First Solar has been a leader in thin film photovoltaic modules using cadmium telluride.
California is the proposed location for this project, which plans to manufacture highly efficient thin-film photovoltaic modules.
These turned out to be thin-film photovoltaic cells, of the sort that could be sewn into a backpack and used to power a laptop.
In a statement, the Solyndra said it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy while exploring a sale of the business or licensing its thin-film photovoltaic technology.
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Nanosolar announced Thursday that it had signed contracts to supply up to one gigawatt of its thin-film photovoltaic panels to European solar power plant builders over the next three to six years.
FORBES: Nanosolar Snares a Gigawatt in Orders for its Thin-Film Solar Panels
Solyndra, which was founded in 2005, invented a type of cylindrical solar module that was printed with thin-film photovoltaic cells that used little of the then-expensive polysilicon that forms the heart of conventional solar modules.
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In other words, First Solar is profiting from not just manufacturing its thin-film photovoltaic panels but the added fees that come from deploying tens of thousands of them in a solar power plant that it builds, operates and maintains and eventually sells to investors.
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An interview published last year in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists detailed how at age 88, he was working on a new approach to photovoltaic thin-film production that he said would allow factories to make enough solar panels in a year to produce at least one gigawatt of electricity annually roughly the scale of a nuclear power plant at the price of coal.
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As conventional photovoltaic module prices plunged, thin-film companies found themselves under increasing pressure to raise the efficiency of their products and lower manufacturing costs to remain competitive.
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While less efficient at converting sunlight into electricity than conventional photovoltaic cells, the promise of thin-film solar was that it could be manufactured much cheaper as cells are printed on glass or long rolls of thin metal.
FORBES: What Solyndra's Bankruptcy Means For Silicon Valley Solar Startups
Solar CIS, which stands for copper, indium and selenium, are solar photovoltaic (PV) modules that leverage the latest developments in thin-film technology.
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