced only this year at the Intersolar trade show in Germany. The solar panels that will make up Boise's $45 million, 10-MW solar power plant will utilize Transform Solar's sliver cells, although the power plant itself will be built by Boise-based Sunergy World.

Source: Associated Press