Solar Cells Info

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…)

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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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…)

Aachen/Germany, February 19, 2008
Source: CompoundSemiconductor.net
http://compoundsemiconductor.net/blog/2008/02/first_gaas_mocvd_system_for_so.html

AIXTRON AG today announced an order from the Korea Advanced Nano Fab Center (KANC) for an AIXTRON Planetary Reactor system for solar cells.  The system on order is an AIX 2600G3 in the 12×4-inch configuration with the ‘Integrated Concept’ (IC) design and will be delivered in the first half of 2008. KANC will use the system for the development of III-V solar cells for terrestrial applications, i.e. concentrator cells. It will be installed at KANC’s state of the art 3,500 sq m ‘FAB Building’ facility located in the Gwanggyo Techno Valley near Seoul.
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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…)

New York, Feb. 18,2007
Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report related to the Renewable energies industry is available in its catalogue.

Solar Photovoltaic Market Report 2007
To order this report:
www.reportlinker.com/p076238/2008/02/Solar-Photovoltaic-Market-Report-2007.html

The solar PV market continued to grow in 2007, both in installed capacity and production although it was held back by a worldwide shortage of solar grade silicon. Opinions differ within the industry as to the future duration of this shortage and these are discussed in the report. 2006 and 2007 have been significant, with the entry of an important new player in the global market, China. Chinese solar PV companies have developed very fast and a number have conducted IPOs in China and other countries. A mushrooming production capacity for solar cells and modules has been accompanied by growing production and re-cycling of silicon. Domestic demand in China has not kept pace and it is an export oriented industry to date. Germany, followed by Japan and the USA still remains the global leader, but new countries are entering the market and the industry is spreading beyond its historical areas. These developments have been accompanied by some uncertainty because of a breakdown in the statistical recording system in Germany, the largest market, with half the world’s installed capacity.
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Sufia Tippu, EE Times Europe
Bengaluru, India, Feb 18, 2008
Souce: EETimes Online
http://www.eetimes.com/news/semi/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=206800125

The Indian government has approved an additional five companies to take part in projects in Fab City, a proposed semiconductor manufacturing location near Hyderabad. This would take the total investment in Fab City to $7 billion, Minister of State for Commerce, Jairam Ramesh said here Monday (Feb. 18), speaking at the two-day India Semiconductor Association summit. The focus of the latest investments is on solar energy conversion he said but added that the Indian government has many further projects either with in-principle approval or under considerations which could bring further investments to Fab City. (more…)

Posted by Harry Fuller /Courtesy EER / Feb 16, 2008
Source: ZDNet.com blog
http://blogs.zdnet.com/green/?p=808

A new study of the Concentrated Solar Power industry shows Europe to be far ahead, with major growth in the U.S. a couple years away. Emerging Energy Research found several reasons for the growth on Concenrtated Solar Power…but first a brief explanation. CSP uses reflectors to focus the sun’s energy, like using a hand magnifier to set paper on fire like you did when you were ten years old. Except this concentrated solar heat is focused on enclosed pipes containing oil or water that becomes steam. These superhot fluids are used to then drive turbines that generate electricity. In the CSP system the oil or water is reused. There are no by-products, no CO2. This goes a long way toward meeting Kyoto Protocol targets for co-operating nations in Europe and elsewhere. (more…)

by John G. Edwards, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Feb 17, 2008 /This story first appeared in the Business Press.
Source:  http://www.lvrj.com/business/15713407.html

Gene Cattaneo, a Las Vegas renewable-energy entrepreneur, believed solar power’s day was coming as surely as the sun would rise the next day.  Cattaneo called himself Mr. Solar, but he didn’t see his dream come true. A neighbor shot and killed Cattaneo in 2001 during an argument over the neighbor’s yard sales.  Had Mr. Solar only lived a few more years, he would have seen renewable energy grow from a niche business into an industry of significant economic size, advocates say. The dream of cheap, reliable solar power has yet to become a reality, but some say solar and other renewable energy sources are rapidly emerging as the fuel of the 21st century. (more…)