MEDFORD LAKES, N.J. — Global Photonic Energy Corp. (GPEC), developer of an Organic Photovoltaic (OPV™) technology designed to enable low-cost solar power generation, has announced the demonstration of a thin-film solar cell that can potentially provide electricity at grid parity, or the cost of traditionally provided electricity.

Dr. Stephen R. Forrest of the University of Michigan, a research partner of GPEC, said this technology is the result of substantially reduced production costs. It is based on a patent-pending invention that reuses the same gallium arsenide wafer multiple times to produce solar cells. This multiple wafer reuse innovation, compared to conventional technology that typically allows only a very limited number of wafer reuses, is said to have the potential to reduce the cost of a typical gallium arsenide solar cell to below $1 per watt (peak).

“This exciting development implies that ultra-high efficiency solar cells based on gallium arsenide can eventually produce electricity at or below grid parity,” Forrest said. “Using integrated solar concentrators and our adhesive-free, cold-weld bonding technology to plastic substrates, we estimate electricity could be produced as low as 45 cents per watt, compared to traditional grid parity of $1 per watt.”