Solar3D Pursues International Patent Protection for Its Breakthrough Solar Cell Technology

SANTA BARBARA, CA--(Marketwired - Aug 19, 2014) - Solar3D, Inc. (OTCQB: SLTD), a leading solar power company and the developer of a proprietary high efficiency solar cell, today announced it is in the process of nationalizing its Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) patent application for the production of its proprietary high efficiency solar cell in four strategic countries -- the United States, China, Singapore, and India.

The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is an international treaty subscribed to by most industrialized nations. The PCT patent application allows the patent applicant to file a single patent application (often called a PCT patent application), and then later choose which PCT subscribing countries to nationalize in. Once nationalized in a particular country, the PCT patent application is treated by that country as a patent application filed directly in that country on the same date that the PCT patent application was filed, and is taken up for examination in accordance with the laws and practices of that country.

Solar3D has chosen the United States, China, Singapore, and India to nationalize in based on their prominence in the global solar manufacturing ecosystem. These countries all have experienced explosive solar energy growth: China, which is responsible for approximately 64% of global solar panel production; India, which according to KPMG, could install 100 gigawatts of solar capacity by 2030; Singapore, which hosts some of the world's largest solar panel manufacturers; and the United States, where its solar industry had a record breaking year in 2013.

Once nationalized, the patent application seeks to protect Solar3D's solar cell technology that is expected to be less expensive to manufacture and result in more powerful performance than the previous versions. The company's initial 2012 prototype design was calculated to produce just over 25% efficiency, the highest of any silicon solar cell. The solar cell also features wide-angle light collection, allowing for increased electricity generation during more hours of the day and during darker seasons. This feature increases the length of time during which light can be effectively converted to electricity, relative to current technology, which is generally effective for only a few hours in the middle of the day.