BioSolar “Has Developed a ‘BioBacksheet’ That May Change the Solar Industry,” According to Energy Boom

SANTA CLARITA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BioSolar (OTC BB: BSRC), developer of a breakthrough technology to produce bio-based materials from renewable plant sources that reduce the cost of photovoltaic solar modules, “has developed a ‘biobacksheet’ that may change the solar industry,” according to a July 22, 2009 article on Energy Boom.

“BioSolar is currently making steady strides in the commercialization process, and we are always pleased when members of the solar industry share our excitement. We received great feedback following our recent announcement of the successful prototype run of the new BioBacksheet^TM-A,” said BioSolar’s CEO Dr. David Lee.

News of the development was also featured in New Energy World Network and Solar Industry Magazine.

Conventional polymer backsheets, the bottom-most layer of nearly all photovoltaic solar cell modules, are designed to protect the solar cell from environmental hazards like moisture and UV rays. One of the reasons solar power has remained expensive is because of the cost of its components such as backsheets. BioSolar’s BioBacksheet™ is a protective covering made from renewable plant sources, rather than the expensive petroleum-based film currently in use, and is expected to cost substantially less than traditional petroleum-based backsheets.

A Renewable Energy World article says that according to Lee, the fastest growing segment of the photovoltaic (PV) market is thin film, particularly copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) and cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film photovoltaic panels that require backsheets to have a water vapor transmission rate of nearly zero.

“BioSolar has developed the BioBacksheet^TM-A with an absolute moisture barrier from renewable materials. The three layer laminate film consisting of 100 percent recyclable aluminum foil is the center core sandwiched between outer layers of bio-based polymer films, making our product unique in the industry,” said Lee.

BioSolar recently announced that the BioBacksheet^TM-C, designed for the traditional c-Si PV modules, will be the company’s first product to be commercially available during the second half of 2009. Two more versions of BioBacksheet^TM are currently in the pre-production stage moving towards qualification for full production.