Solar Cells Info

Thin Film Solar Technology Company Receives Funding to Advance Nanostructured Materials Surfacing
West Sacromento, CA, Feb 28, 2008
Source: Bloo Solar press release /BusinessWire

Bloo Solar announced today that is has been awarded a $100,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.  “The NSF grant will enable Bloo to demonstrate a new technique that enables the creation of ultra smooth and ultra rough surfaces on tiny wires, one tenth the diameter of a red blood cell,” said Dr. Ruxandra Vidu, Bloo’s director of R&D. “Controlling how rough or smooth we want the surface of our materials with atomic-scale precision enables Bloo to apply materials to its advanced solar cell architecture reliably and precisely, while producing greater strength, straightness and stability.” (more…)

Breakthrough Development of Manufactured Solar Cells by Inkjet Printing Positions Konarka as Emerging Leader in Printed Photovoltaics
Lowell, MA, March 4, 2008
Source Konarka Technologies Inc. press release /Business Wire
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/index.jsp?newsId=20080304005453

Konarka Technologies, Inc., an innovator in development and commercialization of Power Plastic®, a material that converts light to energy, today announced the company successfully conducted the first-ever demonstration of manufacturing solar cells by highly efficient inkjet printing. The company discusses and analyzes the performance of highly efficient inkjet printed organic bulk heterojunction solar cells in a paper recently published in Advanced Materials, entitled, “High Photovoltaic Performance of Inkjet Printed Polymer:Fullerene Blends” by Dr. Stelios A. Choulis, Claudia N. Hoth, Dr. Pavel Schilinsky and Dr. Christoph J. Brabec, all of Konarka.
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Source:
http://www.globalsolar.com/

Global Solar has developed a proprietary process for manufacturing (“roll-roll” manufacturing) thin-film Copper Indium Gallium diSelenide (CIGS) photovoltaic (PV) modules. Unlike traditional solar panels that are rigid, heavy and fragile, Global Solar’s thin-film solar modules are lightweight, flexible and durable. While other companies produce CIGS on glass, Global Solar is the only company with CIGS on flexible materials. (more…)

Solar firms to share research in bid to speed development of new super-efficient thin-film solar cell technology
Sarah Griffiths, BusinessGreen, 08 Feb 2008
Source: BusinessGreen.com
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2209279/german-solar-giants-ink-thin

German solar firms Schott Solar and ersol Thin Film GmbH have announced they are joining forces to accelerate the development of thin-film solar cells, which they claim could increase module efficiency by 50 per cent.  The firms will combine research and development resources as part of an initiative to develop a micromorphous thin-film module with a double-layer structure consisting of an amorphous and a microcrystalline film. The firms claim the double-layer structure should result in improved cell efficiency as it results in two layers of silicon converting the entire light spectrum into power.
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Motonobu Kawai, Nikkei Electronics, Feb 5, 2008
Source: TechOn
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080205/146965/

Applied Materials’ “SunFab” glass-to-module total production line for thin film solar modules.  Moser Baer India Ltd of India has its optical disc and solar cell manufacturing center in Greater Noida on the outskirts of New Deli.   Other companies including LG Electronics of Korea and Franco-Italian STMicroelectronics also have their manufacturing facilities around it. Moser Baer’s manufacturing center is currently drawing interest from solar cell-related manufacturers across the world.
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By Tyler Hamilton, February 06, 2008
Source:MIT Technology Review
http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/20163/

Researchers at McMaster University, in Ontario, say that they have grown light-absorbing nanowires made of high-performance photovoltaic materials on thin but highly durable carbon-nanotube fabric. They’ve also harvested similar nanowires from reusable substrates and embedded the tiny particles in flexible polyester film. Both approaches, they argue, could lead to solar cells that are both flexible and cheaper than today’s photovoltaics.
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Source: ScienceDaily.com ,  Jan. 11, 2008
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080109094341.htm
Adapted from materials provided by Wiley-Blackwell

Solar cells have attracted global attention as one of the cornerstones of alternative energy. In theory, it seems to make abundant sense to tap into the energy of the sun to convert light to electricity with little or no emission of noxious pollutants. However, in practical terms, progress has been slow because of technological impediments and the many different factors that need to be optimized to obtain stable and high-efficiency devices. (more…)

Source: RenewableEnergyAccess.com / Jan 17, 2008
http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=51152

In the race to make solar cells cheaper and more efficient, many researchers and start-up companies are betting on new designs that exploit nanostructures — materials engineered on the scale of a billionth of a meter. Using nanotechnology, researchers can experiment with and control how a material generates, captures, transports, and stores free electrons — properties that are important for the conversion of sunlight into electricity.  “We initially thought that the best we might do is get results as good as the sum of the two, and maybe if we didn’t make this right, we’d get something worse. But surprisingly, these materials were much better.” –Jin Zhang, Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Santa Cruz
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By Matt Nauman, MediaNews Staff
San Jose, CA, 7 Jan 2008
Source: InsideBayArea.com
http://www.insidebayarea.com/business/ci_7902104

Caterers unfurled red tablecloths. A drum kit sat in the corner waiting for the band to arrive.  It’s time for a party at Nanosolar in San Jose’s blossoming Edenvale Technology Park. And why not; the company has lots to celebrate.  After five years, more than $100 million, and the financial blessings of some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley (the founders of Google, eBay and others), Nanosolar is finally selling something.
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Posted by Martin LaMonica /November 9, 2007
Source: CNet.com news
http://www.news.com/8301-11128_3-9814084-54.html

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory gave out awards on Thursday to two companies developing solar electric cells they hope will bring a breakthrough in solar panel efficiency.  Top prize went to Wakonda Technologies, based in upstate New York, which is commercializing “virtual single crystal” technology.
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