Solar Power’s Surprising Future
Solar’s role in the world’s energy future depends on political choices.
Solar’s growth is inevitable.
Breadth of adoption dependent on
• New technologies for reduced cost
• New application paradigm: Power Buildings
Solar Power Today 
Silicon Photovoltaic (PV) modules for retrofit
Solar Power Tomorrow 
World’s Highest Performance, Lowest Cost, & Most Versatile Solar Power Platform
Power Buildings will become multi-$T market
PV as an integrated electronic component
Efficient, durable thin-film solar cells incorporated into traditional building materials
Current products unsuitable
Competitors for the Mass Power Market
Silicon PV cannot meet needs like
Durable & efficient
Expensive mature technology
Low margins Organic PV unlikely to meet needs
Efficiency & lifetime issues
Conventional semiconductor thin film currently too expensive
Breakthrough CIGS Platform Technology
Highest Performance and Durability
Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS): Highest Thin Film Efficiency
Currently used for most-demanding applications.
Lowest Cost – Less than one third the cost of Silicon PV Cells
Widest Range of Form Factors
Durable and inexpensive coating for glass, metals and polymeric materials
Replaces costly slow processing unsuited to mass production
Unique Nanoscience of CIGS
Inherent to CIGS PV semiconductor Spontaneous nanostructuring
• Driven by phase segregation
Forms internal nano-scale junctions
• Two phases form different interpenetrating percolation networks for each carrier type
• Explains CIGS performance & robustness
New scientific insight – Suggests novel pathways for cost & performance improvement
Nanotechnology and Buildings: 
Changes for the Electrical Industry
Generation – Integration of CIGS PV as Coatings on Building Construction Materials
Conservation – Nanotechnology application to improved insulation, lower cost low-E windows
Transmission – Need reduced by distributed generation
• Power produced at the point of consumption
• Inherent benefit of PV Power Buildings
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