[Rayton Solar]- Rayton Solar is proud to announce its CEO and Santa Clarita resident, Andrew Yakub, was named a 2016 Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree in the energy category.

Yakub was recognized for his work at Rayton Solar, creators of the most cost-effective renewable energy, where he has developed the technology to create solar panels that are more cost-effective than fossil fuels.

Out of more than 15,000 nominations, Yakub was chosen among 600 of the greatest young minds and entrepreneurs across several industries recognized in Forbes magazine’s fifth annual 30 Under 30 feature. The judges included former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer; venture investor Chris Sacca; Lyndon Rive, founder of Solar City; and renowned writer Ta-Nehisi Coates.

“While I’m honored to be recognized on a personal level of course, it also inspires me greatly to see that Forbes has an entire category devoted to recognizing advancements in energy,” said Yakub. “My hope is that this will spark a much larger conversation about renewable energy and its role in solving our current energy crisis.”

Rayton Solar uses a proprietary manufacturing process to produce solar panels that are 60 percent cheaper and 25 percent more efficient than the market standard. Silicon is the most expensive component of a panel and rather than using traditional methods of cutting the silicon wafers, they use a new ion implantation and layer transfer technology. Designed to make silicon wafers about one one-hundredth of the thickness of standard wafers, this process produces more panels using less material, lowering the cost dramatically.

Prior to his work in the solar industry, Yakub studied Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara before working as an engineer at the UCLA Particle Beam Physics Laboratory. Yakub also spent time at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory working on the Mars Science Laboratory exploratory probe.

Rayton Solar is currently working on its next round of funding, which is expected to open before summer 2016.

About Rayton Solar
Founded in 2013 by CEO Andrew Yakub, Rayton Solar is a Santa Monica-based solar manufacturing company that has developed the technology to produce solar panels that are both less expensive and more efficient than the industry standard. Their patent-pending process will allow the production of 20 panels from the materials typically use to make just one, making solar energy more accessible and cheaper than energy generated by fossil fuels.