Local Startup Osazda Energy Announces Positive Results from Solar Module Testing of MetZilla
Osazda Energy, a local renewable energy startup, is developing products to address cell-crack-induced PV module degradation and self-heal capabilities to extend the life of solar cells. After two-years of extensive testing of their product, MetZilla™, they have announced positive results validating the product’s ability to bridge cell cracks, prevent the loss of conductivity, and create stronger materials for solar applications.
See Osazda Energy’s May 24 press release, “New Mexico-Based Renewable Energy Company Achieves Positive Results During Solar Module Testing,” reposted below.
New Mexico-Based Renewable Energy Company Achieves Positive Results During Solar Module Testing
Osazda Energy continues to pave a positive path forward in the renewable energy industry through technology advancements, government funding, and promising national partnerships.
May 24th, 2023
For additional Information: Andrea M. Garcia | andrea@nmsuf.com
Albuquerque, NM – In May of 2020, Osazda Energy, a New Mexico based start-up company that has developed a unique advanced metallization technology to address cell-crack-induced performance degradation in solar panels, announced that the company was selected to receive a $1,250,000 award from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO). The primary goal of this DOE – SETO project has been to take this technology to market and continue to advance innovations in solar manufacturing.
Within the project, Osazda Energy partnered with University of North Carolina – Charlotte (UNCC), D2Solar, CFV, and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) to improve the company’s product formulation to change the future of solar cell manufacturing across the industry. The subsequent increase in long-term durability and power generation from solar panels would reduce the operation and maintenance cost, increase the net present value of utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) projects, and reduce the insurance premium that module manufacturers would have to pay to guarantee their module performance over 25 years.
After two years of extended testing of the Osazda Energy’s composite silver paste technology through accelerated quality assurance and module certification, the company has achieved extremely promising results validating that the company’s product, “MetZillaTM”, shows over 4x improvement in ‘wear-out’ lifetime of metal contacts that electrically bridge cell cracks in PV modules.
“We are thrilled to announce that the latest mini-module testing shows that MetZilla can electrically bridge micro-cracks after thousands of stress cycles in three-point bend testing,” said the company’s Chief Engineer Andre Chavez. “This means that our product has several advantages over other commercial products, including the ability to bridge cell cracks, prevent the loss of conductivity after thousands of cycles in module packaging and overall create a stronger, more ductile material for solar application.”
Osazda Energy will continue the product development process with a primary focus on full scale commercialization within the PV industry. With the support of a SBIR grant from the United States Department of Energy in 2023, the company was selected to participate in the I-Corps program. Energy I-Corps is a key initiative of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Technology Transitions (OTT), which sends teams of researchers and industry mentors through an immersive two-month training where the researchers define technology value propositions, conduct stakeholder discovery interviews, and develop viable market pathways for their technologies. This program is crucial to the company’s commercialization plan and go to market strategy.
https://www.energy.gov/technologytransitions/energy-i-corps
About Osazda Energy
Founded in 2017, Osazda Energy is a New Mexico based company that has developed a unique technology and innovative, cost-effective products to address cell-crack-induced PV module degradation and give cell cracks the ability to self-heal. Their MetZilla Paste Technology and MetZilla Plate Technology were created to help today’s solar cells to be crack tolerant – virtually eliminating the major long-term degradation challenge for all solar modules. MetZilla Paste Technology is specifically engineered to be a drop-in replacement for screen-printed metallization, commonly used for terrestrial solar panels. MetZilla Plate Technology offers a cost-saving electroplated metallization approach for high efficiency (III-V) solar cells commonly used in space and UAV applications.
About The New Mexico Start-Up Factory
The New Mexico Start-Up Factory (NMSUF) is a local organization that focuses on developing laboratory technologies from the idea stage to market readiness. In the company’s innovative model, specialists work with scientists looking to commercialize their innovations while building infrastructure and securing early-stage funding. Through the NMSUF program, technologists are coached through the validation of the technology and market, and are then paired with the right management team. A commercialization and business plan/model are created and if all signs point to a good market opportunity and promising development, a company is formed. Companies and scientists that successfully complete the educational piece of the program are open to investment from the NMSUF Fund. The New Mexico Start-Up Factory has launched 14 companies over the last 6 years of which 7 are still in development. (www.nmsuf.com)