Colnatec LLC, a Gilbert based developer, designer and manufacturer of electronic instrumentation and sensors has been granted a $450,000 Phase II US Department of Energy research grant for continuing the development of a process control sensor that would self-clean for manufacturing thin film (CIGS) solar cells.
In the past year the firm had received a Phase I award. The Phase II award would allow them to add to existing technology and also incorporate improvements, which would lead to the production of a long life span sensor which has the ability to improve solar cell conversion efficiencies.
According to Scott Grimshaw, who is CTO of Colnatec, the sensor would revolutionize the continuous vacuum coating technology, and the grant would help them to offer first generation prototypes to the flexible lighting and thin film solar cell manufacturers. This heated microbalance, self-cleaning sensor could be used widely, much beyond the thin film cell production in applications such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD), furnace processing, low temperature thin film processing and atomic layer deposition (ALD). It could also be utilized for organic thin film devices such as thin film lighting and OLEDs (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) which are difficult to monitor in vacuum processing lines.
Small but innovative high-tech businesses could participate in the R&D efforts of the Federal Government through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Several federal departments contribute to the SBIR Program and an award of up to $2.1 billion is allotted for small businesses.
Wendy Jameson, who is the CEO of Colnatec, has stated that the company is thrilled to win the Phase II award from the DOE, which would enable small businesses to compete with bigger companies and also help in the creation of new jobs and advance innovation in the manufacturing field in the US.
Source: http://colnatec.com/