Solar Cells Info

Robert Jaques, vnunet.com , 03 May 2007
soruce: http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2189078/boffins-join-quantum-dots

Scientists have published details of a “breakthrough” method for producing quantum dots – molecular specks of semiconductors – which they believe could pave the way for better and cheaper solar panels. The research at Rice University’s Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN) appears this week in the journal Small. The scientists describe a new chemical method for making four-legged cadmium selenide quantum dots, which previous research has shown to be particularly effective at converting sunlight into electrical energy. Quantum dots are “mega-molecules” of semiconducting materials that are smaller than living cells. They interact with light in unique ways to give off different-coloured light or to create electrons and holes, due partly to their tiny size, partly to their shape and partly to the material from which they are made.
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By: University of New South Wales, May 3, 2007
source:
http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_56150.shtml

Solar energy could become more affordable following a breakthrough by UNSW scientists, who have boosted the efficiency of solar cell technology.  The advance could see the price of an installed solar system for an average house fall from around $20,000 to $15,000. Up to 45 percent of the cost of solar cell technology is due to the high cost of the silicon used to convert sunlight to electricity.
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26 April 2007
source: Compoundsemiconductor.net
http://compoundsemiconductor.net/articles/news/11/4/24/1

University researchers in San Diego demonstrate an environmentalist’s dream – a solar-powered device that could turn carbon dioxide into fuel.  A research group at the University of California, San Diego, has shown how compound semiconductor solar cells can convert atmospheric carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide – a useful gas for industrial chemists and, potentially, a fuel.  Cliff Kubiak and graduate student Aaron Sathrum used p-type GaP and GaAsP to harness enough energy from sunlight to split carbon dioxide molecules via an electrochemical reaction.
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Wedding Thin Film Technology to Bio-Based Substrate

By: Marketwire / Apr. 10, 2007
SANTA CLARITA, CA
Source: BioSolar press release via Marketwire
http://www.sys-con.com/read/359598.htm

BioSolar(TM), Inc. (OTCBB: BSRC), developer of a breakthrough technology to produce thin film, flexible solar cells on bio-based plastic substrates, today announces that the company is launching its development program to produce a proprietary bio-based resin uniquely suited to the rigors required for solar cell production. The methodology the company is developing to create low-cost thin film solar cells is a multi-faceted endeavor, with this newly launched bio-based specialty resin project signaling commencement of the first phase of the development.

Explaining some of the intricacies of the process, Dr. David Lee, BioSolar’s CEO, said, “Our thin film solar cell development is unique because it involves the deposition of thin layers of amorphous silicon directly onto bio-based substrates utilizing a process known as chemical vapor deposition, or CVD. One of the challenges faced by BioSolar is that the current generation of bio-based resins has much lower melting and degassing temperature points than those of conventional petroleum-based plastic substrates. Currently available plastics made from bio-based resins begin to exhibit signs of degradation at processing temperatures used by existing CVD chambers. Therefore, we believe that existing bio-based plastics are not suitable for the manufacture of thin film solar cells, and we have launched our development program to blend the appropriate resins.”

The company’s primary bio-based substrate development effort is to overcome the processing temperature challenge of degassing and deformation of the bio-based substrate material during the thin film deposition process. Lowering the processing temperature will not result in solar cells with desirable characteristics. Therefore, we are developing various ways to correct or overcome these undesirable material properties at the processing temperatures currently used by existing CVD chambers.

The secondary objective of the bio-based substrate development effort is to satisfy the durability and environmental requirements established by conventional petroleum-based plastic substrates. These include electromagnetic properties, mechanical strength, dimensional stability, opacity, reflectivity, hydroscopic properties, weatherability, adhesion, flame resistance, and other traits identified by BioSolar’s engineering and development group.

The Pennsylvania NanoMaterials Commercialization Center Funds Plextronics
PITTSBURGH, PA – April 10, 2007
Source: Plextronics /press release
http://www.plextronics.com/press.aspx?view=96

Plextronics, a world leader in developing and delivering active layer technology for electronic devices, announced it has been awarded a $340,500 grant from the Pennsylvania NanoMaterials Commercialization Center(the Center). This initiative will focus on the continued development of Plexcore PV active layer technology for organic solar cells. Plexcore PV is a new generation of polymer-based semi-conductive inks that increase solar conversion efficiency, while extending the lifetime of the device.
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by Phil Schewe and Ben Stein, April 11, 2007
Source: American Inst. of Physics – Physics News update
http://www.aip.org/pnu/2007/split/819-2.html

Because of its ubiquity in electronics, silicon is the favorite semiconductor used in solar photovoltaic cells. Still, one would like to reduce the amount of Si needed for large-area devices. Furthermore, silicon is a poor light emitter and absorber, and therefore solar cell efficiencies have generally been poor.  The efficiency of thin-film Si cells is even poorer than for wafer-thick Si cells. How to make the cells cheap (using thin films) but also nicely absorptive is an important goal. Scientists at the University of New South Wales in Australia have now enhanced the absorption of sunlight using surface plasmons.
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Independent Organizations Validate SunPower’s Technology Leadership
SAN JOSE, Calif., April 18, 2007
Source: SunPower Corp. press release
http://investors.sunpowercorp.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=238439

SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq: SPWR), a Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of high-efficiency, commercially available solar cells, panels and systems, announced today that Sandia National Laboratories measured SunPower’s SPR-315 solar panel at the highest recorded conversion efficiency ever tested by Sandia for a commercially available, mass produced solar panel. This announcement follows recent renewable energy industry accolades from PHOTON Magazine and Energy Focus Ltd., (ENF) in the first quarter of 2007, underscoring SunPower’s position as the global leader in solar electric technology efficiency, performance and satisfaction.
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by David Kay, Cosmos Online, 18 April 2007
source: CosmosOnline
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1224

The expense of photovoltaic cells has prevented their widespread use, but a raft of new technologies is pushing their prices down. One of them is solar slivers.  The usual weather conditions in Scotland – cold, overcast and damp – are hardly inspiring for scientists trying to figure out how to cheaply capture energy from the sun.

But in May 2000, physicist Andrew Blakers and electrical engineer Klaus Weber from the Australian National University in Canberra traveled to Glasgow for a professional conference. To their surprise, in two weeks they experienced rain just once; the long, sixteen-hour days were bright and sunny. Perhaps that helps to explain what happened there.
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On the surface of a new photovoltaic prototype, microscopic nanotube towers perform best when they catch light on their sides.

By David Talbot, April 17, 2007
Source: MIT Technology Review
http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/18539/

Solar cells generally crank out the most power at noon, when the sun is at its highest point and can strike the cell at a 90-degree angle. Before and after noon, efficiencies drop off. But researchers Georgia Tech Research Institute have come up with a prototype that does the opposite. Their solar cell, whose surface consists of hundreds of thousands of 100-micrometer-high towers, catches light at many angles and actually works best in the morning and afternoon.
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by John Toon, Atlanta, Georgia, 17 April 2007
Source: RenewableEnergyAccess.com

Unique three-dimensional (3D) solar cells that capture nearly all of the light that strikes them could boost the efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) systems while reducing their size, weight and mechanical complexity.  “The efficiency of our cells increases as the sunlight goes away from perpendicular, so we may not need mechanical arrays to rotate our cells.” — Jud Ready, Georgia Tech Research Institute, a senior research engineer in the Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory
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