Solar Cells Info

by Gertrude Majyambere and John Gahamanyi
Kigali, 24 Jan 2008
Source: AllAfrica.com
http://allafrica.com/stories/200801240096.html

The European Union (EU) has pledged $10m (Frw7.9b) to supply rural areas with electricity. At the ministry of finance, on January 22, James Musoni, Rwandan minister of finance and economic planning, and Ambassador Dr. David MacRea, Head of Delegation of the European Commission, signed an agreement for a new energy programme that will cost Frw14b. The project will be financed on an equal basis by the government and the EU. Electricity will be supplied to rural health centres and schools through solar power and micro-hydro electricity plants.
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By Jennifer Sudick, Star Bulletin / Jan 22, 2008
Source: Star Bulletin
http://starbulletin.com/2008/01/22/business/story03.html

Hawaii will soon be home to two of the largest solar power systems in North America.  Hoku Scientific Inc. and James Campbell Co. yesterday announced plans to build a solar power plant near the Campbell Industrial Park that will be capable of generating 1.5 megawatts of photovoltaic power, making it Hoku’s largest project to date. The company is currently working on installing a 167-kilowatt solar power system at the Hawaiian Electric Co.’s Ward Avenue substation, as well as projects with Paradise Beverages Inc. and Bank of Hawaii.
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by Kimone Thompson, Sunday Observer, January 20, 2008
Source:The Jamaica Observer
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/
20080119T140000-0500_131589_OBS_SOME_JAMAICANS_BASKING_IN_SOLAR_ENERGY_.asp

WHILE most Jamaicans were ruing missed television programmes, the loss of unsaved computer data and wilting under uncomfortable heat on account of the recent islandwide blackout, there were a handful of persons who didn’t notice there was no electricity.  It was only when Michael Drakulich and Patricia Isaacs-Green, both of whom live in St Ann, and Kingstonians Dr Willard Pinnock and Paul Beswick saw that their neighbours’ houses were in darkness that they realised there was a power outage. And had they not installed alternative sources of power in their homes and business places years earlier, they would’ve been in darkness too.
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Source: News.bg Bulgaria / Jan 21, 2008
http://international.ibox.bg/news/id_1710030857

Two solar station for the production of power will be constructed in Pirin by the end of the year, informed “Viara” newspaper.  So far 51 companies take care of 70 small water-power plants in the region. According to the experts there are no attractive places around the mountain streams for new plants to be built. Thus, the putting of panels which to transform the sunlight into power, is the most alternative method at the moment. A map of the country, which gives clarity as to where it is most proper the equipment to be put, has already been made.
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Daly City, CA, Jan 21, 2008
by Sasha Vasilyuk, The Examiner, Jan 21, 2008
Source: SF Examiner.com
http://www.examiner.com/a-1170554~District_to_save_money__environment_with_solar_panels.html

Jefferson Union High School District will soon become the first in the county to go solar.  In an innovative effort to save money and teach students about the environment, the district plans to install solar panels on the roofs of all its schools.  The district board of trustees approved a 20-year deal with a private solar energy provider, UPC Solar. The deal would require no investment by the district and will save more than $3 million in energy costs over the next two decades, district Superintendent Mike Crilly said.
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By Gail Robinson /22 Jan 2008
Source: The Star UK
http://www.thestar.co.uk/barnsley/School-joy-at-free-solar.3696189.jp

A BARNSLEY school is set to become one of the greenest in the country. Wellgate Primary in Mapplewell, is to get £20,000 of solar panels funded by The Co-operative’s £1m Green Energy for Schools scheme and the Government’s Low Carbon Building Programme.  The rooftop solar panels will generate renewable electricity which will reduce the school’s reliance on fossil fuels and highlight the issue of climate change.
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Nuying Huang, Taipei; Rodney Chan,
Source; DIGITIMES, 17 January 2008
http://www.digitimes.com/bits_chips/a20080117PD209.html

NanoPV, a US-based specialist in thin-film solar technology who has teamed up with Taiwan-based Kenmos Photovoltaic, will kick off operations at its New Jersey, US fab in the second quarter, according to NanoPV president Anna Selvan John.  The new plant, which will house a solar cell capacity of 5MWp, is chiefly meant for the development of PV technology and equipment, he said. The plant is expected to put out tandem junction thin-film solar cell making equipment by the end of 2008.
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by Aaron Hand, Executive Editor, Electronic Media,
Source: Semiconductor International, Jan 15, 2008
http://www1.semiconductor.net/article/CA6522776.html

Braggone (Oulu, Finland), which develops advanced materials for semiconductor and optoelectronics applications, has signed a joint-development agreement with equipment supplier Beneq (Vantaa, Finland) to offer a turnkey solution for improving the manufacturing efficiency and product performance of solar cells.  Braggone’s innovative antireflective coatings and silicon treatments have been able to significantly reduce reflective properties. Taking this solution from the semiconductor industry to photovoltaics has enabled solar glass reflectivity to be cut from 9.2% to 1.8%, for example, which translates into more of the sun’s energy being captured within the panels.
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Nano technology makes things bigger
by Ian Williams, vnunet.com /08 Jan 2008
Source: VNUNet.com
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2206735/boffin-100-times-larger-solar-cells

A researcher at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University has created a solar cell 100 times bigger than previous designs using nano-based methods.  Professor Arie Zaban, head of the university’s Nanotechnology Institute, had already developed a method of using metallic wires mounted on conductive glass to form the basis of solar cells.  This method produces electricity with an efficiency similar to that of conventional silicon-based cells, but which are much cheaper to produce.
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Source: ScienceDaily.com ,  Jan. 11, 2008
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080109094341.htm
Adapted from materials provided by Wiley-Blackwell

Solar cells have attracted global attention as one of the cornerstones of alternative energy. In theory, it seems to make abundant sense to tap into the energy of the sun to convert light to electricity with little or no emission of noxious pollutants. However, in practical terms, progress has been slow because of technological impediments and the many different factors that need to be optimized to obtain stable and high-efficiency devices. (more…)