Solar Cells Info

The new class of materials enabling the world’s best solar cell has a bright future.

By Peter Fairley, June 15, 2007
Source: MIT Technology Review
http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/18910/

A solar cell more than twice as efficient as typical rooftop solar panels has been developed by Spectrolab, a Boeing subsidiary based in Sylmar, CA. It makes use of a highly customizable and virtually unexplored class of materials that could lead to further jumps in efficiency over the next decade, making solar power less expensive than grid electricity in much of the country.

The cell, which employs new “metamorphic” materials, is designed for photovoltaic systems that use lenses and mirrors to concentrate the sun’s rays onto small, high-efficiency solar cells, thereby requiring far less semiconductor material than conventional solar panels.

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Business Wire, 11 June 1007

Source: Austin News
http://www.news8austin.com/content/headlines/?ArID=185866&SecID=2

A warehouse renovation project set for the historic Pearl Brewery site will also be a “learning laboratory” for “green” building and energy efficiency, featuring the largest solar energy installation in the state, announced CPS Energy and Silver Ventures, which is renovating the historic brewery in an adaptive re-use project.
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Los Gatos, Calif., June 11, 2007
Source: Akeena Solar, press release
http://www.akeena.net/cm/Investor%20Relations/Home.html

Fast-growing Akeena Solar (OTCBB:AKNS) is generating the equivalent of power for 200 households with its just-completed project at the Air National Guard Armory in Fresno, CA.  Akeena, a publicly held company that already is one of the largest installers of residential solar and small commercial systems in the country, says that the $2.2 million contract is a meaningful contribution to Akeena’s revenues last quarter and this quarter.
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Business Standard Reporter / Mumbai June 7, 2007
http://www.business-standard.com/

A leader in the optical storage media space, Moser Baer India, today said that its wholly-owned subisidiary, Moser Baer Photo Voltaic (MBPV), has commenced commercial shipment of its solar photovoltaic (PV) cells.  MBPV further announced it has firm customer orders and MoUs exceeding $100 million (around Rs 410 crore).  Additionally, the state of the art fully integrated in-line cell manufacturing facility has started producing photovoltaic cells at expected level of output with cell efficiency levels up to 15.5%.
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Source: Xinhua/People’s Daily Online / 7 June 2007
http://english.people.com.cn/200706/07/eng20070607_381987.html

A Chinese company says it has developed a mobile phone that uses solar energy to recharge itself and can provide 40 minutes of talk-time after sitting in the sun for an hour.  Hi-Tech Wealth, a well-known telecommunication products supplier in China, claims its mobile phone is the world’s first to use solar power to recharge its battery. The company says a scale-like solar panel on the top side of the clamshell-designed phone can also be recharged by light from other sources including candles. (more…)

Palo Alta, CA & New Delhi, India, June 7, 2007
Source: Signet Solar.com / press release
http://www.signetsolar.com/in%20the%20news/index.htm

Signet Solar today announced plans to establish significant thin-film solar module manufacturing capabilities in India. Signet Solar’s India announcement follows plans unveiled lastmonth for a manufacturing and development plant in Dresden, Germany. Signet Solar is a global company founded to design, develop and manufacture large area, low cost, thin-film silicon solar photovoltaic (PV) modules. Signet Solar’s first production line in India will have a capacity of 60 megawatts (MW); expanding to 1 gigawatt (GW) in annual production over the next ten years.

Signet Solar’s India production facilities will tap into India’s manufacturing and engineering talent to establish high tech, high volume thin film solar module production. “The announcement by Signet Solar to expand its production capacity will significantly contribute to our plans to accelerate semiconductor and information technology (IT) hardware manufacturing in India,” states Thiru. A. Raja, India’s Honorable Union Minister of Information Technology. “Combined with our highly skilled
workforce, India has an opportunity to be a leader in using technology to address pressing global energy needs.”

Worldwide solar PV installations have grown at an annual rate of nearly 40 percent over the last five years, with demand expected to continue similar growth. In India, the Ministry of Renewable Energy has set a target to produce 10 percent of the country’s power requirements through renewable energy sources by 2012. “Signet Solar’s plans to establish manufacturing operations in India are very timely,” states Shri Vilas Muttemwar, India’s Honorable Minister of New and Renewable Energy.

“Our electric power demands will continue to increase as India’s economic growth accelerates. Cost effective alternative power generation technologies and power plants will be essential to help manage peak power demand and distributed power for rural electrification, while being sensitive to the environment.”  “We are convinced that India is ideal for manufacturing the world’s lowest cost solar modules,” said Dr. Prabhu Goel, Chairman and Founder, Signet Solar. “With its manufacturing prowess and vast need for energy, we consider India key to bringing Clean Affordable Renewable Energy, via thin film solar modules, to our customers.”

Applications for the company’s thin film solar modules include solar farms, large commercial installations, building-integrated photovoltaics, remote habitation, and irrigation. Thin film modules are expected to play a vital role in peak power production
and stand-alone applications by avoiding massive investments in power infrastructure. Signet Solar is poised to significantly expand existing markets for Clean Affordable Renewable Energy™ and create vast new opportunities in emerging economies.

Signet Solar customers will include PV system integrators and installers of solar farms for power generation. The large glass substrates and relatively lower cost of thin film modules are ideal for large scale PV system installations, building-integrated
photovoltaics and remote habitation.

About Signet Solar
Signet Solar, Inc. is a global company established in 2006 to bring Clean Affordable Renewable Energy™ to people and countries worldwide. Headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., the company has been founded to design, develop, manufacture and market thin film silicon photovoltaic modules. For more information, please visit www.signetsolar.com.

Source: BBC News / 5 June 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6725109.stm

The Vatican is considering solar panels on other buildings,.  Pope Benedict XVI is to become the first pontiff to harness solar power to provide energy for the Vatican, engineers say.  The deteriorating cement roof tiles of the Paul VI auditorium will be replaced next year with photovoltaic cells to convert sunlight into electricity. The cells will generate enough power to light, heat or cool the hall, the Vatican engineers say.
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By: Elena Balan, Communications News Editor
Source: News Softpedia.com
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Telefonica-Will-Use-Solar-Panels-for-Power-56411.shtml

The Telefonica project
Telefonica’s office complex situated in Madrid has developed a building concept that is meant to save a great amount of energy. Their solution comes in the shape of solar panels mounted on the entire surface of the building. The need for saving energy and reducing pollution has pushed Telefonica into setting an example. The mobile telecommunication company will build an office complex that will have over 16,000 solar panels displayed on the building’s rooftops. This technology will be capable of providing a total of 3GWh per year, with approximately 3 MW peak power.
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From Leslean Arshad, Osaka, May 25, 2007
Source: Bernama
http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=264138

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said that Malaysia should intensify efforts to develop alternative energy sources, especially solar power, by emulating Japan in this field.  Impressed by the widespread use of solar energy in Japan including for street lighting, the prime minister said that its usage should be widened as it could save money. (more…)

The New Delhi Municipal Council hopes to make a difference with ‘brainy’ streetlamps that sense ambient conditions to adjust brightness, run without recharging for five days
Tenzing Lamsang, New Delhi, June 3, 2007
Source: ExpressIndia
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=239403

THE New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) aims to save electricity, become more eco-friendly, reduce power theft, and do away with some of the headache of wiring — all at one go. The civic body is planning to replace all streetlights with solar-powered ones.  It will be the first in the country to go ahead with the plan on a large-scale. Already, a pilot project that began in the Chanakyapuri area in November 2006 has, despite some hiccups, proved a success. NDMC has tentatively set a 2010 deadline for replacing all streetlights.
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