Tuesday 12 May 2009

BluGlass pursues toxin-free technology

Australian
Monday 11/5/2009 Page: 29

SHARES in green technology company BluGlass rose by more than a third on Friday after it announced it had signed a licence agreement with South Korean group BLK and would look for opportunities in the solar PV market.

BluGlass was listed in September 2006 to pursue commercial opportunities from technology developed at Macquarie University to allow gallium nitrides to be deposited on glass wafers at lower temperatures than conventional means. Not only is it a cheaper process, it does not emit toxins.

Until now the company has been focusing on the LED market, which includes traffic lights, computers and mobile phones, but the agreement with BLK will look at opportunities to use the technology in the household and commercial lighting markets. BluGlass chief executive Giles Bourne says LEDs could cut energy use in lighting by 30% and the market is tipped to have annual growth of 20% to $12.5 billion by 2013.

As for solar, Bourne says indium gallium nitride is one of the most exciting materials since the silicon solar cell and could lift the efficiency potential of solar cells to more than 50% from about 20% now. The solar PV market is also expected to soar in coming years, with estimates that it will grow almost fourfold to $74 billion by 2017.

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