Solar Cells Info

source: Carmanah Corp. press release /April 4, 2007
http://www.carmanah.com/content/investors/showsalesupdate.aspx?id=070404

Carmanah’s Power System Group has provided 7 unique remote solar power systems to Duke Energy Gas Transmission, a North American leader in developing energy infrastructure and connecting major natural gas supply basins to growing markets.

Carmanah’s solar power systems were installed for the Grizzly Valley Block Valve Warning System in Chetwynd, BC, which is located in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. Each system includes a BP Solar 125 watt solar module, a Carmanah phase change battery enclosure, a tower mount and a Carmanah PV-3 controller.

(more…)

Study Partners include Allen Family Foods, University of Delaware and GE Energy
source: Worldwater.com /press release /april 5, 2007
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070405005814&newsLang=en

LAUREL, Del.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In a ribbon-cutting ceremony held here yesterday, Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner joined a host of dignitaries to officially open a milestone solar electric study at a poultry growout house owned by Allen Family Foods, Inc. World Water & Power Corp., developer of proprietary high-power solar systems designed and engineered the $500,000 photovoltaic installation for Allen.
(more…)

Statesman News Service
BOLPUR, April 6, 2007
source:
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=23&theme=&usrsess=1&id=152355

Switching on electric lamps or watching television was some sort of a dream for them until a few days ago, but today the dream has come true, illuminating their lives.  The villages like Mohuli and Geatgram, situated on the bank of the river Ajoy along the border of Birbhum are regarded as the most underdeveloped villages in the district.

The floods in 1995 wreaked havoc in the area, wiping out these two villages completely. Thereafter, it had been a long and bleak battle for the villagers to earn their livelihoods.  At a time when the villagers cannot afford electricity, they have got it because of a novel project taken up by Santiniketan Sriniketan Development Authority.
With the help of the West-Bengal Renewal Energy Development Agency, the SSDA arranged for solar electricity in these villages. The project, funded by the ministry of renewable energy, the state government and the SSDA, has provided about 127 families with a solar panels connected with two lamp sets and a plug point.

(more…)

The catamaran’s power comes from a roof of solar panels
source: BBC News /30 March 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6509677.stm

A five-strong Swiss crew have sailed into history by completing the first solar-powered transatlantic crossing.  The Sun21 catamaran arrived in Miami late on Thursday, 117 days after leaving Seville in southern Spain. The crew of four academics and one full-time sailor said they were trying to promote the “great potential” of solar power to combat climate change.
(more…)

Emily Dunn Entertainment Writer, March 31, 2007
Source:
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2007/03/30/1174761796385.html

How much sun would it take to power just one ear-splitting Wolfmother track? Andrew Stockdale, lead howler in the Brisbane trio, plans to find out.  When the band starts on its second album of high-voltage, high-volume songs, he will be plugging the guitars and amps into the power of the sun.

“The last record was recorded with a low wattage amplifier, which sounds better anyway,” Stockdale said. “For the next record want to get a van with solar power as the studio. We want to maintain power but use eco-friendly means.”
(more…)

Seville, Spain, March 30, 2007 (ENS)
Source. Environmental News Service
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2007/2007-03-30-02.asp

Europe’s first commercial concentrating solar power plant was inaugurated today near the sunny southern Spanish city of Seville.  The 11 megawatt, MW, plant was inaugurated in the presence of the heads of the regional government of Andalusia and executives of the solar company Abengoa, whose parent company, Solucar, built the power plant.
(more…)

Nuying Huang & Esther Lam, DigiTimes.com [Tuesday 27 March 2007]
source:DigiTimes
http://www.digitimes.com/bits_chips/a20070327VL202.html

Persistent enhancement in the power efficiency of solar cells has now prompted more solar module makers to have higher requirements over efficiency rates, and are rejecting solar cells that do not fulfill their requirements.  Solar cells that only achieve a power conversion rate of 14% or below no longer meet many module makers’ cost requirements. Merrill Lynch explained in a March 21 released research report that higher cell efficiency can reduce costs by reducing the physical space and parts required when building a PV system.
(more…)

Source: Vietnam News / 24 march 2007
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=03ECO240307

HCM CITY — Solar power in HCM City’s rural districts has been an integral part of the rural electrification scheme over the last 10 years, said an energy official.  Trinh Quang Dung, head of HCM City Physics Institute’s Solarlab, said solar power had been used in lamps, refrigerators, surgery lamps, telephones and electrical appliances such as water heaters, fans and calculators.  Several hundred households in the suburban districts of Binh Chanh, Cu Chi and Can Gio used electricity generated from solar power networks for local household usage in the early 1990s.
(more…)

Source: Sunday Observer (of Sri Lanka), March 25, 2007
http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2007/03/25/new25.asp

A program to provide solar powered electricity for schools and village health centres in selected rural areas is in progress and co-ordinated by the Ministry of Local Government and Provincial Councils.  Local Government and Provincial Councils Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon has stated that this is a development program implemented by the Government to improve rural health and educational infrastructure.

By this program implemented under concessionary credit facilities granted by the Government of Finland, solar powered water pumps, computers, television sets, energy efficient lights and vaccine refrigerators will be provided to selected rural schools and health centers.
(more…)

Solar energy will benefit schools, rural societies in need of Internet and computer access
By Michael Malakata , IDG News Service / March 27, 2007
Source: InfoWorld
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/03/27/HNafricasolarenergy_1.html

Governments and development organizations in Eastern and Southern Africa are starting to adopt solar energy to bolster energy resources for ICT (information and communication technology) in rural areas.  Solar energy will have a positive impact on rural societies by enabling people to access computers and the Internet, said Paul Zambezi, Ministry of Science and Technology permanent secretary, in a recent Zambian workshop on solar-energy technology.  A lack of electricity has made ISPs and mobile phone service providers hesitant to build capacity in rural areas. As a result, most rural African areas lack Internet facilities.
(more…)