Solar Cells Info

The Fourth Gift of the Three Kings: „A Solar Cell“/ Solar power annually avoids 315 tons of CO2
Source: Corporate News from SolarWorld AG  /Jan 4, 2008
http://www.solarworld-usa.com/The-Fourth-Gift-of-the.1598.0.html

SolarWorld AG is making a gift in the form of a solar power system to Pope Benedict XVI. This was announced by Frank Asbeck, Chairman and CEO of SolarWorld AG, in Bonn. ‘If the Three Wise Men from the East came to Bethlehem today they would in all probability bring a solar cell in addition to gold, frankincense and myrrh. It is the symbol for the preservation of creation and for the energy supply of the future.’ That is how Frank Asbeck explains this gift on the occasion of the forthcoming Epiphany Day. In Southern countries this day is marked by the giving of gifts to commemorate the Three Holy Kings. (more…)

Payback time for the unlucky, oil-free desert?
By John Lettice, 25th January 2008
Source: The Register UK
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/25/faiman_negev_solar_plan/

A series of solar energy power stations in the Negev could supply all of Israel’s power needs – or, if you wanted to be really ambitious, you could supply all of the world’s electricity needs with the aid of slightly under 10 per cent of the Sahara. So says Professor David Faiman of Israel’s Ben-Gurion University, man with a plan and current proprietor of the largest solar energy dish in the world.  The Negev Desert dish is operated by Ben-Gurion’s National Solar Energy Center in the Negev, and speaking at the DLD (Digital Life, Design) conference in Munich earlier this week, Center director Faiman tallied off the economics of solar power generation. Conventional solar panels are expensive, because photovoltaic cells, which combine the capability to collect energy and to convert it to electricity, are themselves expensive. (more…)

Source: Deutsche Welle.de / Feb 21, 2008
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3100372,00.html

Berlin’s Adlershof district is striving to become the place to be when it comes to solar technology. In Europe’s largest science park, the experiment to merge science and industry is now taking off.  Located on the eastern outskirts of Berlin, Adlershof is a quick 20-minute train ride from the city center. In GDR times Adlershof was Berlin’s celebrated socialist science mecca. So when Germany’s reunification threatened its further existence, the area embarked on an experiment: the creation of a science park, merging solar technology research with solar industry, in one winning equation. (more…)

Source: DongA.com / Feb. 11, 2008
http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=060000&biid=2008021184168

Marburg in Hessen has become the first city in Germany to require all new buildings to install a solar energy heating system.  House owners in Marburg, with a total population of 78,000, must install a solar energy facility when they build new houses or renovate existing ones. The cost of installation begins at 5,000 euros (6.9 million won) at the minimum and the facility must be replaced once every 10 to 15 years.  Anyone who fails to fulfill the city’s new requirement has to pay a penalty of 15,000 euros (20.9 million won). House builders have the obligation to report their installation to relevant authorities after it is complete. (more…)

Irvine, CA, Jan. 22, 2008
Source: Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies press release/PRNewswire
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/LATU00422012008-1.htm

Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc. today announced that it has completed the acquisition of a 25% equity stake in ASOLA Advanced and Automotive Solar Systems GmbH (“ASOLA”), a leading German solar energy technology company that develops and manufactures high quality and high-efficiency photovoltaic modules for a number of innovative applications, including commercial, residential and automotive. (more…)

by Ashley Seager, The Guardian, February 15 2008
Source: The Guardian UK
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/feb/15/renewableenergy.solarpower

The scale of the renewable energy challenge facing Britain was revealed yesterday by figures showing Britain installed about 270 solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on houses in 2007, compared with 130,000 in Germany. Britain is the worst performer behind Malta and Luxembourg in the EU in its use of renewables and produces only 2% of its energy from them. Last month the EU said Britain must raise that share to 15% by 2020. Malcolm Wicks, the energy minister, acknowledged last week that Britain needs a “revolution” in green technologies and insisted the country was showing “leadership” in the area.

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Chennai, Tamilnadu, India, Jan. 30, 2008
Source: The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200801301653.htm

Officials from the Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency (TEDA) and Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) would visit countries like Japan and Germany to study the low-cost solar energy generation model and replicate the same in the state.  Electricity Minister Arcot N Veeraswamy informed the State Assembly on wednesday that Japan and Germany were successful in generating low-cost solar power, which is at present, a ‘costly affair’ in Tamil Nadu. (more…)

By Gerard Wynn and Eva Kuehnen Reuters,
London, February 12, 2008
Source: International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/11/business/invest12.php

Prospects for the solar power sector are puzzling investors, who on one hand are juggling a possible dot-com-style bust and on the other, fresh support in Europe, home to a third of the world’s market. The solar power industry uses the same silicon raw material as the semiconductor industry and may share a similar boom-bust path, according to some analysts.  The semiconductor industry collapsed in 2000 amid a dot-com bust that pulled demand for electronic chips down. Solar companies saw their share prices skyrocket last year, but many endured a steep fall in January, halving in the case of one market leader, Renewable Energy, of Norway. (more…)

First Solar Inc. and SunPower Corp. Ride High on Solar Energy Innovation
Opinion By Michael S. Malone, Feb. 15, 2008
Source: ABCNews Special
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/GadgetGuide/Story?id=4293368&page=1

Here’s a toast to the superiority of pragmatists over idealists. Of entrepreneurs over bureaucrats. And most of all to those buzz-cut, buttoned-down engineers and scientists of a half-century ago who thought they were just making cheaper transistors – and now may help save the world.  Amidst all of the gloomy – or, at best, hesitant – corporate financial news of the last few weeks, one industry sector literally seems aglow: solar. And therein lies an interesting morality – or more accurately, amorality – tale. (more…)

Source: Power Engineering, 19 February 2008
http://pepei.pennnet.com/display_article/320414/6/ARTCL/Display/none/
1/Algiers-aims-to-export-solar-power-by-2013/

Algeria could start exporting solar power to Germany by 2013 according to Tewfik Hasni, president and general manager of the country’s renewable energy agency, New Energy Algeria, MEED reports.  The agency is lobbying the state for approval for the project, so it can build a 3000 km interconnection with Germany. It is also in talks with German and Italian utilities to secure customers for the power.  The interconnection will initially be able to transport 800-1000 MW of electricity produced in solar hybrid power plants in Algeria. However, this could be scaled up to 6000 MW by 2018.
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