One Boone County business, Iowa Thin Film Technologies, was complimented with a visit Wednesday by Iowa Lt. Gov. Sally Pedersen.

“This is a tour in which we are focusing on businesses that are growing and those that have a high potential for creating high-wage, high-technology jobs in Iowa,” Pedersen said.

The company, located on the eastern edge of the county at 2337 230th St., is the maker of PowerFilm solar technology.

This technology allows for a thin plastic sheet of solar power collecting panels to be incorporated into different functions and products requiring electricity.

“We all know that Iowa does a great job of educating its youth, but too often graduates’ opportunities are limited and they might have to leave the state. This company has very high potential for high-technology job growth. This is a good example of the type business we want,” Pedersen said.

Pedersen also said that this company is the type that the Iowa Values Fund, a state economics development program, is designed to help. “To make Iowa a good place to live in, you have to have a mix of businesses,” Pedersen said.

The company’s PowerFilm integrated solar modules can be integrated with consumer electronics products such as cell phones, portable audio devices, handheld games and many other devices.

PowerFilm can be used both to solar recharge electronic devices and to direct power products. The product’s solar modules are specifically designed for recharging AA, AAA, cell phone and PDA batteries.

“Imagine taking paper-thin plastic film and making it generate power again and again. That's what PowerFilm is and does. This is not your father's solar technology from the 1970s. PowerFilm’s durable plastic base is superior to fragile glass or corrosive metal,” Mike Coon, chief operating officer, said.

PowerFilm solar modules have a paper-thin durable polymer substrate about .05 millimeters thick. “We've invested almost 15 years developing the technology to manufacture semiconductor devices on a polymer substrate using a roll-to-roll process,” Frank Jeffrey, company president, said.

Another interesting application that Coon commented upon to Pedersen was the company’s Air and Space Series products for solar powering and recharging air and space vehicles.

One application for PowerFilm is on the High Altitude Airship, an unmanned, lighter-than-air aircraft now in development at Lockheed Martin under a $40 million contract awarded to Lockheed Martin by the Missile Defense Blimp project, the government’s newest anti-ballistic missile program.

Iowa Thin Film Technologies has proposed to Lockheed Martin the use of its solar panels by the High Altitude Airship to generate energy for its 30-day or longer missions without landing. The high altitude airship would by used for U.S. border control, detect illegal air traffic and conduct operations over combat zones. The prototype airship would be stationed at 65,000 feet and is proposed to be about 500 feet long and 160 feet in diameter.

The company also has a development program with the Air Force to continue to improve the low-cost, lightweight solar products for air and space applications.

Iowa Thin Film Technologies has supplied PowerFilm to NASA for several projects, including the Mars Flyer prototype and fly-by-light demonstrations of unmanned aerial vehicles.