Nanosolar sells first flexible solar cells

After five years, more than $100 million, and the financial blessings of some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley (the founders of Google, eBay and others), Nanosolar is finally selling something: the first megawatt of its solar panels will be used as part of a power plant in eastern Germany.

Printed like a newspaper directly on to aluminium foil, solar cells are flexible, light and, if you believe the company, expected to make it as cheap to produce electricity from sunlight as from coal. The technology is particularly exciting because it can be used nearly everywhere.

"This is the world's lowest-cost solar panel, which we believe will make us the first solar manufacturer capable of profitably selling solar panels at as little as 99 cents a watt," said Roscheisen.