NexTech Materials, Ltd. recently announced it has been awarded a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Phase 1 small business innovation research (SBIR) contract to develop a novel biomimetic dye-sensitized solar cell.

According to NexTech, dye-sensitized solar cells are a low-cost power producing technology that utilize titania-based ceramics as the active component. NexTech said the biomimetic structures are selected to maximize light harvesting and increase the efficiency of conversion of sunlight to electricity.

"Relatively inexpensive ceramics processing methods will be used to create more efficient solar cell technology from biological products," said NexTech research scientist and principal investigator Christopher Holt. "In comparison, contemporary silicon-based cell production is very energy intensive and therefore less cost-effective than our technology in the long-run."