Nanosolar to Build 430MW Fab

Nanosolar Inc., a global leader in solar power innovation, today announced that it has started executing on its plan to build a volume cell production factory with a total annual cell output of 430MW once fully built out, or approximately 200 million cells per year, and an advanced panel assembly factory designed to produce more than one million solar panels per year.

Nanosolar Inc., a global leader in solar power innovation, today announced that it now has $100 million in funding to take its breakthrough photovoltaic (PV) solar electricity technology into volume production.

$100 mil to build a 430MW Fab. I have been a fan of Nanosolar for a while and this is good news for them and the solar industry. To put 430MW in perspective, it is more than was all the solar panels produced in 2001 and it is 25% of the estimated 1,727 MW produced in 2005. So it is a big number.

I am still not clear how expensive the cells will be, but they talk as if they will be cheaper than anything currently on the market. In this National Geographic article they say they hope to sell them for $.50 a watt. If true, that blows away the competition. As I blogged previously a solar expert said that the price was $3/W in 2002 and expected a price of $1/W in 2012 and $.65/W in 2023. If Nanosolar is talking $.50/W anytime soon, they are 20 years ahead of this prediction. I can only hope that they live up to the hype.

via Nanosolar