Solar cells related projects in US-Asia Pacific partnership on Renewable Energy
Fact Sheet
US Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs
Washington, DC /October 31, 2006
http://www.state.gov/g/oes/rls/fs/2006/75369.htm
Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate:
Renewable Energy and Distributed Generation Task Force
The Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate is a unique public-private initiative among government and private sector partners from Australia, China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United States. In remarks delivered to experts representing all Partner nations gathered at the American Electric Power facility in Columbus, Ohio, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky today announced that the Partnership has begun a new implementation phase with the start of a series of multifaceted programs designed to promote cleaner, cost-effective energy technologies and practices among the Partner nations. The Partnership is identifying policies and deploying technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote healthier air quality, advance sustained economic growth, and reduce poverty. It is now embarking on implementing voluntary practical measures to create new investment opportunities, build local capacity, and improve economic and energy security. The Partnership involves countries that account for about half of the world’s population and more than half of the world’s economy and energy use.
Project 1. Building Critical Mass for Ultra-High Efficiency Solar Power Stations
Breakthrough photovoltaic concentrators producing ultra high efficiencies have been developed by Solar Systems, an Australian company, and deployed in a number of projects on a relatively small scale in collaboration with the Australian Government. Beginning with an AUD$424 million, 154MW phase in Australia, this project aims to deploy 1GW of power stations technology across Australia, China and the United States, all producing power for less than 1/6th the cost of current solar power. In addition to Solar Systems and other private equity investors, it is anticipated that the Australian Greenhouse Office, the Energy Bureau of the National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China and the U.S. Department of Energy will play facilitation and coordination roles.
Project 4. Asia-Pacific Partnership Mega Solar Project
BP Solar and S-Energy of the Republic of Korea aim to create a landmark endorsement project, the ‘Asia-Pacific Partnership Mega Solar Project’. This project aims to install megawatt scale (MW) solar PV units at a number of locations across the Republic of Korea through a series of financed, managed, and delivered projects. BP Solar will leverage its presence and experience in five of the Partner countries to contribute to the Partnership’s goal to accelerate uptake of REDG. S-Energy will bring local expertise and the project will also seek the participation of the emerging Korean PV manufacturing industry to assist in technology transfer and accelerate development. The project is scalable from 10MW to 100MW over a multiyear period. As a distributed generator this solar project will bring value to the electricity network and local economy across the country in addition to the valuable technology transfer. The project aspires to generate 120GWh/year of clean electricity, power 20,000 Republic of Korean homes, avoid 120,000 tonnes of CO2/year and 25MW of network peak upgrades, and create new skilled installation and manufacturing jobs (assuming maximum 100MW scale).
Project 14. International Scholarships for Photovoltaics and Solar Energy Engineering at University of New South Wales
This project aims to bring international research and undergraduate students from Partner countries to UNSW’s premier photovoltaic research group by providing scholarships for tuition. Additionally, this project will assist in enhancing the photovoltaics knowledge and teaching resource base in Partner countries, improve the quantity and quality of photovoltaics teaching manufacturing and research in Partner countries.
Project 24. Development of Materials and Interface Engineering Technologies for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
During the past decade, refinements in the chemical components of the cells, improvements in cell physics, and device engineering having led to remarkable enhancement of dye-sensitized solar cell performance. These enhancements can potentially provide low-cost, large-area, flexible and high efficiency solar cells for all Partner countries. The basic research goal of this project is to develop materials and interface engineering technologies for dye-sensitized solar cells through international collaborations between Partner countries.