Solar Cells Info

source: Scientific American /April 22, 2007
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa002&articleID=1496CAD6-E7F2-99DF-34B95C45D49BA57C

Solar cells made from cheap, plastic polymer barely capture the energy in sunlight. Photons reflect off the plastic and it is too thin to absorb much, giving the polymers color. “The very fact that it has color is telling you this thing is not working as well as it should,” says David Carroll, a physicist at Wake Forest University. But plastic solar cells also offer flexibility, light weight and, theoretically, low cost, and could be incorporated into a range of products. “You can’t think of doing anything cheaper than making Saran Wrap and that’s basically what these are,” says Lawrence Kazmerski, director of the Department of Energy’s National Center for Photovoltaics in Colorado.
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By Greg Bluestein, 11 April 2007
source: International Business Times
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20070411/techbit-better-solar-panel.htm

Sunlight has never really caught fire as a power source, mostly because generating electricity with solar cells is more expensive and less efficient than some conventional sources.   But a new solar panel unveiled this month by the Georgia Tech Research Institute hopes to brighten the future of the energy source.  The difference is in the design. Traditional solar panels are often flat and bulky. The new design features an array of nano-towers – like microscopic blades of grass – that add surface area and trap more sunlight. (more…)

source: Photonics.com
http://www.photonics.com/content/news/2007/March/8/86858.aspx

GOLDEN, Colo., March 8, 2007 — Two scientists at the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) who pioneered the multijunction solar cell have been named Dan David Prize laureates for 2007. Jerry Olson and Sarah Kurtz received their award and two-thirds of the $1 million prize in a ceremony today in Paris.   Olson and Kurtz share the Dan David Prize, endowed by the Dan David Foundation and located at Tel Aviv University in Israel, with NASA climate scientist James Hansen. Olson and Kurtz were selected for their “exceptional and profound contributions to the field of photovoltaic energy,” the prize committee said. Solar cells based on the scientists’ work “have the potential to alleviate the world’s impending energy crisis,” according to the committee.
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By Kevin Bullis /March 21, 2007
source: MIT Technology Review
http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/18415/page1/

Much more efficient solar cells may soon be possible as a result of technology that more efficiently captures and uses light. StarSolar, a startup based in Cambridge, MA, aims to capture and use photons that ordinarily pass through solar cells without generating electricity. The company, which is licensing technology developed at MIT, claims that its designs could make it possible to cut the cost of solar cells in half while maintaining high efficiency. This would make solar power about as cheap as electricity from the electric grid.

The effort uses a type of material called a photonic crystal that makes it possible to “do things with light that have never been done before,” says John Joannopoulos, a professor of physics at MIT who heads the lab where the new designs for solar applications were developed. Photonic crystals, which can be engineered to reflect and diffract all the photons in specific wavelengths of light, have long been attractive for optical communications, in which the materials can be used to direct and sort light-borne data. Now new manufacturing processes could make the photonic crystals practical for much-larger-scale applications such as photovoltaics.
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March 14, 2007
Source: Budapest Sun
http://www.budapestsun.com/cikk.php?id=25972

Hungarian solar panel manufacturer HelioGrid Magyarország Napelemgyártó Kft announced on Friday (Mar 9) that it is to build a Ft16.5bn ($87.3m) factory in Rétság (55km north of Budapest, in Nógrád county), wire services MTI and Interfax reported. The company said the thin-film solar module plant is necessary to meet increasing demand for the product in the region. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2008, creating 810 jobs.

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Rodney Tanaka Staff Writer /March 16, 2007
Source: Whittier Daily News
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/business/ci_5420801

PASADENA – A local company’s solar power efforts received a $4 million energy boost. Pasadena-based Soliant Energy, formerly Practical Instruments, received $4 million in funding for its Heliotube technology from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar America Initiative. The initiative has $168 million in funding for 13 projects, pending congressional approval.  Heliotube provides solar concentrator technology in the same flat panel form traditionally used by solar installers.

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By Tim O’Connor Senior Writer    / 6 March 2007
source: Purdue Univ Exponent
http://www.purdueexponent.org/index.php?module=article&story_id=4690

Countless hours of work, $200,000 and a multidisciplinary team will soon produce better ways to harness the power of the sun.  The Purdue Solar Racing team is working on a brand new car in preparation for the 2008 North American Solar Challenge, a cross-country race.  The car will cost about $200,000, twice as much as the 2005 model it’s replacing. Despite the budget increase, Purdue’s car will still have trouble competing with rivals like Michigan and Stanford that can afford more efficient and more expensive solar cells.
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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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Source: judythpiazza at gmail.com
U.S. Renewable & Alternative Energy News
http://newsblaze.com/story/20070220004920tsop.nb/newsblaze/TOPSTORY/Top-Stories.html

With the global-warming documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” hot at the box office and a recent report by the U.N. laying the blame for climate change and rising sea levels at humanity’s feet, renewable energy sources are getting a fresh look. In particular, the spotlight is falling on solar power, which is expected to gain ground in Europe thanks in large measure to government support.

Generally seen pitched atop roofs, solar panels will soon be catching rays in myriad other ways: replacing windows and providing extra power to cars and vending machines, to name a few.  “We believe the solar power market has the potential for long-term growth . . . mainly led by strong demand in the European Union,” said Takashi Tomita, general manager at Sharp Corp.’s solar group.
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A to Z com, February 28th, 2007
Source:
http://www.azom.com/details.asp?newsID=7874

Chemists, physicists, materials scientists and electrical engineers in Manchester and London are embarking on a £1.5m project to develop new and potentially cheaper ways of generating solar power.  The three and a half year project, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), will investigate a number of new and novel solar cell designs, in an attempt to produce a more efficient system for generating green energy.
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