Dec. 9, 2002 – Nanosys Inc. and Matsushita Electric Works have teamed up to develop nanotechnology-based solar cells for the Asian building materials market.

The collaboration will combine Nanosys’ inorganic nanocrystal and nanocomposite technologies and Matsushita’s high-volume, low-cost manufacturing methods in solar cells. Matsushita Electric intends to incorporate the cells into building materials for residential and commercial buildings in about four years.

“It’s taking advantage of the unique properties of those materials — lightweight, flexible and conformal,” said Larry Bock, Nanosys’ chief executive and co-founder. He said the 15-month deal is the first of several planned phases of the partnership that seeks to apply Nanosys’ core technology in many products.

Bock declined to discuss potential volumes or financial terms, but said the first phase alone is in the multimillion-dollar range.