Solar Cells Info

Source: BuilderOnline /Business Wire /March 12, 2007
http://www.builderonline.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID=26&articleID=456365

Harvard Communities, Inc., one of Colorado’s most respected semi-custom homebuilders, announced that all Architect Collection homes in the Stapleton redevelopment will now come with photovoltaic (PV) solar power as a standard feature. Called the “Harvard Solar Advantage,” the initiative is the first announced by any semi-custom homebuilder in Colorado.  For Architect Collection homeowners, the solar PV panels will provide approximately 30% of their home’s electrical power needs. The solar PV system will integrate seamlessly with the home’s electrical service, allowing excess power produced to be sold back to the utility company. When this happens, the electric meter spins backwards to provide retail credit for the electricity the solar home produced. At night or during cloudy weather, the home pulls power from the grid as normal, thereby spinning the meter forward again. Additionally, the Harvard Solar Advantage initiative, combined with the energy-efficient home building measures already being incorporated, will result in the reduction of over 7,000 pounds of excess carbon dioxide — 3.5 tons – per Architect Collection home annually.
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March 14, 2007
Source: Budapest Sun
http://www.budapestsun.com/cikk.php?id=25972

Hungarian solar panel manufacturer HelioGrid Magyarország Napelemgyártó Kft announced on Friday (Mar 9) that it is to build a Ft16.5bn ($87.3m) factory in Rétság (55km north of Budapest, in Nógrád county), wire services MTI and Interfax reported. The company said the thin-film solar module plant is necessary to meet increasing demand for the product in the region. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2008, creating 810 jobs.

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Rodney Tanaka Staff Writer /March 16, 2007
Source: Whittier Daily News
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/business/ci_5420801

PASADENA – A local company’s solar power efforts received a $4 million energy boost. Pasadena-based Soliant Energy, formerly Practical Instruments, received $4 million in funding for its Heliotube technology from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar America Initiative. The initiative has $168 million in funding for 13 projects, pending congressional approval.  Heliotube provides solar concentrator technology in the same flat panel form traditionally used by solar installers.

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The contract will continue funding the development of lightweight and high- efficiency solar cells and solar modules for airship and space applications

source: United Solar Ovonic /press release
http://www.uni-solar.com/newsdetail.asp?id=192

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., March 15– United Solar Ovonic LLC, the world leader in thin-film amorphous-silicon solar technology and a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ECD Ovonics) (NASDAQ: ENER) , announced today that the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, has exercised an 18-month contractual option for $9.1 million with United Solar Ovonic to develop new solar cell technology to be used in space and airship vehicles addressing defense and homeland security applications.
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Solar technologies are rapidly becoming a major focus worldwide as a sustainable energy source: and the Masdar Initiative, Abu Dhabi’s landmark program in sustainable energy, is driving the adoption of advanced solar technologies here in the UAE.

* United Arab Emirates:  January 31 – 2007 * PRESS RELEASE
Source: AME info.com
http://www.ameinfo.com/109358.html

Projects already in active development in Abu Dhabi include both photovoltaics (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP), providing Masdar with broad coverage of the solar sector. Masdar’s PV projects in development include a world-scale polysilicon factory in Abu Dhabi, which will provide the feedstock for additional activities such as PV cell and module manufacturing. Photovoltaics allow the direct conversion of sunlight into electricity – this is one of the most promising technologies in renewable energy. The global PV industry was estimated at 2 gigawatts (GW) in 2006 and is growing at 30% annually, making it one of the most attractive and high-growth international industries.
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posted on 02/03/2007
Source: UAE interact.com
http://www.uaeinteract.com/news/default.asp?ID=231#24217

Abu Dhabi, which holds the Middle East’s fourth-largest gas reserves, plans to build a US$380 million (Dh1,395m) solar energy plant in the desert as the UAE’s electricity demand outstrips its gasfuelled power supplies. The project will be the first of its kind in the Gulf, Sultan Al Jaber, Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, said in an interview. Bids to build the 100 megawatt plant will be sought by August, he said.
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8 March 2007
source_ UAE Interact.com
http://www.uaeinteract.com/news/default.asp?ID=231

The first solar powered car designed and created by an Emirati is currently on display in Dubai and has been drawing crowds intrigued by its sleek flat shape. The solar two-seater car can reach a maximum speed of 50km/h but is better suited to cruising at 45km/h, according to its creator Saqr Bin Saif, 30. The car will be displayed at the Emirates Towers Boulevard today and will later be moved to Wafi City mall.
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By Joseph M. deLeon /News-Post Staff /Originally published March 15, 2007
source: Frederick News Post
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/business/display.htm?StoryID=57934

FREDERICK — BP Solar International will receive $7.5 million in funding this year from the U.S. Department of Energy. It’s the first phase of a three-year, $40 million research and development program BP Solar and its partners proposed to help make solar power cost competitive with electricity generated by other means.  The money is part of an initiative to promote solar energy and reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign energy.
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source: Applied Materials Inc. / press release
http://www.appliedmaterials.com/

SANTA CLARA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Applied Materials, Inc., the global leader in nanomanufacturing technology™ solutions for the electronics industry, announced today that it will install over 1.9 megawatts of solar power generation capability at its research campus in Sunnyvale, California. This is believed to be the largest solar power installation on an existing corporate facility in the United States and will be rolled out in three phases.
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By Hadi DP Mahmud
Source: Brunei Times /Brunei Direct.com
http://www.brudirect.com/DailyInfo/News/Archive/Mar07/090307/nite11.htm

Bandar Seri Begawan – Brunei can be entirely independent from oil for its electricity supply under an ambitious plan to use environment-friendly solar technology to power up 100 per cent of the sultanate by 2015. Nations Solar Technologies plans to build, own and operate a solar cluster project in the sultanate with the assistance of Hamidjojo Development and its consortium, which have been appointed to do a feasibility study on the project in six months.   The project, which will start on January 1, 2008, aims to put forward a proposal and obtain necessary approvals, licenses and support from the government to reach 100 per cent solar energy capability for Brunei by 2015.
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