Photovoltaic (PV) cells were invented 50 years ago. Yet, within the 50 years solar energy is still more costly than fuel created from fossil fuels.
One of the companies expecting to benefit from the 2009 stimulus package is Ascent Solar. In the works at Ascent Solar is a plastic film coated with thin-film PV to turn natural sunlight into power for electricity. The thin film is flexible and light weight. With this innovation solar panels plan to be more flexible and affordable than traditional rigid solar panels, hopefully making solar power more affordable for everyone.
The thin-film PV uses thin-film coating technologies, much like those used for putting metallic and transparent coatings on plastics and glass for food processing, architectural glass, mirrors, and eyewear. To date, Ascent Solar has come up with three applications that look promising.
Speaking of the Stimulus Package that President Obama signed in Denver, the senior vice president of Ascent Solar commented:
"I think the stimulus bill would generate a lot of opportunity for us downstream," said Ashutosh Misra, senior vice president of Ascent Solar, a company that has developed a lightweight, flexible solar panel that can be incorporated into construction materials, eliminating the need for separate solar panels.