Solar Cells Info

Performance with Lower-grade and Poor Quality Silicon Wafers Exceed Expectations
Jan 10, 2007
Source: SunTech press release
http://www.suntech-power.com/News/tabid/99/Default.aspx?id=252&Module=653

WUXI, China, Jan. 10 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ — Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP) one of the world’s leading manufacturers of photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules, today announced that the commercial adoption of its latest 18% ”semiconductor finger” conversion efficiency technology is proceeding on schedule starting in the fourth quarter of 2006 and that the performance of this technology with respect to lower-grade and poor quality silicon wafers has exceeded the company’s expectations.
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Special Correspondent The Hindu
Source: The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/2007/01/06/stories/2007010606380500.htm

BANGALORE: In a bid to increase the efficiency of solar energy devices, the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has launched a scheme to provide 100 per cent funding to institutes that are working on the research and development aspects of solar photovoltaic cells. Addressing presspersons here on Friday, New and Renewable Energy Secretary V. Subramanian said the focus was to increase the energy convertibility rate of solar energy devices from the present 13 per cent. “It will be a great achievement even if we can increase the convertibility by 2 per cent,” he said. Efforts are on to increase the convertibility rate to 25 per cent by using different material to manufacture solar photovoltaic cells instead of silicon.

In Karnataka, the Indian Institute of Science was working on increasing the efficiency of photovoltaic cells, he said. Mr. Subramanian announced that the country was set to increase its renewable energy capacity from 9,000 MW to 10,000 MW by the end of March. This had become possible due to the increase in the wind energy generation. As against the target of adding wind energy of 3,075 MW by the end of the 10th five-year plan; the country had added 5,000 MW.

By Christine Buurma  /Jan 9, 2007
Source: Market Watch
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/solars-outlook-shines-hurdles-remain/story.aspx?

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — As utilities embrace renewable energy in an effort to cut pollution and reduce their dependence on fossil fuels, some companies are turning to a source long on the sidelines of the U.S. electricity market: solar power.
Solar power has historically lagged behind other generation sources in price and competitiveness. Only 508,000 megawatt-hours of power were generated by solar facilities in 2006, according to the U.S. Energy Administration, a mere 0.5% of all renewable power produced in the U.S. that year. Industry estimates price solar power at 15 to 25 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is well above the costs of other sources. Power produced by natural gas costs about 6.1 cents/kWh in 2005 on average, while coal-fired generation cost 1.84 cents/kWH and nuclear averaged 1.7 cents/kWh, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute.

Solar industry buzz grew louder in late 2005, however, when solar project developer Stirling Energy Systems Inc. signed agreements to sell the power generated by two large-scale solar projects to two major California utilities, Edison International (EIX) subsidiary Southern California Edison and Sempra Energy (SE) subsidiary San Diego Gas & Electric. Obstacles remain to bringing solar energy costs in line with those of other sources of power generation. A lack of necessary transmission infrastructure and high up-front development costs are significant hurdles to developing solar projects on a large scale. Solar developers hope, however, that technological advances, state incentives and requirements, and growing interest from financial backers will help expand solar energy’s presence in the U.S.
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09 Jan 2007
Source: European Union Research News
http://ec.europa.eu/research/headlines/news/article_07_01_09_en.html

The EU-funded project CrystalClear has greatly improved the processes required for large-scale solar electricity production. CrystalClear has addressed some of the principle factors holding solar research back and has identified promising solutions. The consortium of European companies and research groups has pooled its talents to improve the efficiency of silicon solar cells, demonstrated the sustainability of solar electricity and defined ways to reduce production costs; all integral to meeting EU sustainable energy goals.
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The USB Solar Bikini Look Hot, Charge the iPod, Cool Your Beer
– iDrink, a very innovative project by Andrew Schneider

By: Alex Vochin, Technology Editor
source:
http://news.softpedia.com/news/The-USB-Solar-Bikini-Look-Hot-Charge-the-iPod-Cool-Your-Beer-42676.shtml

Wouldn’t you love to have a bikini swimsuit cool enough to make people turn their heads, and that will also be capable of charging your beloved iPod (this is for the ladies)? Wouldn’t you love to go to the beach with your hot, sexy girlfriend and make her wear a bikini that will make her look even hotter while cooling down your can of beer (this is for us guys)?

Well, it seems that now the aforementioned possibilities might become true quite soon, due to a guy called Andrew Schneider who has developed, as a project for the ITP Winter Show in New York, what he calls the iDrink swimware line of solar bikinis.
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Petoskey Grad key part of Solar Car Team Challenge

By Ryan Bentley News-Review Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 2, 2007 1:17 PM EST
source:
http://www.petoskeynews.com/articles/2007/01/02/news/local_regional/news1.txt

Momentum, a project of the University of Michigan Solar Car Team, is shown during the 2005 World Solar Challenge race in Australia. The team will enter a new solar car, Continuum, in the 2007 WSC race. (Courtesy Photo/David Hancock). In preparing for a car race across Australia this fall, Petoskey resident Garrick Williams and his teammates will try hard to make the sun shine on their entry. Given their vehicle’s power source, the U-M Solar Car Team’s need for sunshine is quite literal.
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Trial confirms feasibility of powering GSM Base Stations using ‘green’ power
Monday December 4, 2006
source: yahoo business news
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061204/cgm062.html?.v=51

HONG KONG, Dec. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT – News) today announced that it has successfully completed a trial to demonstrate the feasibility of alternative power systems that can support remote GSM Base Stations (BTS). The trial concluded that a combination of solar cells and wind turbines can generate 1,200 watts in a continual cycle; enough to drive a mid-sized BTS and support a microwave backhaul installation.

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Hydrogen Solar Ltd Awarded SEEDA Grant for Research on photoactive Iron Oxide materials for Hydrogen Production in Tandem Cells™

source: Press Release December 18, 2006
http://www.hydrogensolar.com/news.seeda.html

Hydrogen Solar Ltd has been awarded a £70,000 research grant from the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) for work on photoactive thin film Iron Oxide nano particles to be used in the company’s solar technology. The award will build upon recent work by Hydrogen Solar on photoactive iron oxides showing a sunlight-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 2.1%.and a theoretical maximum of 20%. The 18 month programme aims to significantly raise this efficiency at both test sample level and within scaled units.
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The Space agency awards a two-year grant to use nanotechnology to improve the efficiency and radiation-resistance of solar cells for spacecraft.
(December 22, 2006)

source: Univ of California, Riverside Press release
http://www.newsroom.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/display.cgi?id=1482

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – www.ucr.edu – Just as mileage limits how far your car can go, the limitations of today’s solar panels restrict how far deep-space exploration craft can go before they run out of power. Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, however, are part of a team to improve our interstellar mileage.  Electrical Engineering Professor Alexander Balandin of the Bourns College of Engineering is co-leading a university-industry team, which received NASA funding to develop solar cells for space that use nanostructures to both increase efficiency and improve resistance to radiation damage.
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NEC Display Solutions Introduces Solar-Powered Battery Package for Renewable-Power Capability Monitors – New, Long-Lasting Solar-Powered System Reduces Harmful Pollutants, Use of Non-Renewable Energy; NEC First Display Company to Offer Such System For All Its Monitors

Source: NEC Display solutions press release
http://www.necdisplay.com/press/PressDetail.cfm?document_id=2333

CHICAGO –January 4, 2007 – Continuing its recognized environmental leadership in the electronics industry, NEC Display Solutions of America, the leading stand-alone provider of flat panel desktop displays, today announced a solar-powered system for use with all its monitors. In conjunction with Carmanah® Technologies Corporation, one of the fastest growing renewable and energy-efficient technology manufacturers in the world, NEC is the first display company to offer a solar-powered system for all of its monitors.

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