A Rochester company has been awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding to develop solar technology.

Intrinsiq Materials Inc., a nanotechnology leader in printable electronic ink, has been awarded $450,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative.

This funding will be used to create and commercialize the use of nickel silicide and copper in solar power cells, according to a statement from Congresswoman Louise Slaughter’s office.

Intrinsiq Materials will work with Rochester Institute of Technology and the SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, Photovoltaics Manufacturing and Technology Development Facility in Rochester to develop printed solar cell contacts with an ecofriendly process, and at a fraction of current costs, officials said.

Solar energy is lauded as an inexhaustible fuel source that is pollution- and noise- free. People are discovering that solar power is a good option for powering both homes and businesses, and solar panels are popping up all over the place. These solar panels are put together from solar cells, which are electrical devices that convert light energy into electricity by the photovoltaic effect.

Intrinsiq Materials CEO Robert Cournoyer says, “Intrinsiq Materials will combine its ground breaking technology in the field of electronic inks with the support from the Energy Department, and the capabilities of the Rochester Institute of Technology and Solar Rochester to pursue fast growing applications for solar cell production.”

This isn’t the first project to incorporate liquid inks into solar power technology. Researchers at California NanoSystems Institute have discovered that certain elements improve electric power conversion efficiency for solar cells.

They’ve even gone so far as to do a full solution process, making all the solar cell element layers a liquid, which means they could be sprayed or painted onto a surface to make that surface a solar cell. This could be used on anything from roofs, to walls, to the roof of an electric car.

Intrinsiq Materials’s work with RIT and the Solar Institute will hopefully make solar technology more convenient and less costly, so that businesses and individuals will be able to incorporate solar technology into their daily lives, thereby offsetting or completely eliminating their utility bills.

Intrinsiq, located in the Eastman Business Park, will contribute $120,000 to the initiative, with help from private investors.

“This collaboration will help establish these New York-based institutions as premier material suppliers of the solar industry,” Cournoyer said.