Our Products

Banyan Energy’s core innovations are based on a breakthrough in optics called Aggregated Total Internal Reflection (ATIR), whereby light is concentrated, aggregated, and delivered to a focal area via a waveguide.

ATIR represents a fundamentally new approach to concentrating sunlight. The optical design exists within a flat sheet form factor. Energy falling on the top surface of the sheet gets collected and delivered to a smaller area at the base of the sheet, where the solar cells are located. A solar module using ATIR optics collects the same amount of sunlight, and converts that sunlight to electricity at approximately the same efficiency as a conventional module – it just uses significantly less solar cell material to do it.

ATIR optics can concentrate sunlight by any factor (2x-2000x) and are flatter than conventional solar optics (lenses and mirrors) by an order of magnitude. In addition, they have outstanding optical performance, deliver highly uniform energy onto the cell, and have generous acceptance angles for low cost one-axis tracking. Banyan Energy holds the only issued US patents with broad claims on ATIR optics with multiple complementary US and international patents pending.

Initial ATIR prototype modules have been demonstrated in the 7x range, an optimal level of concentration that minimizes technical risk and maximizes economic benefit. This level of concentration on crystalline silicon cells within a standard module form factor and deployed on single-axis trackers is an immediate path to the lowest levelized cost of energy in the solar industry. There is no need to wait for or invest in exotic cell technology, unpracticed manufacturing methods, precision multi-axis tracking solutions or reliable cell receiver packages. This technology can be deployed now and is not capital intensive to implement.

Banyan Energy’s initial series of aggregated total internal reflection prototype modules demonstrated electrical performance, reliability and manufacturability. This series is currently being tested in the field while production-ready designs are finalized for pilot manufacturing and certification.