Tarrytown, New York [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Under an agreement signed between Hitachi America Ltd. (Hitachi) and Prism Solar Technologies, Inc. (PST), PST will market Hitachi’s proprietary bifacial photovoltaic (PV) cells and manufacture modules for sale under the Hitachi brand name in the U.S.
This project represents an expansion into new markets for Hitachi’s solar products. While most of the PV module manufacturers use monofacial PV cells in their modules, Hitachi manufacturers a “bifacial” PV cell as well as several bifacial module styles. The unique high-efficiency cell can produce power from both the back and front sides of the PV cell. The amount of power produced from the back-side is dependent on the amount and method of getting sunlight onto the back of the solar cell or module. Until recently, options to accomplish this have been limited to using mirrors or reflectors. New optics and technologies being developed separately by the two companies are providing exciting opportunities to gain improved power production from solar cells. “Hitachi’s bifacial cells are a very creative method of increasing energy production from (PV) solar cells,” said Prism Solar’s CEO Rick Lewandowski.
