Nanosolar has opened an automated facility for manufacturing its solar panels, and says power plants made using these panels could produce electricity at five to six cents per kilowatt hour — near the cost of electricity from coal and significantly less than most solar power, which costs about 18 to 22 cents per kilowatt hour.

The panels are made by printing a semiconductor material called CIGS (copper, indium, gallium, and selenium) on aluminum foil.