Applied Nanotech Holdings, Inc. announced that it has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to receive a contract of approximately $750,000 for the development of non-contact, printable metallic inks for silicon solar cells.

During this two year Phase II Small Business Innovation Research program, Applied Nanotech will focus on improving methods for the application of metallic electrodes to silicon photovoltaic (PV) substrates using its unique metallic nanoparticle-based inks. Electrical contacts are a critical part of PV technology and represent a difficult and costly area for solar cell production. This development program will exploit advances in nanotechnology to lower manufacturing costs and improve solar cell efficiency.

This program is particularly important since using very thin silicon wafers in an effort to reduce silicon usage has resulted in wafers that are susceptible to breakage when utilizing traditional contact printing methods such as screen printing.

“Our company is just beginning our foray into renewable energy. This funding will allow us to continue to build upon our expertise in development of nanoparticle-based technical inks for applications of global significance with strong commercial potential,” stated Douglas Baker, CEO of Applied Nanotech Holdings, Inc.