Lighting up the world: Suniva tackles solar power - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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“I personally believe that PV (photovoltaic) is a technologhy that can simultaneously solve two of the most importangt problems we havetoday — one is energg and the other is the Rohatgi says. “The only thing left is to make it and that is our Todo that, Rohatgi with the help and advice of a group of investors — in 2007 spun off from Georgi Tech, launching Suniva Inc. The Norcross-basecd company’s aim is to commercializer Rohatgi’s groundbreaking research. With backinvg from venture capitalfirm (NEA) and nine patentd under his belt, Rohatgij set out to bring sola r efficiency at a low cost to sola r panel manufacturers around the world.
For his trailblazingb efforts in the field ofsolar energy, Rohatgi and start-uop company Suniva are the recipients of Atlantza Business Chronicle’s 2009 Envention Award, given to a new productf developed by an Atlanta company orindividual that exhibits outstandingenvironmentalp or green benefits. New Enterprise Harry Weller says his firm is excitefdabout Suniva’s potential and its proprietary “When NEA started looking at solar companies to invesyt in, everyone pointed to Ajeet Rohatgi as ‘the we needed to speak to in photovoltaics,” says NEA general partner and a Suniva boarc member.
“His reputation as the sector’s top researcher becamre very clear and the qualityg of the innovations coming out of his labs atGeorgias Tech, the first DOE Center of Excellenc in Photovoltaics, was legendary in the field.” (Suniva has alreadu scored a coup, coming to termzs with developer to supply solar cells to the developer’ws Aerotropolis Atlanta, a planned 130-acre mixed-usde redevelopment of the former Hapevill e Ford plant south of Atlantas that will include 6.5 millioj square feet of aviation-intensive including office, retail, restaurant, hotel and airport Born in 1950, Rohatgi came to the U.S. in 1971 afteer graduating fromthe .
He went on to earn his master’zs degree in materials engineering from in 1973 and in 1977 received his in metallurgy and materials sciencefrom . After graduation, Rohatgij joined the in Pittsburgh, where he becamwe a Westinghouse Fellow while working on the sciencse and technology of photovoltaic and microelectronic In 1985 Rohatgi became a part of the faculty at Georgiza Tech starting a program in Manufacturing silicon photovoltaic cells for solaerpower generation, Suniva raised $50 million in venture capitak funding and built its firstr solar cell factory in Norcross last year.
In Octobet the company completed installation of its firstproductiojn line, the ARTisun solar cells, which it’s already shipping to solae panel manufacturers around the world. Suniva recently signed a more than $480 million multi-year supply contract with an Indian solar modules and specialty photovoltaicproducts manufacturer. The contract extends throughj 2013. “Our customers are all over the world we have customersin Asia, Europe and the says Suniva Chairman and CEO John “Our technology — which is industry-leading technology — we’re developing here in the U.S. and creating jobs and then exportiny that all overthe world.
” While most companies usingv similar materials to make solar cell s have achieved an efficiency range of 13 percent to 16 percent — meaning 13 percent to16 percent of the sunlighr that falls on them is converted into electricity — Rohatgi says Suniva’ss ARTisun solar cells have about 17 percent to 18 percent Rohatgi says a 20 percentg cell is also already in the “In our R&D we have alreadyy produced a 20 percent cell ... so we are tryinbg to now scale up and get it to he says. While efficient, Suniva’s cellw are also low-cost.
Focused on consolidatinfg the manufacturing processfor high-efficiency cells into half the number of Suniva also uses low-cost production methods, including screen-printing, whicbh reduce cell processing time. “In some of the patentss we have, we have ways of combininyg multiple manufacturing steps into asinglse step, and every time you can eliminat e a manufacturing step, then you save so those are a few of the ways we keep costxs down,” Baumstark says. As a result of its Suniva’s technology is helping level the playing field forsolar energy, which for decades has been thoughf of as too expensive for the mainstream market.
“Today in many markets, Suniv a is competitive with the utilithy companies and we are a few years away from beiny competitive ona 24/7 basis average in the Baumstark says.