Ascent Solar just announced that it has been selected for the Solar America Initiative pre-incubator program by the US Department of Energy. This is significant news for Ascent because the project award includes a year-long subcontract valued at approximately $315,000. The Solar America Initiative per-incubator program is brought to you by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

From a company press release, here’s more on the project:

"The proposed effort involves using a zinc-magnesium-oxide (ZnMgO) deposited by Ascent’s proprietary process in order to replace the standard window layer of a copper-indium-gallium-(di)selenide (CIGS) device, and eventually, replacing all the top layers of the device."

Hopefully, using zinc-magnesium oxide will result in improved performance and reduced costs for Ascent’s CIGS product. This project will also help the company develop the next generation of its product line.

Also, in the press release,  Dr. Joseph Armstrong, Chief Technical Officer of Ascent Solar, was quoted as saying, “We are very pleased that the DOE and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have selected us for this award. This program builds upon our existing ongoing internal research and development in this area, and has heritage back to our work on multijunction devices with the United States Missile Defense Agency and the United States Air Force. Successful completion of this program can significantly change how our existing devices are completed in the near future, and can have positive impact upon the manufacturing process in terms of reduced capital expenditures in setting up a facility, as well as reduction in the overall manufacturing cost of our product.”

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