Solar Cells Info

Competitively priced solar modules deliver top-quality performance
Source: Press Release from SunWize Technologies
Kingston, New York, January 18, 2007

SunWize Technologies announces a new line of single crystalline modules with FM approval for Class I, Division 2, Groups A, B, C, and D, Hazardous (Classified) Locations. The new SunWize(R) SL series includes 6, 12 and 24-watt modules. Manufactured in accordance to ISO 9002 standards, SL modules carry a 10-year, 80% power output warranty. Bruce Gould, VP Sales, commented, “SL modules are very durable making them an excellent module for remote site locations. They are an integral part of our line of solar power solutions for industrial markets.”
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DOE’s Solar Energy Technologies Program (SETP) will host a workshop on February 7, 2007
January 4, 2007
Source: U.S. Department of Energy
http://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOE/PAM/HQ/DOE%2DSNOTE%2D061227%2D001/Synopsis.html
http://www.irecusa.org/articles/static/1/1167933601_1018302029.html

The Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Program (SETP) will host a workshop on February 7, 2007 at the DoubleTree Hotel, 300 Army Navy Drive in Arlington, Virginia to identify and prioritize lists of potential PV research topics for inclusion in two proposed funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) directed primarily towards U.S. universities.  These opportunities are currently planned to be entitled “University Research & Development Support for SAI Technology Pathway Partnerships” and “Applied Research for Future Generation Solar Electric Technologies”. Both FOAs are currently planned for release by the DOE in the spring of 2007.
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The Solar 4R Schools (S4RS) program has a new online home:
http://www.solar4rschools.org/

The S4RS program, developed and managed by the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, educates students and teachers on the functions and benefits of solar electric power, an increasingly popular renewable resource. In addition to producing clean, renewable energy, each school’s solar power system includes a curriculum package that uses the web-based, real-time data generated by each installation to provide students with a comprehensive, interactive learning experience.

To complement the existing curriculum and teacher-training program, Solar4RSchols.org now provides participating schools with online access to lesson plans, presentations, and other useful classroom materials. The site consists of a series of interactive Web pages dedicated to each individual S4RS project.

By Joshua Boak /Toledo Blade Staff Writer /Dec 16, 2006
Source: Toledoblade.com
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061216/NEWS21/612160431

A University of Toledo-led team received an $18.6 million state grant to create facilities to develop and test solar power cells, the governor’s office announced yesterday. “It would be nice to say this was a wonderful Christmas gift,” UT President Dr. Lloyd Jacobs said. “But this was not a gift. This was an earned recognition of some people’s very hard work.” During the next three years, UT will get a total of $9 million from the Third Frontier Project, a $1.6 billion state program for nurturing a technology-based economy.
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Source:  Cornell University, Ithaca, New York  /December 6, 2006
http://www.irecusa.org/articles/static/1/1168971545_987099548.html

When you look at the lighted face of the McGraw Tower clock at night, think of the sun, because the sun now supplies the university with enough energy to light the tower. In late December workers completed the installation on the roof of Day Hall of solar panels that will generate slightly more electricity than is used by the clock tower lights, so the tower has been chosen to symbolize the new energy source.

The system was turned on and began feeding power into the university power grid Dec. 20. With 54 26-square-foot solar panels generating a peak 15 kilowatts (kw), it is the third largest solar array in Tompkins County after the Tompkins County Library, whose system is rated at 145 kw, and a recent apartment building installation rated at 16.7 kw. Eight similar panels, rated at 2.2 kw, will be installed over the loading dock of the Cornell Store. Total annual output of the Day Hall solar system is expected to be 20,000 to 25,000 kilowatt hours, with a value of up to $2,500. The Cornell Store system is expected to produce 1,500 to 1,800 kilowatt hours, worth about $150 to $180.
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Source: Connecticut Clean Energy Fund  /Press Release
January 16, 2007
http://www.irecusa.org/articles/static/1/1168970284_1018302029.html

Rocky Hill, CT, January 16, 2007— The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF), Staples and SunEdison dedicated the largest solar power installation in New England at Staples’ 300,000-square-foot retail distribution center in Killingly, Conn. The solar power installation, built at no capital cost to Staples, was made possible through the collaborative effort of CCEF, which provided a $1.7 million grant for the project, and SunEdison, which financed the remaining costs of the project and designed and installed the system. Connecticut State Senate President Pro Tempore Donald E. Williams, Jr. (D-Brooklyn) spoke at the event, as well as representatives from CCEF, Staples and SunEdison.
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Binding letter of intent signed for acquisition of Discover Power Inc.

Montreal, Canada, January 17, 2007
Source: ICP Solar /Press release
http://www.icpsolar.com/4105/news_details.asp?news_id=18

ICP Solar Technologies Inc. (OTCBB: ICPR), a developer, manufacturer and marketer of solar cells and products, announced today that it has executed a binding letter of intent pursuant to which ICP Solar has indicated its intention to purchase all the issued and outstanding shares of solar pioneer Discover Power Inc., located in San Diego, California.

“Discover Power’s team features over 18 years of experience in selling complete solar solutions for off-grid and grid-tie systems. Their location in Southern California is ideal given the Million Solar Roofs initiative being put into place by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Having installed the first ever solar roof shingle system in southern California and with a nationwide installer network, the Discover Power brand and organization will be a great addition in line with our growth plans” said ICP Solar CEO and Chairman Sass Peress.  “This revenue-generating acquisition compliments our strategy for rooftop solutions and creates immediate opportunities for ICP Solar’s retailer sales network to add significant off-grid and grid-tie solutionn offerings.”
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Thermo photovoltaic, TPV Cells Produce Electricity from Heat
16 Jan 2007
Source: Spire press release
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=76421&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=950469

BEDFORD, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jan. 16, 2007–Spire Corporation (NASDAQ: SPIR) today announced that it has received a $600,000 contract from NASA’s John Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio to further develop a new type of thermo photovoltaic, TPV cell that produces electricity from heat. TPV cells have potential applications for NASA to generate electricity from heat produced by radioisotope sources for long duration space missions. Commercial applications of TPV cells include electricity generation using heat from combustion.

The work will be carried out in part at Bandwidth Semiconductor, a wholly owned subsidiary of Spire. Bandwidth already offers GaAs concentrator PV cells for converting the sun’s energy to electricity. These TPV cells use InGaAs, a variation of GaAs. Bandwidth Semiconductor has over ten years experience providing similar TPV cells to customers for special applications.

Bandwidth Semiconductor is a compound semiconductor foundry, specializing in wafer epitaxy, thick and thin film products and device fabrication for defense, biomedical, telecommunications and consumer markets.

16 January 2007
source: Prime Solar PRESS RELEASE
http://www.primesolar.com.au/

Prime Solar Pty Ltd will set up a polysilicon manufacturing facility at Bitterfeld in Germany to produce 7,000 Metric Tons of polysilicon per annum based on the conventional Siemens Technology.  Revealing the details of the project Dr Dilawar Singh, Managing Director and CEO said that “the polysilicon project will be completed in two Stages of 3,500 Metric Tons each and the first Stage will commence production in the second half of 2008. It will be a captive project producing polysilicon feedstock for Prime Solar’s wafers manufacturing facility of 765 MW per annum capacity to be set up at Thalheim, Germany.” The wafers
commonly known as silicon chips are the base components for the fabrication of solar cells and the wafers produced by Prime Solar will be used in the manufacture of silicon solar cells by a number of reputable solar cells manufacturers.
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Prenzlau/Oldenburg, Germany /15 Jan 2007
Source: AleoSolar press release
http://www.aleo-solar.de/index.php?page_id=18&language=de&mod_pressenews_id=84

Aleo Solar AG has reported firm solar module orders in Germany for 2007 of EUR 35 million. Corresponding agreements were signed with a number of companies at the end of December and take effect in 2007. Jakobus Smit, the second Management Board member of aleo solar AG, is cautiously optimistic, “At a strategic level, we are driving forward the internationalization of our business at full speed. We finished construction of our facility in Spain at the end of last year as planned, and it has now started production. Our bread-and-butter business in Germany is going well. Our total production capacity of 100 MW (Prenzlau 90 MW, Barcelona 10 MW) gives us precisely the capacity we need to service the continued market upturn.”  The current debate about the reliability of energy supplies underlines the need for renewable energies, and East Germany is turning into a “Solar Valley”.

Aleo solar AG, which is headquartered in Prenzlau, Brandenburg, has approximately 280 employees and holds a 19% stake in the thin-film facility in Brandenburg on the Havel that is currently being constructed by Johanna Solar Technology. This is scheduled to start production of its first silicon-free thin-film modules this year, with the number of employees set to rise from the current figure of 60 to 180 during the first stage of expansion alone.