The only parameter that determines whether a solar system going to be installed is the cost of the system - represented in dollars per watt of solar produced power ($/W). This can be expressed as dollars per meter square ($/m²) divided by watts per meter square (W/m²). Thus, a solar manufacturer can reduce the cost of a solar product twofold: 1) reduce the cost of the production materials (wafers, metal contacts, glass, etc.) and other area related costs (labor, overhead, etc) and/or 2) increase the wattage of the product. Through supply chain optimization, manufacturing scale, yield management and other initiatives, solar manufacturers have been able to significantly reduce area related costs. Now, they are looking to the denominator, power output, so they can continue their impressive cost reduction trajectory.

Solar manufacturers appear to have many options to choose from if their sole objective is to produce higher efficiency solar cells. Unfortunately, the options available actually increase the manufacturing cost since the area related cost increase does not offset the wattage related cost savings. This is the sole reason why efficiency enhancing solutions have not been implemented in mass production. Therefore, the real objective for a solar manufacturer is to maximize the efficiency improvement while minimizing the additional area related costs. Innovalight accomplishes the dual objective by making a significant increase in conversion efficiency by adding minimal equipment and material costs to the existing manufacturing lines. Innovalight’s approach reduces solar manufacturers’ costs and increases their profit per manufacturing line.