Nanosolar Raises $500 Million, May Pioneer Future of Thin Solar

By Anastacia Mott Austin

Sure, it’s fun to fantasize about a future where all-electric cars get their batteries charged from the solar-cell-infused paint that covers them. Re-charge your battery while you’re at work and your car is just sitting there in the hot parking lot, baking in the sun.

Sounds like a great solution to a multi-layered problem. And as it turns out, it’s not so far-fetched either.

Nano-technology start-up company Nanosolar doesn’t make solar paint for electric cars – yet.

But what they do have is a lot of faith from some pretty heavy-hitting energy investors, including AES (one of the largest power companies in the world), EDF (the world’s biggest electric utility), The Carlyle Group, and many others.

Nanosolar is set to create a super-thin utility grade solar film in their Berlin and San Jose locations. To that effect, they have announced that they have recently raised $300 million to expand their production lines, bringing their total funding to just under half a billion dollars.

Unfortunately for Joe Consumer, Nanosolar currently only has plans to create their panel "paint" for industrial or utility customers, working in not in watts but megawatts, and say they’re sold out of the as-yet unmade nanosolar sheets until at least late 2009.

But there is good news here. Regular consumers of electric power will still see potential advantages and savings from utility companies using Nanosolar’s products. First, if major utility companies are investing in nanosolar technology, it only means good news for the world’s overall dependence on fossil fuels. Second, the nanosolar film is supposed to be much, much cheaper than existing solar panels on the market – maybe our utility companies will pass the savings on to their valued customers. (A girl can dream.)

Also, it makes sense that once major companies start utilizing these greener technologies, consumer demand will rise and companies will respond and make it available to the average Joe. Cell phones and laptops used to be big and unwieldy, as well as prohibitively expensive.

Nanosolar’s CEO, Martin Roscheisen, wrote in his blog that there is high demand for the economic, space-saving technology, saying it will give utility grid operators "the solar panel technology to build and operate cost efficient solar power plants."

The start-up’s efforts in this area have been seen as a positive step in the right direction for greener power sources, and the fact that big-name investors have come aboard means Nanosolar is seen as having the capability to pull it off.

And until someone develops solar car paint, that’s the best news we’ve heard in a long time.