Solar Cells Info

The catamaran’s power comes from a roof of solar panels
source: BBC News /30 March 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6509677.stm

A five-strong Swiss crew have sailed into history by completing the first solar-powered transatlantic crossing.  The Sun21 catamaran arrived in Miami late on Thursday, 117 days after leaving Seville in southern Spain. The crew of four academics and one full-time sailor said they were trying to promote the “great potential” of solar power to combat climate change.
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Emily Dunn Entertainment Writer, March 31, 2007
Source:
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2007/03/30/1174761796385.html

How much sun would it take to power just one ear-splitting Wolfmother track? Andrew Stockdale, lead howler in the Brisbane trio, plans to find out.  When the band starts on its second album of high-voltage, high-volume songs, he will be plugging the guitars and amps into the power of the sun.

“The last record was recorded with a low wattage amplifier, which sounds better anyway,” Stockdale said. “For the next record want to get a van with solar power as the studio. We want to maintain power but use eco-friendly means.”
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Seville, Spain, March 30, 2007 (ENS)
Source. Environmental News Service
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2007/2007-03-30-02.asp

Europe’s first commercial concentrating solar power plant was inaugurated today near the sunny southern Spanish city of Seville.  The 11 megawatt, MW, plant was inaugurated in the presence of the heads of the regional government of Andalusia and executives of the solar company Abengoa, whose parent company, Solucar, built the power plant.
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Nuying Huang & Esther Lam, DigiTimes.com [Tuesday 27 March 2007]
source:DigiTimes
http://www.digitimes.com/bits_chips/a20070327VL202.html

Persistent enhancement in the power efficiency of solar cells has now prompted more solar module makers to have higher requirements over efficiency rates, and are rejecting solar cells that do not fulfill their requirements.  Solar cells that only achieve a power conversion rate of 14% or below no longer meet many module makers’ cost requirements. Merrill Lynch explained in a March 21 released research report that higher cell efficiency can reduce costs by reducing the physical space and parts required when building a PV system.
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Source: Vietnam News / 24 march 2007
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=03ECO240307

HCM CITY — Solar power in HCM City’s rural districts has been an integral part of the rural electrification scheme over the last 10 years, said an energy official.  Trinh Quang Dung, head of HCM City Physics Institute’s Solarlab, said solar power had been used in lamps, refrigerators, surgery lamps, telephones and electrical appliances such as water heaters, fans and calculators.  Several hundred households in the suburban districts of Binh Chanh, Cu Chi and Can Gio used electricity generated from solar power networks for local household usage in the early 1990s.
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Source: Sunday Observer (of Sri Lanka), March 25, 2007
http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2007/03/25/new25.asp

A program to provide solar powered electricity for schools and village health centres in selected rural areas is in progress and co-ordinated by the Ministry of Local Government and Provincial Councils.  Local Government and Provincial Councils Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon has stated that this is a development program implemented by the Government to improve rural health and educational infrastructure.

By this program implemented under concessionary credit facilities granted by the Government of Finland, solar powered water pumps, computers, television sets, energy efficient lights and vaccine refrigerators will be provided to selected rural schools and health centers.
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Solar energy will benefit schools, rural societies in need of Internet and computer access
By Michael Malakata , IDG News Service / March 27, 2007
Source: InfoWorld
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/03/27/HNafricasolarenergy_1.html

Governments and development organizations in Eastern and Southern Africa are starting to adopt solar energy to bolster energy resources for ICT (information and communication technology) in rural areas.  Solar energy will have a positive impact on rural societies by enabling people to access computers and the Internet, said Paul Zambezi, Ministry of Science and Technology permanent secretary, in a recent Zambian workshop on solar-energy technology.  A lack of electricity has made ISPs and mobile phone service providers hesitant to build capacity in rural areas. As a result, most rural African areas lack Internet facilities.
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Dr Mohammad Al Assoumi, Special to Gulf News
Source: Gulf News / 29 march 2007
http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Comment_and_Analysis/10114313.html

Scientific developments in the field of solar energy emerged more than twenty years ago, leading to many questions about the future of the oil era and the emergence of a solar energy era. Views concerning oil exporting countries benefiting from the new solar energy and its relation to hydrocarbon energy varied. The answer came from Abu Dhabi, where oil was used to build up alternate energy sources, especially solar power.

The government of Abu Dhabi decided to construct a huge electricity generating station utilising solar power costing Dh350 million. This station will be the first of its kind in the world’s largest oil exporting region. In principal, the station is expected to start operation in 2009, to produce 500 megawatts, and power 10,000 residential units in the UAE capital.

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MOL Group Terminal Introduces Tokyo’s Largest Private Solar Power System, First at a Container Terminal in Japan
Source: Japan’s corporate News Network
http://www.japancorp.net/Article.Asp?Art_ID=14319

Tokyo, Japan, Mar 26, 2007 – (JCN Newswire) – Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (TSE: 9104) today announced that the solar power generation system at Ohi Container Terminal Berth No.4 started operation in March. The system is called the Tokyo International Container Terminal Solar Power Station.    The MOL Group positions the container terminal, located in Tokyo’s Ohi area, as a model eco terminal. MOL and MOL Group company International Container Terminal Co., Ltd. in Tokyo (TICT) announced plans to introduce the system last July.
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Source: The Rising Nepal /March 28, 2007
http://www.gorkhapatra.org.np/content.php?nid=15521

DAMAULI: A drinking water project under solar power system has been completed at Kihun VDC-6, Darkang, a remote part of the district. The drinking water project has been carried out at the total cost of Rs. 4.5 millions with the assistance of KADURI, an organization.   Around 99 solar panel have been installed in the project and water from Simalinan river has been lifted up to 100 metres, said Users Committee Chairman Tek Bahadur Magar. Around 230 villagers of 46 households of the area are expected to be benefited from the project.
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