SustainableBusiness.com Newswire
05/29/2009 10:22 AM ET
News from: Prism Solar Technologies, Inc.
Prism Solar Technologies (PST) Releases Real-time Test Data of Solar Module’s Power Enhancement Capability.
With 60,000 (solar) power-hungry Intersolar 2009 attendees present, Prism Solar Technologies, Inc. (Prism) provided its customers and other interested parties a live web feed of ongoing testing of its Holographic Planar Concentrator (HPC) technology at its Arizona research facility.
The testing, made possible through the monitoring component of the Enphase Microinverter System, allows interested parties to log on to the website (link shown below) to view real-time comparison testing of equivalent PV modules for their energy producing capacity over a day, week, month and year's time. The output of modules with equivalent amounts of silicon is compared showing DC & AC power production both with and without Prism's HPC film elements.
http://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/public/systems/9xq3545
The Enphase site compares energy production throughout the day, in all types of weather, and shows both real-time and historical data. The tests show that Prism's HPC film-integrated modules produce 45-65% more kilowatt hours (kWhs) per day than modules with the same amount of silicon cells without the HPC film.
"The PV industry is using the wrong metric to determine the value that comes from buying and using PV modules," stated Rick Lewandowski, Prism's CEO. "When you buy a module based on a snap-shot of the ability of that module to produce energy, you do the manufacturer and the end-user a disservice," Lewandowski went on to say. "End-users care most about the amount of energy that the module produces over an entire day or year, and the industry needs to rally around a metric that captures this output." Prism is one of many companies in the global PV community calling for an "energy produced over time" metric to better demonstrate the true efficiency of a PV module.
Glenn Rosenberg, Prism's CTO, further emphasized the shortcomings of using flash-test efficiency ratings to compare modules. "Energy yield is the key to the future of PV power playing a significant role in mainstream electric power production," says Rosenberg.
Prism recently closed on a $5.08MM bridge round of financing and has acquired a 93,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in New York's Hudson Valley. The company has raised $15MM to date.
Prism's core technology is based on holographic optical technology, which can be used with a multitude of PV cell types. The HPC technology spectrally selects the desired portion of sunlight allowing for "cooler" solar cell operation, while maintaining an increased power output, by concentrating specific solar wavelengths unto the cells. Through passive tracking, Prism's Holographic Planar Concentrator (HPC) technology can achieve higher output in the morning, late afternoon and in diffuse light conditions, while reducing the amount of expensive silicon necessary in a module. Prism's PV technology minimizes the use of expensive solar cells, but still maintains above-average output.
About Prism Solar Technologies, Inc.
Prism Solar Technologies, Inc. (PST) is a privately held company and manufacturer of solar modules that utilize advanced holographic optics to increase the output of solar modules while lowering costs by reducing the number of solar cells in its modules. Visit the web site at: www.prismsolar.com.
For more information please contact:
Rick Lewandowski President
Prism Solar Technologies
845-883-4200
r.lewandowski@prismsolar.com
www.prismsolar.com
