Sep. 17--Aiming to make solar energy less costly and more efficient, a company in Tucson is using the concept of the prism to fundamentally change the way sunlight is captured.

New York-based Prism Solar Technologies Inc., which has its research center in Tucson, is poised to begin production of solar materials that redirect and concentrate sunlight to boost efficiency and reduce the use of precious silicon.

Prism Solar, which is headquartered in Highland, N.Y. has been able to replace a large percentage of the crystalline silicon, which is normally used in solar modules, with its patented Holographic Planar Concentrator film, making the units less expensive and more efficient, said Jessica Barry, the company's director of business development.

The technology was originally created by Glenn Rosenberg, who has a master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Arizona and now serves as the company's chief technology officer. Rosenberg came up with the concept in 1995, which led to Prism's founding in 2005 in an effort to bring the idea to market.

Prism received a $1.5 million grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority in July and is currently constructing a new module production line at its 93,000 square foot New York facility.

Rosenberg said the company plans to begin module production in January and film sales next fall.

Prism is able to improve the kilowatt-hour production and lower the unit's operating temperature by replacing about 50 percent of a topical unit's silicon with its holographic film.

The holographic film will reduce the cost of photovoltaic energy -- using panels that convert sunlight directly into electricity -- from between $2.80 and $3.20 a watt for conventional panels to about $1 a watt, Rosenberg said.

The new technology cuts costs by essentially removing every other line of silicon from a typical solar module and then filling that empty space with the company's holographic film.

"The holographic film redirects light to the solar cells, acting as a kind of concentrator," Rosenberg said. "What we see is that our module is able to produce more energy during the course of a day, and hence the year, than conventional modules."

Alex Cronin, an associate professor in the UA department of physics, conducted independent testing on prototypes of the modules during April and May of this year. He said when the holographic film was used, the silicon produced double the amount of energy than it did when the film was not present.

"It works well," Cronin said.