Solar Cells Info

The contract will continue funding the development of lightweight and high- efficiency solar cells and solar modules for airship and space applications

source: United Solar Ovonic /press release
http://www.uni-solar.com/newsdetail.asp?id=192

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., March 15– United Solar Ovonic LLC, the world leader in thin-film amorphous-silicon solar technology and a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ECD Ovonics) (NASDAQ: ENER) , announced today that the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, has exercised an 18-month contractual option for $9.1 million with United Solar Ovonic to develop new solar cell technology to be used in space and airship vehicles addressing defense and homeland security applications.
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Solar technologies are rapidly becoming a major focus worldwide as a sustainable energy source: and the Masdar Initiative, Abu Dhabi’s landmark program in sustainable energy, is driving the adoption of advanced solar technologies here in the UAE.

* United Arab Emirates:  January 31 – 2007 * PRESS RELEASE
Source: AME info.com
http://www.ameinfo.com/109358.html

Projects already in active development in Abu Dhabi include both photovoltaics (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP), providing Masdar with broad coverage of the solar sector. Masdar’s PV projects in development include a world-scale polysilicon factory in Abu Dhabi, which will provide the feedstock for additional activities such as PV cell and module manufacturing. Photovoltaics allow the direct conversion of sunlight into electricity – this is one of the most promising technologies in renewable energy. The global PV industry was estimated at 2 gigawatts (GW) in 2006 and is growing at 30% annually, making it one of the most attractive and high-growth international industries.
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posted on 02/03/2007
Source: UAE interact.com
http://www.uaeinteract.com/news/default.asp?ID=231#24217

Abu Dhabi, which holds the Middle East’s fourth-largest gas reserves, plans to build a US$380 million (Dh1,395m) solar energy plant in the desert as the UAE’s electricity demand outstrips its gasfuelled power supplies. The project will be the first of its kind in the Gulf, Sultan Al Jaber, Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, said in an interview. Bids to build the 100 megawatt plant will be sought by August, he said.
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source: Applied Materials Inc. / press release
http://www.appliedmaterials.com/

SANTA CLARA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Applied Materials, Inc., the global leader in nanomanufacturing technology™ solutions for the electronics industry, announced today that it will install over 1.9 megawatts of solar power generation capability at its research campus in Sunnyvale, California. This is believed to be the largest solar power installation on an existing corporate facility in the United States and will be rolled out in three phases.
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By Hadi DP Mahmud
Source: Brunei Times /Brunei Direct.com
http://www.brudirect.com/DailyInfo/News/Archive/Mar07/090307/nite11.htm

Bandar Seri Begawan – Brunei can be entirely independent from oil for its electricity supply under an ambitious plan to use environment-friendly solar technology to power up 100 per cent of the sultanate by 2015. Nations Solar Technologies plans to build, own and operate a solar cluster project in the sultanate with the assistance of Hamidjojo Development and its consortium, which have been appointed to do a feasibility study on the project in six months.   The project, which will start on January 1, 2008, aims to put forward a proposal and obtain necessary approvals, licenses and support from the government to reach 100 per cent solar energy capability for Brunei by 2015.
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Sylvestre Tetchiada 3/9/2007
Source: FInancial Express
http://www.financialexpress-bd.com/index3.asp?cnd=3/9/2007&section_id=4&newsid=54858

For Merline Momo Azeufac, a teacher at Balefock village in western Cameroon, the days of fearing nightfall while correcting pupils’ work are over. She’s no longer hostage to the poor light provided by kerosene lamps.
“I always had sore eyes, and also a headache because of the smoke,” Azeufac told IPS. “Imagine that I used to correct about a hundred exercise books in bad lighting conditions…But this hasn’t been a problem since we had solar power.”

At the end of 2006, Balefock received four solar panels to produce power, under a grant from the Rural Entrepreneurship Foundation (REF). This non-governmental organisation (NGO), based in the Cameroonian capital of Yaoundé, was responding to a request from the Balefock Public School Parents’ Association.
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First-ever solar-powered salmon fishery will be operating this summer at Lummi Island in Anchorage
Laine Welch,  March 10, 2007
Source: Anchorage Daily News
http://www.adn.com/money/story/8699195p-8599623c.html

The first-ever solar-powered salmon fishery will be operating this summer at Lummi Island, home to the world’s only remaining reefnet fishery. It’s located at the northeast tip of the San Juan archipelago in Washington state, near Bellingham.  Reefnetting is perhaps the oldest form of net fishing in the world. Called “the original and still the best in selective fishing” by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, it was done centuries ago by Native Americans using cedar canoes and cedar nets.
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Clean-Energy Trends Report 2007
Source:
http://www.cleanedge.com/reports-trends2007.php

The following is an excerpt from Clean-Energy Trends 2007.

Maybe it was the changing global climate, or perhaps the changing business climate, that fueled clean-energy markets in 2006. More than likely, it was both of these, among several other factors, that pushed markets for solar, wind, fuel cells, biofuels, and other energy technologies along their inexorable upward march.

We have reached the point where the steady and rapid growth of clean energy has become an old story. Each year, it seems, brings an ever-higher plateau of success. This appears to be the future of clean energy: a rolling series of technology breakthroughs, landmark corporate investments, industry consolidation, and the not-infrequent emergence of new and sometimes surprising players entering the field.
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By Gary Robbins, March 9, 2007
source:  The Orange County Register
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/article_1609822.php

An anonymous donor has given UC Irvine $3.9 million to create a Center for Solar Research, enabling the school to more actively join state and federal efforts to develop cleaner-burning fuels.  UCI has long conducted studies on hydrogen fuel cells and nuclear energy. But it has done comparatively little work on harnessing the power of the sun.   “Solar energy research is a tremendous growth area and this donation is a big catalyst for us,” said John Hemminger, dean of UCI’s School of Physical Sciences, which will run the new center.
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9 March 2007
Source: Semiconductor Today
http://www.semiconductor-today.com/news_items/NEWS_2007/MAR_07/SIA_090307.htm

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the selection of 13 industry-led solar technology development projects for funding of up to $168m (over fiscal 2007-2009). The aim is to accelerate the commercialization of US-produced solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. The funding is the first to be made available as part of President Bush’s Solar America Initiative (SAI), which is a component of the Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI) announced in his 2006 State of the Union Address.
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