Prism Solar opens R&D facility in Tucson, Arizona

Prism Solar Technologies (PST) of Niskayuna, New York has opened a new research and development facility in Tucson Arizona.

Led by the company's new CTO Glenn Rosenberg, the new facility is to house a new optics laboratory and a pre-production photovoltaic module line.

“One of the reasons we chose Tucson is because of its proximity to the University of Arizona which has one of the leading Optical Science Programs in the country” said Rosenberg.

“UA is a major resource for our planned technology roadmap and we look forward to tapping their expertise as well as their world class facilities.”

Prism is hiring technical staff and has been installing equipment for a pilot production line.

The company intends to be in production within a year on holographic planar concentrator (HPC) film and a limited amount of PV modules.

Prism plans to manufacture solar modules that utilize advanced holographic optics to increase the output of a solar module, while lowering the cost by reducing the number of solar cells in its modules.

According to the company, its patented holographic technology collects and spectrally selects useful wavelengths from the sun and focuses them onto cells to optimize electricity generation.

PST has closed on a bridge-round of equity financing toward a Series A. After securing investment of $900,000, PST received an additional $1,150,000 from CounterPoint Ventures, Phoenix-Fire II LLC, Magnesium.com and individual investors.

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