Solar Cells Info

By Danstan Kaunda, Lusaka, 22 March 2007
source: Voice of America News
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-03-22-voa44.cfm

A project in Southern Africa is helping promote the use of renewable energy sources. It’s called INSABA — The Integrated Southern Africa Business Advisory and is funded by a German NGO called IN-Went. Voice of America’s Kaunda Danstan reports from Lusaka, Zambia, that the Integrated Southern Africa Business Advisory project (INSABA) is being implemented in Zambia, Botswana and South Africa. It aims to improve the use of renewable energy technologies from the sun, wind, water and biomass – that is, materials including animal wastes that can be used to produce energy.
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14 March 2007
http://www.spectrawatermakers.com/
http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/productstory?id=47756

If a natural disaster strikes, clean drinking water and emergency electricity can now be made readily available through the Solar Cube. Completely portable and easily assembled on site, the Solar Cube is powered by sunlight and wind, and can provide up to 3,500 gallons of clean drinking water per day from polluted water or salt water – enough to sustain hundreds of families during a disaster.  It can also provide enough energy for emergency disaster officials to power refrigeration for emergency medical supplies, keep a laptop on-line, or ensure that crisis communications equipment remains operational.
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Source: Reuters /April 4, 2007
http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/04/05/10116002.html

London: The British government published plans yesterday to rip the red tape out of home electricity generation such as wind and solar power to help householders play their part in the fight against global warming.  The Department for Communities and Local Government’s consultation document proposed changes to short circuit planning regulations that currently make actions like installing a rooftop wind turbine a bureaucratic quagmire.
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Geneva, April 2, 2007
Source: Powerlight Crop/ Press Release
http://www.powerlight.com/about/press2006_page.php?id=60

PowerLight, a leading global provider of large scale solar power systems and a subsidiary of SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq: SPWR), announced today that its Swiss subsidiary, PowerLight Systems S.A., has entered into an agreement with Agrupacion Solar Llerena-Badajoz 1, A.I.E. and Solarpack Corporacion Tecnologica, S.L., to design and build a solar electric power plant in Llerena, Spain. The plant is expected to generate approximately 4.8 megawatts of peak power.
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By Michael R. Fox Ph.D., April 4, 2007
source: Hawaii Reporter
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?80ac913f-6520-43f4-934b-b2c7534b4bf0

In response to a recent article I wrote about nuclear energy – “Why Not Nuclear Energy in Hawaii?” – an advocate with a United Kingdom (UK) email address pushed his preference for a solar facility as an energy source for Hawaii.

One of the areas he questioned was: “If there is space and flat land in Hawaii sufficient to build nuclear power stations, (given that you probably wouldn’t want to put them too close to human habitation) isn’t there probably enough space and flat land to build a CSP plant (Concentrating Solar Power) to harvest the rays of the sun and turn them into carbon free electricity?”

What this fellow was discussing was an old and decommissioned solar technology which I knew something about. As any chemical engineering student can attest there is a great deal of effort required to bring a new technology into production.
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source: Azobuildnews /April 2, 2007
http://www.azobuild.com/news.asp?newsID=3344

Spread across a hillside pasture amid olive trees, 52,000 shimmering photovoltaic modules in one of the world’s largest solar power plants have begun generating enough electricity for 8,000 homes, GE, PowerLight Corp. and Catavento SA announced today.  After eight months of construction and testing, GE Energy Financial Services, a unit of General Electric, PowerLight, a subsidiary of SunPower Corporation and Catavento dedicated the 11-megawatt Serpa solar power plant today, on schedule. The facility — a model of clean power generation integrated with agriculture — is in one of Europe’s sunniest areas, in Portugal’s Alentejo agricultural region in the town of Serpa, 200 kilometers (124 miles) southeast of Lisbon.
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Peter Marsh, London /April 05, 2007
Source: The Australian
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21506195-36375,00.html

HIGHER demand for solar energy, triggered by concerns about global warming, will drive a fourfold increase in the annual revenues of the global solar equipment industry, from $US20 billion last year to $US90 billion in 2010, according to new projections.  Profit growth is expected to accelerate even faster, as costs are contained, pushing margins up to nearly 60 per cent.
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source: Carmanah Corp. press release /April 4, 2007
http://www.carmanah.com/content/investors/showsalesupdate.aspx?id=070404

Carmanah’s Power System Group has provided 7 unique remote solar power systems to Duke Energy Gas Transmission, a North American leader in developing energy infrastructure and connecting major natural gas supply basins to growing markets.

Carmanah’s solar power systems were installed for the Grizzly Valley Block Valve Warning System in Chetwynd, BC, which is located in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. Each system includes a BP Solar 125 watt solar module, a Carmanah phase change battery enclosure, a tower mount and a Carmanah PV-3 controller.

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Study Partners include Allen Family Foods, University of Delaware and GE Energy
source: Worldwater.com /press release /april 5, 2007
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070405005814&newsLang=en

LAUREL, Del.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In a ribbon-cutting ceremony held here yesterday, Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner joined a host of dignitaries to officially open a milestone solar electric study at a poultry growout house owned by Allen Family Foods, Inc. World Water & Power Corp., developer of proprietary high-power solar systems designed and engineered the $500,000 photovoltaic installation for Allen.
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The catamaran’s power comes from a roof of solar panels
source: BBC News /30 March 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6509677.stm

A five-strong Swiss crew have sailed into history by completing the first solar-powered transatlantic crossing.  The Sun21 catamaran arrived in Miami late on Thursday, 117 days after leaving Seville in southern Spain. The crew of four academics and one full-time sailor said they were trying to promote the “great potential” of solar power to combat climate change.
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