Solar Cells Info

Sandia invention to make parabolic trough solar collector systems more energy efficient – Simple design of new technology excites solar industry

Albuquerque, N.M., May 15, 2007
Source: Sandia National Lab /press release
http://www.sandia.gov/news/resources/releases/2007/trough.html

A mirror alignment measurement device, invented by Rich Diver, a researcher at Sandia National Laboratories, may soon make one of the most popular solar collector systems, parabolic troughs, more affordable and energy efficient.  Diver’s new theoretical overlay photographic (TOP) technology is drawing interest from the solar industry because of its simplicity and the need to find solutions for global warming.
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Household solar systems have turned sunlight to electricity for some 100,000 rural Indians.

Ishani Mukherjee,  May 4, 2007
Source: Worldwatch.org
http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5059
A solar photovoltaics (PV) pilot project in India has transformed the lives of approximately 100,000 people living in poverty-stricken rural regions by providing several hours of uninterrupted lighting every night. The goal of the $1.5 million project, led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), was to facilitate household financing for solar home systems. Its success has inspired satellite programs to improve energy access in Algeria, China, Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia, and Mexico.
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Supported by the 2007 California Solar Initiative, the $7.5 Million, Eight-Acre Solar Energy Plant Will Alleviate Demand on Central Valley’s Municipal Power Grid During Summer Months

Lost Hills, CA, May 24, 2007
Source: Business Wire
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070524005027&newsLang=en

Paramount Farms, the world’s largest vertically integrated supplier of pistachios and almonds, today announced the opening of the Paramount Farms’ Solar Plant, a 1.1 mega-watt, $7.5 million solar energy plant in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Spanning eight acres, it is the largest single-site, privately-owned, operating solar plant in the U.S. and is expected to supply about 15 percent of the energy that the company’s nut processing facility uses each year.
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Aaron Glantz /OneWorld US / San Francisco, May. 24, 2007
Source: OneWorld.net
http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/149624/1/

Solar power is the fastest growing source of energy in the world and likely will become much more affordable in the next few years, according to a new report out this week.  “As production costs fall, technologies continue to advance, and supply and demand come into balance,” the report reads, “[solar power] prices will fall more than 40 percent in the next three years relative to prices in late 2006. Such a decline would make solar electricity far more affordable in markets across the globe.” Additionally, China’s strong entry in the field could drive prices down even further, the report’s authors predict.
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Source: CNet News.com /May 18, 2007
http://news.com.com/8300-10784_3-7-0.html?keyword=Green+solar+china

In solar, has the race to the bottom begun?
China Sunergy, a solar cell manufacturer out of Nanjing, sold 8.5 million depositary shares (the vehicle foreign companies use to list their stocks in U.S. exchanges) on Nasdaq this week. The stock went out at $11, shot up to about $16, and is now resting between $14 and $15. The rippling in the stock price could partly be reflecting a trend some are worried about in the solar world.

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25 May 2007 /Release of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP
http://www.ad-hoc-news.de/CorporateNews/en/11865889/

Young generation of engineers builds new solar racing car for world championship in Australia.  After about one year of development time SolarWorld AG will be presenting its new type of racing car called SolarWorld No.1 to the public fort he first time on the occasion of ist Annual General Meeting. The racer propelled by the power of the sun was developed and built by engineering students of the Bochum University of Applied Sciences in cooperation with SolarWorld AG.

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24 May 2007
Source: Carbonfree.co.uk
http://www.carbonfree.co.uk/cf/news/wk21-07-0005.htm

SolarCity, a community-wide installer of solar systems, has completed two additional cooperative solar power programs to enable and accelerate the migration to renewable energy sources.  In the communities of Mountain View and Woodside, California, residents together subscribed to 557kW of renewable, neighborhood-produced energy during the six-week program, which completed on April 30. SolarCity will complete installation on all the homes this summer.
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Peter Capella / 23 May 2007
Source: cooltech.iafrica.com
http://cooltech.iafrica.com/science/892267.htm

A dainty solar-powered plane with wings the width of a giant Airbus will retrace exploits in aviation history, including Charles Lindbergh’s first ever transatlantic crossing, before a pioneering round-the-world flight in 2011, project leaders said on Tuesday.  The “Solar Impulse” project led by Swiss round-the-world balloon pioneer Bertrand Piccard, undertook real-time computer simulations of a circumnavigation this week, a year before a prototype is due to take to the air.
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WorldWater & Power Announces Award of 20-Year Solar Electric Power Purchase Contract for Fresno Yosemite International Airport – Two Megawatt Project Valued at $16 Million

Pennington, N.J., April 12, 2007
Source: Worldwater & Power Corp. Press release
http://www.worldwater.com/pages/worldwaternews.html

WorldWater & Power Corp. (OTC BB:WWAT.OB-News), developer and marketer of proprietary high-power solar systems, today announced that it has been awarded a 20-year solar electric power purchase contract by the Fresno City Council for the sale of solar electricity from a 2 MW state-of-the-art solar electric power system to be located at the Fresno Yosemite International Airport. (more…)

Solar power goes portable : Energy from the sun, now in a convenient backpack size.
By Todd Woody, (Business 2.0 Magazine assistant managing editor), May 21 2007
Source: CNNMoney
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2007/05/01/8405651/

Consumers could be mixing margaritas at the beach this summer by plugging their blenders into boom-box-size solar-powered battery packs.   Hitting the shelves this spring is the XPower Powerpack Solar, a 10-amp battery with a 5-watt solar panel. Unlike smaller solar chargers meant to top off mobile phones and other gadgets, the $169 XPower packs enough juice to run larger consumer electronics: It can run a laptop for three hours and a TV for 45 minutes.
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