Solar Cells Info

251 kW Solar System at Caltrans District 10 in Stockton Will Eliminate 283,122 Lbs. of CO2 Emissions Annually
Stockton, CA, June 15, 2007
Source: Business Wire press release
http://home.businesswire.com/

Caltrans today unveiled a solar energy system with the deployment of a 251 kW photovoltaic system at Caltrans District 10 in Stockton.  Caltrans District Director Kome Ajise held a “throw the switch” ceremony at the site of the system located in the parking area of the district office. The photovoltaic installation was built under a power purchase agreement (PPA) with SunEdison, North America’s largest solar services company. Under the agreement, Caltrans benefits from clean, solar energy with no upfront cost, thereby avoiding an estimated $1,757,000 in capital installation. SunEdison built, owns and will maintain the solar system. SunEdison will sell the solar energy to Caltrans at costs lower than PG&E rates.
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Los Angeles, CA, June 14, 2007
Source: Los Angeles dBusiness News
http://losangeles.dbusinessnews.com/shownews.php?newsid=122787

Metropolitan Water District is looking toward the sun to help generate the power needed to treat water–one of several options the agency is exploring to reduce its carbon footprint.  “This demonstrates how serious we are about addressing our carbon footprint,” said Metropolitan Chairman Timothy F. Brick, after MWD’s Board of Directors Tuesday authorized design work on a solar-powered generation plant at the district’s Robert A. Skinner Water Treatment Plant near Temecula in southwest Riverside County.
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By Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor, Electronic News, June 14, 2007
Source EDN
http://www.edn.com/article/CA6452146.html

Further demonstrating its commitment to clean energy, semiconductor manufacturing equipment giant Applied Materials Inc. is announcing today in Austin, Texas, its plan to install more than 20-kilowatts of solar power generation capability at its Harris Branch manufacturing center, located there.

President and CEO Mike Splinter was on hand to make the announcement regarding the installation that will incorporate a variety of solar technologies. The project is scheduled for completion in August and will generate more than 33,769 kilowatt-hours (33.8 megawatt-hours) annually – thereby eliminating 58,370 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions and equivalent to planting eight acres of trees.

The company believes this installation will be the largest solar array at an Austin business site.  This installation also marks the second Applied location that will leverage solar power generation. In March, the company committed to installing 1.9-megawatts at its research campus in Sunnyvale, Calif.

Also at the event today, Splinter made a $25,000 sponsorship presentation to the Solar Decathlon Team at the University of Texas, which is building a solar-powered house for display and demonstration on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. in October. UT is among 20 universities participating in that project.  Austin was the place to be today as Splinter also attended Samsung’s 300-mm fab opening.

New sun traps start saving Earth before they’re plugged in
J. Mark Lytle, 13 Jun 2007
Source: Tech.co.uk
http://www.tech.co.uk/?articleid=1687026509

This week we just can’t get away from solar power. The latest intriguing Far-Eastern technology to cross our path is a new method for manufacturing domestic solar panels that are easy on the environment even before they’re plugged in.  Honda Soltec ‘s newest take on panels – built by its more famous parent company for it to sell – are next-generation CIGS cells. (Copper, indium, gallium and selenium are their major ingredients.) They go on sale this week for ¥60,000 (£250) each.

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By Marwaan Macan-Markar
Ko Si Boya, Thailand, June 12, 2007
Source: IPS News
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38134

Till over a year ago, health officials worried over maintaining the cold chain for vaccines delivered to children on this island. These included the ten given to new-born Thais, such as those for polio, diphtheria, tetanus, Japanese encephalitis and tuberculosis.  The nearly 30-minute journey on the Andaman Sea, the transfer to the health centres and the storage before final administration were points where the vaccines could get exposed to high ambient temperatures and lose potency.
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Houston, Texas, June 13, 2007
Source: Associated Press /IndyStar
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070613/NATIONWORLD/706130454/

The international space station’s newest power source, a set of solar wings, made its debut Tuesday.  The solar array is part of a 17.5-ton segment that was connected to the orbiting outpost during a spacewalk Monday.
The solar wings were deployed one at a time, first halfway unfurled and allowed to warm in the sun about 30 minutes. This prevented the solar panels from sticking together.

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Jun 12 2007
Source: Environmental Leader
http://www.environmentalleader.com/2007/06/12/

General Electric has received a Connecticut Clean Energy Fund grant of up to $722,000 to help defray a portion of the total project cost of installing a 168-kilowatt DC solar photovoltaic system at its headquarters facility in Fairfield, Connecticut.
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Colombo, Sri Lanka, June 15, 2007
Source. Earth Times /UPI
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/73175.html

Sri Lanka has received a new World Band credit to power thousands of rural homes and tap into private sector renewable energy.  Officials estimate Sri Lanka will be able to light up 60,000 rural homes and also connect new private-sector renewable energy to the urban power grid with a new World Bank credit, Lanka Business Online reported.
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Solaicx is the second solar company to locate in the state this year
Portland, Ore. June 12, 2007
Source: Solaicx News reports/Oregon Economic Development Association
http://www.solaicx.com/pages/news.htm

Solaicx, a leading manufacturer of mono-crystalline silicon ingots and wafers used in the solar energy industry, announced today that it will be locating its first high-volume manufacturing facility in Portland. For the past five years the company has developed manufacturing technologies that produce low-cost, high-efficiency silicon wafers for the photovoltaic (PV) industry that have been produced at the company’s pilot manufacturing facility in Santa Clara, Calif.
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By Tom Lawrence, Black Hills Pioneer
Deadwood, SD, June 11, 2007
Source: Black Hills Pioneer
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18458095

In the 1950s, President Dwight Eisenhower launched the interstate highway system and it still benefits America a half-century later.  “Some president sometime is going to build the national grid” to transport energy from one end of the nation to the other, predicted John O’Donnell, president of Ausra, Inc., a solar electric power park company. O’Donnell gave the initial keynote address during the opening day of the Western Governors’ Association annual meeting in Deadwood Sunday.
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