Picasolar scores $2 million from U.S. Department of Energy to boost solar cell efficiency (Updated)

Solar cell startup Picasolar has again gained SunShot Initiative money, this time $2 million to increase the efficiency in solar cell technology. The $2 million could ultimately lead to new high-tech manufacturing jobs in Northwest Arkansas.

The federal money is from the Tier 2 incubator award and is a result of the company’s patent-pending process to increase the efficiency of solar cells. The SunShot awards are the most prestigious and competitive grants a solar start-up company can receive, said Douglas Hutchings, Picasolar’s founder and CEO.

“We are very pleased to receive the continuation of funding from the SunShot Incubator Program,” Hutchings said in a statement. “The SunShot program is phenomenal. In addition to the financial support, we get to work with world-class scientists at Department of Energy national labs for third-party validation and technical expertise.”

Hutchings said Picasolar will use the grant to move its hydrogen super emitter technology to pilot implementation in manufacturing, with the goal of 1,000 solar panels with the technology inside. The technology improves solar cell efficiency and reduces the amount of silver needed to produce solar panels, making them more marketable and affordable.

In this next phase Picasolar is partnering with a solar manufacturer for the pilot, said Hutchings.

“The successful completion of the project will have taken a technology from lab size all the way up to volume manufacturing,” he said.

The University of Arkansas has supported and partnered with Picasolar through its development as a company. Seth Shumate invented the super emitter as a UA student, and Hutchings and Shumate worked with Hameed Naseem, a professor of electrical engineering in the Photovoltaics Research Lab at the Arkansas Research and Technology Park.

Other Picasolar partners include the Georgia Institute of Technology, Meyer Burger and the Arkansas Science & Technology Authority.

The firm’s business plan was honed in the New Venture Development graduate course in the Sam M. Walton College of Business. Competing as a graduate business plan team, Picasolar won more than $300,000 at graduate business plan competitions in 2013, the same year it began operations in the research park.

In 2014, Picasolar raised $1.2 million in equity investments on top of receiving an $800,000 SunShot Initiative award through the Department of Energy. Last year, the super emitter was recognized with a prestigious 2015 Edison Award. The Edison awards, inspired by Thomas Edison’s persistence and inventiveness, recognize innovation, creativity and ingenuity in the global economy.

UPDATED INFO: Hutchings said the startup will raise $2 million to match the DOE grants. He said the new funding will enable Picasolar to operate at full production and increase its workforce from nine employees to as many as 15 employees in the next few months.

Since early last year Picasolar outgrew its office space and moved to a larger space in the Enterprise Center at the Arkansas Research and Technology Park in Fayetteville. Half of the company’s nine employees hold doctorate degrees. The startup also added another research engineer last year. State officials said essentially doubling the number of high degreed jobs over the next few months is a step in the right direction for the regional and state economies.

Hutchings said Arkansas is on the map for solar technology because of the national funding and recognition Picasolar has garnered since 2014.

“Picasolar is a testament to the importance of Arkansas continuing to support and nurture our growing tech companies,” said AEDC Executive Director Mike Preston. “The technology being developed by Picasolar is changing the face of the solar energy sector. As we tell the story of the many technology companies finding success in the state, we are proud to include details of the world-class technology PicaSolar is producing.”

Picasolar’s hydrogen super emitter improves efficiency by altering the conductivity of the top layer of silicon solar cells and reduces the amount of silver needed to manufacture the panels by up to 22%, making them more marketable and affordable. The hydrogen super emitter could save the average solar panel manufacturer up to $120 million annually.

“Today marks a huge milestone for Picasolar as we transition our focus to advanced manufacturing,” Hutchings said following Wednesday’s Aug. 31 funding announcement.

He said Picasolar began working in 2015 with Zingli, a large Chinese manufacturer of solar cell panels to provide solar technology Zingli could implement in their manufacturing process. He said the Chinese market holds much opportunity as it’s the fastest growing for solar usage in the world. Hutchings was also clear that Picasolar was protective of its patented-technology when working with international companies and the company’s dream of of making solar cells in Arkansas is still in play.