U.S.-based Rayton Solar Inc is en route to revolutionize the world – by making solar energy cheaper than energy produced by fossil fuels. To date they have raised over one million dollars in seed funding.
Rayton is using 1/50 to 1/100 less silicon (the most expensive component of a solar panel) than the industry standard. They are only utilizing 4 microns of silicon with zero waste in the manufacturing process. Conventional wafers are over 200 microns thick and waste more than 60% of the raw material. Additionally, Rayton is the only commercial solar manufacturer capable of using Float Zone Silicon; a higher grade silicon that is 25% more efficient than the industry standard.
Rayton Solar's patented technology is to use a particle accelerator (virtually a laser beam) to conduct ion implantation - they blast H+ protons directly into a silicon ingot (raw material), attach the silicon to a substrate, exfoliate directly off the ingot with zero silicon waste, then conduct screen-print wiring and finalize the solar cells with anti reflective coatings. The finished cells then go through conventional module assembly lines to become solar panels for residential, commercial, and utility use.
This technology unlocks Float Zone Silicon for use in the solar industry. Historically this grade of silicon has been uneconomical for use in solar panels, but with the reduction in silicon use Rayton has made it cost effective. The 60% cost reduction allows U.S.-based manufacturing to be cost competitive with solar panels made abroad. Rayton's core technology requires a highly educated workforce (PhD's and engineers); thus, this type of high tech manufacturing is well suited to renew the American manufacturing economy for decades to come. What this means to Americans – a pathway for U.S. energy independence, an impending power shift away from oil rich countries, potentially huge utility bill savings, and U.S. manufacturing jobs coming back home.
The team is stacked with serial clean tech entrepreneurs and proven scientists and engineers. Rayton Solar is headed by Andrew Yakub – a serial solar industry entrepreneur, trained physicist, and particle accelerator expert. Besides Andrew sit two clean tech serial entrepreneurs who are also MBA's. On the engineering side sits the Chair of the UCLA Department of Physics, who is one of the world's leading experts in particle beams. The team also includes the former Chair of the UCLA Department of Materials Science, who is one of the world's leading experts in ion implantation. Their CTO is a 20-year veteran of the Stanford Linear Accelerator facility.
Rayton has developed working solar cells utilizing their patented technology. They raised one million dollars in seed financing, which will get them through the process of becoming UL-certified and allow them to sell their product in the U.S. Rayton has also partnered with a large U.S.-based residential installer to buy their product once production begins.
