Quantum Materials Corp. (fka QTMM)

[DDhawk]

**Automated Flexographic Printing
Next-generation quantum dot solar cell factories will use new thin-film flexographic roll-to-roll printing methods at a fraction of the capital expenditure of same-size silicon panel factories. Advantages of the flexographic method include the ability to potentially increase printing press speeds of up to 600 meters/minute with modern printers, large rolls that can be cut to finished size, low viscosity ink formulations for faster drying and the ability to bond layers of the solar cell together in-line. Production can be scaled-up by increasing the running speed without a large increase in infrastructure costs and is a major factor in lowering the levelized cost of energy over the life of the production system.
http://www.solterrasolarcells.com/innovation/flexographicprinting.php
**Multiple Exciton Generation (MEG)
Quantum dots have several very unique qualities that are the primary result of their small sizes and the optical and electrical effects at these dimensions. One of the most interesting and most significant is their ability to create multiple exciton generation when the absorption of a photon results in twice the bandgap energy and produces two or more electron-hole pairs. The MEG effect is important because the National Renewable Energy Laboratories (NREL) in 2005 reported it creates the potential to harvest 3 electrons per photon from the sun, and Los Alamos National Laboratory in 2006 published MEG of up to 7 electrons for each photon. This is a singular advantage for quantum dot solar cells because this phenomenon does not readily occur in bulk semiconductors (silicon solar modules) where the excess energy simply dissipates away as heat. This phenomenon is the key to exponential increases in conversion efficiency for quantum dot solar cells. The NREL also found that the photon conversion efficiency was enhanced by “the formation of intermediate bands in the bandgap that use sub-bandgap photons to form separable electron–hole pairs” and, “By means of the intermediate band, it is possible to absorb below-bandgap energy photons. This is predicted to produce solar cells with enhanced photocurrent without voltage degradation.”
http://www.solterrasolarcells.com/innovation/meg.php