A University of Louisville research-backed startup has secured $2 million in funding to further development of a technology meant to make solar power more accessible. The startup, Bert Thin Films, plans to use the new funding — via a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and $1 million in angel investment — to further their copper-based paste technology, called CuBert, invented and patented at UofL. The paste can replace silver components currently used in solar panels, making them less expensive to manufacture. "Silver is a huge issue for the industry because the price ...