Solar Cells Info

Source: ScienceDaily, Aug. 10, 2008
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080810214010.htm

Researchers have devised an inexpensive way to produce plastic sheets containing billions of nanoantennas that collect heat energy generated by the sun and other sources. The technology, developed at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory, is the first step toward a solar energy collector that could be mass-produced on flexible materials. (more…)

Shanghai, Aug 11, 2008
Source: TradingMarkets.com
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1817219/

Shanghai Aerospace Automobile Electromechanical Co., Ltd. (SHSE: 600151), a renewable energy developer and automobile parts manufacturer, plans to raise at most CNY 1.8 billion by additionally issuing three shares to every ten shares its shareholders have.  The raised fund will be used to enlarge the share capital of Inner Mongolia Shenzhou Silicon Co., Ltd., and Shanghai Shenzhou New Energy Development Co., Ltd., and finance a 150MW solar cell project of Shanghai Shenzhou. (more…)

Middlebury Animal Hospital, Tyrone Farm, Westport Wash & Wax and 2001 Company All Benefiting from Solar Energy
Rocky Hill, Conn., July 28, 2008
Source: Connecticut Clean Energy Fund CCEF press release
http://www.ctcleanenergy.com/NewsEvents/PressRoom/tabid/118/ctl/ViewItem/mid/1364/
ItemId/120/Default.aspx?SkinSrc=/Portals/_default/Skins/subpages/subpage_level0

The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF) today announced that four of the solar photovoltaic (PV) projects that it funded through its On-Site Renewable Distributed Generation Program are now completed and successfully operating.  These installations include:
* An 11.5-kilowatt rooftop solar PV system at Middlebury Animal Hospital in Middlebury, Conn.;
* A 23.2-kilowatt ground-mounted solar PV system at Tyrone Farm in Pomfret, Conn.;
* A 3.7-kilowatt rooftop solar PV system at Westport Wash & Wax in Westport, Conn.; and
* A 16.3-kilowatt building-integrated solar PV system at 2001 Company of Waterbury, Conn.
(more…)

by Jonathan Watts /July 25 2008
Source: Guardian.CO.UK
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2008/jul/25/solarpower.alternativeenergy

If China is ever to produce a challenger for the title of the world’s richest and most respected businessman, a leading contender is likely to be Shi Zhengrong. The world’s first solar billionaire sits at the intersection of two of the most important vectors of the 21st century – China’s economic rise and the global imperative to cut carbon emissions.  Since founding Suntech Power – China’s largest photovoltaic manufacturer – in 2001, Shi has capitalised on a surge of environmentally driven demand in Germany, the US and elsewhere that has turned his company into a global powerhouse and made him, by some estimates, the richest man on the mainland. (more…)

Zuerich, July 9, 2008
Source: Reuters UK /Reporting by Eva Kuehnen; Editing by Quentin Bryar
http://uk.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUKL0926484920080709

Intel Corp (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research), the world’s biggest maker of semiconductors, has strengthened its renewable energy activities by investing in a German solar module maker, the company said on Wednesday. Intel Capital, Intel’s venture capital arm, said it would invest 24 million euros ($37.7 million) in Sulfurcell, which makes thin-film solar modules using copper indium gallium selenide, or CIGS, technology to turn sunlight into electricity. Thin film is generally less expensive than versions relying on polysilicon. (more…)

David R. Baker, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer/ July 8, 2008
Source: SFGate.com
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/07/BUFO11L7FO.DTL

Solar power on a Prius? It sounds like a match made in eco-heaven. Toyota Motor Corp. plans to stick solar panels on some models of its popular Prius hybrid car, according to news reports Monday. The panels, made by Kyocera, would help power the air conditioner.  Details are sketchy. The Nikkei financial newspaper of Japan and the Reuters international news service reported the story, but both relied on unidentified sources. Toyota refused to confirm or deny the reports, saying the company doesn’t talk about future product plans. (more…)

By Steve Connor, Science Editor, 11 July 2008
Source: The Independent UK
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/new-windows-double-as-solar-panels-865592.html

A new type of solar panel that allows light to pass through it like a pane of glass has been invented by scientists who said that it is 10 times more powerful than conventional methods of producing energy from sunlight. The discovery raises the prospect of using ordinary domestic windows to generate electricity with minimum structural alterations, although scientists have not yet worked out how much it would cost to convert a domestic home to a solar-powered generator. (more…)

Albquerque, N.M., July 25, 2008
Source: Emcore Corp. press release/
http://www.emcore.com/investor

EMCORE Corporation,  a leading provider of Semi-conductor-based components and subsystems for the broadband, fiber-optic, satellite and terrestrial solar power markets, announced today that its world record Inverted Metamorphic (IMM) solar cell technology has been chosen by R&D Magazine for an R&D 100 award. This prestigious award recognizes the IMM solar cell as one of the most innovative technologies of 2008. (more…)

SiGen’s innovative “kerf-free” wafering equipment moves into pilot line
San Jose, CA, July 11, 2008
Source: Silicon Genesis press release/Businesswire
http://www.sigen.net/about/news.html

Silicon Genesis, a leader in process and technology for engineered substrates announced today that it has successfully produced solar substrates for the PV industry using a revolutionary “kerf-free” wafering process technology developed by SiGen called PolyMax™. This introduction represents a significant move for the company into the solar PV wafer production environment, capitalizing on in-house technology and expertise.  By eliminating sawing losses, the PolyMax™ equipment set can substantially reduce the amount of polysilicon used within the ingot to wafer manufacturing steps and also eliminate some of the costly consumables in today’s wafer manufacturing. First targeted to process monocrystalline silicon to produce high-efficiency silicon solar cells, the equipment is expected to help the PV industry reach grid parity while simultaneously relaxing the shortage of polysilicon feedstock. (more…)

Thin-film solar cells are cheaper than traditional solar panels, such as those made of polycrystalline silicon, but the yield is lower. However, the combination of these properties is promising according to the Thin-Film Future conference organized recently by SolarPlaza in Munich. An impression of the heavily attended gathering.
By: Rijkert Knoppers
Source: GlassOnWeb.com
http://www.glassonweb.com/news/index/7986/

A solar installation over 6,000 m2 has been built in a field near to the German town of Waltenhofen. Its total power is 0.4 MW. Seven kilometers of electrical cable is required to transport the power generated by the Mitsubishi Heavy Industry thin-film solar panels. Another solar power plant has been produced next to this field in the same amount of space, but in this case using crystalline silicon solar panels. At 0.7 MV, the power from this plant is almost twice as much as that from the other installation. (more…)