BioSolar, Inc. has announced that materials derived from cotton and castor beans compose the company’s newly developed BioBacksheet™ product. BioBacksheet™ is intended to be an alternative to the base layer materials already in use on photovoltaic solar cells. Traditionally, such “backsheets” are made from a petroleum-based film, such as Dupont Tedlar™.
Nylon-11, which is indeed made from an extract of the castor bean, was developed by German scientists as an adaptation to the petroleum shortages of the World Wars. Much of the castor production is from India. Some other common modern applications of the biopolymer N-11 are roller blades and the brightly colored brake lines of trucks. N-11 is tough stuff.
– from treehugger