Solar Cells Info

Source: Electronics Newsweekly, April 22, 2009 /News from LexisNexis
http://www.controleng.com/articleXml/LN956741194.html

Spire Corporation (Nasdaq: SPIR) announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Spire Semiconductor, LLC, has been awarded an 18-month, $3,706,359 program by the Department of Energy s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), consisting of $2,960,850 in government funding and a $745,509 cost share. Under the contract, Spire  Semiconductor will develop next-generation manufacturing technology to produce 42% efficient III-V three junction tandem concentrator solar cells. (more…)

by Yasuhiko Takeda, Naohiko Kato, and Tatsuo Toyoda, 15 April 2009,
Source: SPIE Newsroom. DOI: 10.1117/2.1200903.1581
http://spie.org/x34404.xml?highlight=x2358&ArticleID=x34404

A new type of dye-sensitized solar-cell module has achieved transparency and color choice, facilitating mass production.  Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) offer various advantages, including freedom of design as well as lower costs and energy consumption, in production processes as compared to silicon-based solar cells.1,2 Monolithic series-interconnected modules—characterized by a structure similar to that of amorphous-silicon solar-cell architectures—are the most promising DSC-module type for mass production.3 However, these modules neutralize the unique transparency advantage of DSCs, because they use black, carbon-based counter electrodes (CEs) as well as rutile-based opaque separators between the photo-electrodes of porous anatase and the corresponding CEs. (more…)

Source: Reuters.com /Frankfurt, Apr 8, 2009
* Joint venture eyes cost reduction
* Firs 40 MW project has been started
* Shares in Q-Cells up 3.3 pct, LDK up 4.6 pct

Q-Cells (QCEG.DE), the world’s largest maker of solar cells, and wafer maker LDK Solar (LDK.N) are eyeing markets in Europe and China as well as costs cuts as part of a newly found joint venture, Q-Cells said on Wednesday. The German cartel office early in March told Reuters that the two were planning a joint venture, and a person close to Q-Cells then said that both companies wanted to intensify cooperation, without outlining further details. LDK already supplies wafers — which is needed for the production of solar cells and modules — to Q-Cells and the cooperation will bring together closer two giants that operate in different parts of the solar value chain. (more…)

Shanghai, Apr 16, 2009
Source: Asiaport Daily News, April 16, 2009 /SolidState International
http://www.solid-state.com/display_news/176824/5/HOME/
Report:_China%27s_Qiangsheng_PV_making_5G_silicon_solar_cells

Qiangsheng Photovoltaic Technology Co., Ltd., a leading amorphous silicon solar cell producer of China, recently announced in Shanghai that it had started the mass production of the fifth-generation large amorphous thin-film silicon solar cells.  Within the two and a half years, the cost of its cell modules is expected to fall to USD 0.5 per watt . It means that the cost of on-grid electricity generated by solar power stations will step down to CNY 0.65 per kilowatt-hours (KWH), on par with that of on-grid electricity generated by wind farms. (more…)

By Chris Morrison, April 16th, 2009
Source: BNet.com
http://industry.bnet.com/energy/10001091/
abound-solar-sunovia-chasing-after-first-solar/

Cadmium telluride-based thin film solar cells are certainly the technology of the moment. Following First Solar’s announcement in February that it’s producing cells for under $1 per watt, two more firms, Abound Solar (previously AVA Solar) and Sunovia have lined up with news of their own.  Of the two, Abound is the more mature firm, having taken a big $104 million funding last year. Now the company is finishing up construction on a 200 megawatt plant, which will reach full capacity in about a year. But the company is betting that it can beat First Solar’s 98 cent per watt production cost within three months, according to statements by CEO Pascal Noronha in Reuters. (more…)

The economic turmoil of the PV market in 2009 could actually turn into a more mature and orderly supply chain for the worldwide solar industry when growth returns, iSuppli predicts.
by Staff — Semiconductor International, 17 April 2009
http://www.semiconductor.net/article/CA6652492.html

What does not kill me makes me stronger. Although 19th century German philosopher Nietzsche probably did not have our global photovoltaics (PV) market in mind when he penned those words, they are nonetheless applicable, according to the latest report from iSuppli Corp. (El Segundo, Calif.). The economic turmoil of the PV market in 2009 could actually turn into a more mature and orderly supply chain for the worldwide solar industry when growth returns, the market researcher said today. (more…)

by Rick Merritt, EE Times, SAN JOSE, Ca, 17 April 2009
http://www.eetimes.com/news/semi/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=216600243

A steep drop in sales for solar photovoltaic systems this year will create a shakeout, pruning back an overbuilt industry, according to one market research company. Reductions in government subsidies in Spain–a big market driver last year–are a primary cause of the downturn, but the company projects a return to strong growth in 2011.  Worldwide installations of solar photovoltaic systems will decline to 3.5 gigawatts in 2009, down 32 percent from 5.2 GW in 2008, according to iSuppli (El Segundo, Calif.). In addition, average selling prices per solar watt will decline by 12 percent, leading to a 40.2 percent plunge to $18.2 billion in global revenues for PV installations in 2009, down from $30.5 billion in 2008. (more…)

By Chris Gaylord, 14 April 2009
Source: Christian Science Monitor
http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2009/04/14/solar-power-captured-in-space-beamed-to-earth/

West Coast energy giant PG&E unveiled a plan this week to put solar panels in orbit and wirelessly beam energy down to Earth by 2016.  Satellite solar cells would capture the sun’s rays 24 hours a day, without fear of cloudy mornings or dark nights. The orbiters then convert this solar power to radio-frequencies that transmit to ground stations in Fresno County, Calif. Once received, the radio energy would change into electricity and flow into the grid. (more…)

By Justin Smith, 14 April 2009
Source: EnergyCurrent.com
http://www.energycurrent.com/index.php?id=3&storyid=17374

When talking about solar cells, the key figures that are repeatedly brought up are cost and the efficiency of any particular cell. While the cost of a cell is, on the surface at least, fairly straightforward, efficiency can be a bit harder to pin down at first.  Basically, the efficiency of a solar cell is measured by how much electricity is converted from the sunlight that hits it; the energy conversion efficiency of a solar cell is the percentage of sunlight converted by the cell into electricity. In traditional monocrystalline, multicrystalline and thin film cells, most of the light is not converted into electricity, but is either reflected, turned into heat or passes right through the cell. (more…)

JUNO BEACH, Fla., Mar 31, 2009
Source: http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/energy/
fpl-equip-florida-schools-generation-solar-education-stations-teach-students/

Florida Power & Light Company will install cutting-edge solar power arrays at six schools in its service territory to help teach future generations about the benefits of renewable energy. Each school receiving a ‘Next Generation Solar Education Station’ will be able to generate emissions-free electricity and provide students with a hands-on tool to learn how solar power works. (more…)