Solar Cells Info

Print Magazines and Periodicals in the area of Solar Photovoltaics

• QBuzz of Solarbuzzprovides you 4 times a year with a succinct summary of news and comment, collated
  into a clearly structured quarterly report for rapid assimilation. Market activity,
  supply and technology developments, and PV company news are brought together
  with the latest information on solar funding programs and a retail market pricing summary.
  Paper or CD-ROM edition available. (Language: English)
• Solar Progress Solar Progress is a journal for the Australian and New Zealand Solar Energy Society
  (ANZSES) affliated with the International Solar Energy Society.(Language: English)
• Homepower Home Power magazine is the Hands-on Journal of Home-Made Power. If you are
  interested in: making your own electricity from renewable energy, alternative vehicles,
  or finding out the latest in related technologies and life-styles, then this publication
  can keep you up to date. (Language: english)
• .Journal of Solar Energy EngineeringThe Journal of Solar Energy Engineering publishes Technical Papers of permanent
  interest in all areas of renewable energy and energy conservation as well as
  Discussions of policy and regulatory issues that affect renewable energy technologies
  and their implementation. (Language: English)
• Photon Magazine a leading monthly photovoltaic magazine. Actual news, photovoltaic research and development,
  economy, new projects and other interesting information. (Language: English)
• Photovoltaics Bulletina periodical newsletter for proffesionals. (Language: English)
• Progress in Photovoltaics Progress in Photovoltaics offers a major forum for reporting advances in this rapidly
  developing technology, right through from research to practical application, and
  aims to reach all professionals, researchers, and energy policy-makers interested
  in worldwide activity in this important field. Language: English)
• ReFocus a bi-monthly ISES magazine. News on renewable energy (wind, biomass, solar…).
  (Language: English)
• Renewable Energy Worlda leading bi-monthly magazine on renewable energy. (Language: English)
• Solar Energy an official ISES magazine. For proffesionals in the field of solar energy research and development.
  (Language: English)
• Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells research and development in field of solar cells materials and technologies.
  Publication for scientists and proffessionals. Language: english
• Solar Today – an ASES bi-monthly magazine on solar energy.
  Use and promotion of solar/wind energy in United States. (Language:english)

Online News and e-newsletter on Photovoltaics

• RenewableEnergyAccess.com daily on-line news and newsletter for individual and group members.
  Offers also on-line news for your web pages. (Languages: English)
• Newsbuzz of Solarbuzz summarizes the most important solar energy news items of the week.
  Some of these items will have appeared on the web site, some will only
  be displayed in the newsletter. )Languages: English)
• Refocus Weekly free regular e-news letter, information from all fields of renewable energy included.
  Refocus offers also on-line news integrated into your web pages.
  Languages: English
• Oekonews offers on-line news and newsletter in german language. Nice site with lots of
  useful and actual news mainly from Austria and Germany. (Language: German)
• Caddet News Bulletin InfoPoint Renewable Energy is a quarterly 8-page, full-colour
  news bulletin bringing together topical articles, news stories, projects, opinions and
  signposts to further information on the development of renewable energy worldwide.
  (Languages: English)
• EREN Network Newsa weekly newsletter from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency
  and Renewable Energy Network. (Language: English)
• NREL News NREL and renewable energy news (Language: English)
• PV-UK alert online information service of the british photovoltaic association. (Language: English)
• U-Solar Newsletter publication will keep you informed of the new websites relating to photovoltaic electricity
  as well as other information on this topic. (Languages: french and english)
• IEA PVPS NewsletterPV Power is the newsletter of the IEA PVPS Programme.
  The newsletter is intended to provide information on the activities of IEA PVPS.
  It does not necessarily reflect the viewpoints or policies of the IEA,
  IEA PVPS member countries or the participating researchers. (Languages: English)
• PV News a monthly, eight page newsletter with annual index that covers all aspects
  of Photovoltaics through out the world. (Languages: English)

Voltwerk fires the starting pistol for a solar energy park with thin film technology

– One of the world’s biggest solar energy parks with thin film technology
– Investment volume amounting to around EUR 7 million

Hamburg, 07.June 2006:
Source: Voltwerk AG (http://www.voltwerk.de/en/)

Voltwerk AG of Hamburg has commissioned SunTechnics GmbH to build one of the world’s biggest solar energy parks with thin film technology. In the Bavarian town of Mering, to the south of Augsburg, the company will be installing by this summer, on an area of five hectares, solar modules with a total power output of 1.7 megawatts. The solar power plant, costing a total of around EUR 7 million, will then produce around 1.9 million kilowatt hours of solar power every year, and feed it into the national grid. Over 500 households could thus be provided with eco-friendly electricity all year round. With its 1,250 kilowatt hours of sunlight per square meter per year, the location offers ideal conditions for the exploitation of solar energy.

“Mering is in one of the sunniest regions in Germany. We are delighted that in the new solar energy park we are now also exploiting these favorable conditions for the purpose of power generation, and thus contributing to a rising proportion of electricity from regional sources,” explains Hans-Dieter Kandler, the Mayor of Mering.

Thin film technology is considered to be a promising supplement to conventional, silicon-based modules. A growing proportion of solar power installations are already being constructed using this technology, as a result of its resource-saving production process. Solar modules based on thin film technology generate more energy, particularly on cloudy days and at dawn and dusk. They also deliver better results than silicon modules at high temperatures. At times when there is a shortage of silicon, availability is an important argument for the use of thin film modules. “The use of thin film technology enables us to meet the high demand for lucrative capital in-vestments in the field of solar energy, and additionally to increase our project volumes,” explains Nikolaus Krane, CEO of voltwerk AG. In the case of thin film modules the material is vacuum metallized onto glass in a thin film, with the result that the solar-active film makes up only one percent of the finished module.

DuPont Microcircuit Materials Receives Service Award from Q-Cells
(for their contributions to development of Si solar cells)
Thursday, October 12, 2006
source: http://www.pcb007.com/

Marking five years of successful collaboration, DuPont Microcircuit Materials (MCM), part of DuPont Electronic Technologies, today announced that it is the proud recipient of a Q-Cells Supplier Award for its provision of metallization materials used in the construction of silicon photovoltaic cells.

Citing DuPont’s excellent supply performance over this period, Q-Cells presented the award to DuPont at last month’s European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition in Dresden, Germany. Q-Cells AG, based in Thalheim, Germany, is Europe’s biggest manufacturer of high-performance solar cells made of mono- and multicrystalline silicon.

The cooperation between the two companies started in the first six months of 2001, when Q-Cells began producing photovoltaic cells. DuPont MCM, under the brand name DuPont Solamet, provided Q-Cells with silver pastes for the front-side of the cells to fire through the ARC (anti-reflective coating) and penetrate into the silicon to achieve a good ohmic contact without shunting.

Other thick film metallization pastes within the DuPont Solamet range include aluminium pastes to secure a good ohmic contact with the backside (p-side) and the silver, or silver/aluminium pastes, which are soldered to the interconnect ribbon. These, in turn, electrically connect the cells together, either in a series or in parallel.

Commenting on the company’s decision to make DuPont a recipient of its service award, Matthias Raetz, head of Supply Management at Q-Cells said, “We are aware that we owe the excellent performance of our company also to the excellent performance of our suppliers. Our stable and lasting relationship with DuPont, as a supplier of high-performance materials, also supported our success.”

Schott Solar Photovoltaic Solar Panel Products

http://www.schott.com/photovoltaic/english/index.html
http://www.us.schott.com/photovoltaic/english/products_us/ase_300/indexalt.html/index.html

High-output modules

High-output modules from SCHOTT Solar are available from a power class of 50 to 300 Watt. Crystalline EFG and MAIN cells with a high-quality finish provide the highest energy yields.

Solar modules with EFG cells

ASE-50-ETF/17, ASE-100-GT-FT, ASE-160-GT-FT , ASE-260-DG-FT, ASE-300-DG-FT

Solar modules with MAIN cells

ASE-165GTFT/MC, ASE-275-DGFT/MC

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ASI®-F Thin film Modules

Powerful modules for stand-alone systems and mains coupling

ASI®-F solar modules, made out of amorphous silicon, are available in the power classes 2 – 10, 16 and 32 Wp. With a special stacked cell construction based on thin-film silicon the patented ASI® technology guarantees enduring high output for years.

Framed modules for 12 V applications and mains coupling

# ASI®-F 2-10/12
# ASI®-F 32/12

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ASI® glass modules for glass roofs or building façades

SCHOTT Solar ASI® glass PV modules are multi-purpose components intended for integration into the exterior of buildings. As well as power generation, they serve a variety of other purposes associated with modern solar architecture.

InDaX® modules for integration into pitched roofs SCHOTT Solar’s in-roof modules are integrated seamlessly into pitched roofs and so provide an architecturally sound solution as well as a highly efficient solar power installation.

Solar Power 2006 Conference

San Jose, California, USA
October 16-19, 2006

The Solar Power Conference and Expo is the largest business-to-business
solar event held in the United States.  Organized by the Solar
Electric Power Association (SEPA) and the Solar Energy Industries
Association (SEIA), this event has been growing rapidly each year.
More than 4,000 people are expected to attend Solar Power 2006,
and more than 160 companies will exhibit.

October 12, 2006, St Louis, MO, USA:

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel W. Bodman today
announced more than $13 million to fund new research in solar technologies.

This funding, part of President Bush’s $148 million Solar America Initiative,
will support the development of more efficient solar panels, known as
photovoltaic devices.

“This investment is a major step in our mission to bring clean, renewable
solar power to the nation,” Secretary Bodman said. “If we are able to harness more of the sun’s power and use it to provide energy to homes and businesses, we can increase our energy diversity and strengthen our
nation’s energy security.”

A pillar of President Bush’s Advanced Energy Initiative, the Solar America
Initiative aims to make solar power cost competitive with conventional electricity sources by 2015, by developing materials that convert sunlight directly to electricity. In his 2006 State of the Union address, President Bush
announced the Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI), which seeks to reduce
our dependence on foreign sources of energy.

To achieve this objective, the AEI includes a 22-percent increase in
funding for clean energy technology research at DOE. The President’s
FY 2007 $148 million request for the Solar America Initiative is a
$65 million (78%) increase over the current appropriation, to accelerate
the development of semiconductor materials that convert sunlight directly
to electricity.

Konarka Names Rick Hess President and Chief Operating Officer

Lowell, Mass. – October 12, 2006 – Konarka Technologies, Inc., an
innovator in the development and commercialization of Power Plastic™,
a material that converts light to energy, today announced that Rick Hess
has been named to the newly created position of President and Chief
Operating Officer. Howard Berke, Konarka’s founder, will continue in the
role of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

“Rick is recognized for his ability to assess technologies and commercialize
electronic technology components that meet specific customer needs
bringing products from the lab, through scale-up and commercialization
in the electronics industry,” commented Howard Berke. “Having led
businesses in both high growth stages and start-up situations, Rick
is a skilled motivator, team leader and communicator, to whom I am
pleased to turn over Konarka’s day-to-day operations and lead it
into its next phase of commercialization.”

Mr. Hess has a broad background as a leader in both start-up companies and established corporations. Prior to joining Konarka, he was Chief Executive Officer of Integrated Fuel Cell Technologies, a venture-backed company in Burlington, Massachusetts. He was previously President of M/A-COM, a manufacturer, designer and marketer of high frequency components and systems for the wireless, defense, public safety and automotive markets, and now a unit of Tyco Electronics, the largest business unit of Tyco International.

September 25th, 2006
Source: http://www.motortrend.com/features/auto_news/

Volkswagen of America, Inc. is introducing a new concept vehicle from its Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL), located in Palo Alto, California. The ERL has taken a 1964 Deluxe Microbus and retrofitted it with a collection of cutting edge technologies. Dubbed the “Chameleon”, this renovated bus contains projects developed by ERL engineers and external partners that explore novel design concepts for tomorrowis cars.

With the goal of preserving the classic look of the Microbus, the theme of the concept vehicle is “Hidden Technologies.” This goal is appropriately parallel to Volkswagen’s continuous mission to develop technologies that enhance the driving experience while limiting driver distraction. The large size and unique layout of the Microbus provides a tremendous platform to creatively integrate many different technologies. A multitude of projects are showcased in the Chameleon, representing the latest advancements in the topics of audio, speech, sensors, displays, navigation, lighting, batteries, solar cells, and much more.

In addition to being a cultural icon, the Deluxe Microbus carries a uniquely Californian flavor. With its 21 windows and soft-top canvas roof, the vehicle was a favorite of surfers and adventurers on the West Coast, and is considered a prized collector’s item today. Acknowledging California’s traditionally environmentally friendly attitude, the ERL collaborated with Hybrid Technologies (www.hybridtechnologies.com) to replace the original VW engine with an all-electric-drive engine powered by lithium polymer batteries. Surfboards mounted on the roof are also lined with flexible solar panels that provide an additional source of energy to this 100% electric vehicle.

The interior of the bus is full of surprises, with an interactive digital instrument cluster, imbedded capacitive touch-pads, digitally enhanced sound quality, exciting rear seat entertainment options, and speech activated controls available throughout the cabin. The exterior houses several exciting new approaches for keyless entry, LED lighting, wide-angle parking cameras, switchable glass and much more.

The Volkswagen Electronics Research Laboratory intends to use the Microbus as a public relations tool to showcase the potential future of automotive electronics set in the nostalgic package of this favorite old-timer. The Chameleon has already been showcased in Germany to Volkswagen executives and engineers. It made its North American public debut at the AltWheels event in Boston, Massachusetts, on Friday, September 22, 2006.