NanoSolar rakes in another $50 million

NanoSolar just can't stop making news! After completing its $100M manufacturing plant and starting up production of nearly 500 megawatts of solar-generating capacity per year, NanoSolar is taking yet more investment.

EDF Energies Nouvelles, a renewable energy provider that serves up 1.4 gigawatts of power throughout Europe, has given $50 million to NanoSolar, at least in part to get access to some of the panels they're producing.

Already, NanoSolar is undercutting the price-per-watt of every other photovoltaic provider on the planet. It's done this by developing a technique whereby it can basically print solar panels. This process is fast, simple, and cheap (now that it has the plant up and running), and the company has been selling everything it can produce.

EDF's investment ensures that it'll be able to buy some of the highly in-demand solar panels from NanoSolar in 2009.

But NanoSolar's vision isn't without problems. Long-term efficiency of these cells has yet to be established, and some worry that they could degrade faster than traditional panels.

Additionally, these thin-film solar cells require indium, an element that has recently become scarce due to use in flat-panel televisions and solar panels.

Via CNet Green Tech