Sep 5 2008
Cleanfield Energy Corp a subsidiary of Cleanfield Alternative Energy Inc. announces that its project partner, McMaster University, has been awarded a Collaborative Research and Development grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
The project received funding for $236,000 over the next 3 years and is intended to further the research of Dr. Ray LaPierre, Professor of Engineering Physics at McMaster University, in the area of Nanowire Photovoltaics. Semiconductor nanowires are expected to improve the efficiency and reduce the costs associated with conventional solar cells.
"The convergence of nanotechnology and photovoltaics is an exciting area of research and development with practical applications to renewable energy. This grant will allow us to make rapid progress in the development of nanowires for the next generation of solar cells" said Dr. LaPierre.
The technology will be commercialized by Cleanfield, an Ontario-based company with a proven track record in product development, manufacturing, and marketing of Cleantech products. If successful, Nanowire Photovoltaics will be a disruptive technology capable of supplanting existing Generation I and II photovoltaic devices.