Company Started by CHTM Faculty Receives $1.25 Million Grant

June 11, 2020 - CHTM

Osazda Energy, a solar energy company started by CHTM and UNM Professor, Dr. Sang Han, has received a $1.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Technologyies Office (SETO). The goal of the grant is to advance technology that could add significant life to solar panels.

Osazda Energy was started in 2017 by Sang M. Han, professor of chemical and biological engineering at UNM. The company developed a composite silver paste technology called MetZillaTM to address cell-crack-induced performance degradation in solar panels, which Han said could change the future of solar cell manufacturing across the industry by increasing the long-term durability and power generation from panels. He said It could reduce the operation and maintenance cost, increase the net present value of utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) projects, and reduce the insurance premium that module manufacturers would have to pay to guarantee their module performance over 25 years.

The main goal of the Department of Energy (DOE) project is to take this technology to market and continue to advance innovations in solar manufacturing, Han said. The company is partnering with the University of North Carolina – Charlotte, D2Solar, CFV and Sandia National Laboratories on the project. The group will work together to improve the MetZillaTM product formulation and its application within the existing manufacturing process. The project’s initiatives will allow the company to extend the testing of the product through accelerated quality assurance and module certification, preparing it for full global commercialization.

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This story was excerpted from STC.UNM.