Solar Cells Info

Alloy Solar Panels: a revolutionary new, highly efficient solar power technology

source:
http://newportpartnersllc.com/technologies/solarpanels.html

In a scientific breakthrough that has stunned the world, a team of South African scientists has developed a revolutionary new, highly efficient solar power technology that will enable homes to obtain all their electricity from the sun. This means high electricity bills and frequent power failures could soon be a thing of the past. The unique South African-developed solar panels will make it possible for houses to become completely self-sufficient for energy supplies.

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Fact Sheet
US Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs
Washington, DC /October 31, 2006
http://www.state.gov/g/oes/rls/fs/2006/75369.htm

Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate:
Renewable Energy and Distributed Generation Task Force

The Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate is a unique public-private initiative among government and private sector partners from Australia, China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United States. In remarks delivered to experts representing all Partner nations gathered at the American Electric Power facility in Columbus, Ohio, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky today announced that the Partnership has begun a new implementation phase with the start of a series of multifaceted programs designed to promote cleaner, cost-effective energy technologies and practices among the Partner nations. The Partnership is identifying policies and deploying technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote healthier air quality, advance sustained economic growth, and reduce poverty. It is now embarking on implementing voluntary practical measures to create new investment opportunities, build local capacity, and improve economic and energy security. The Partnership involves countries that account for about half of the world’s population and more than half of the world’s economy and energy use.

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Instant insight: Nanohighway to solar cells

19 December 2006
Source: Chemical Technology of Royal Society of Chemistry, UK http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/ChemTech/Volume/2007/01/hiroshi_imahori.asp

Hiroshi Imahori of Kyoto University, Japan, discusses electrophoresis as a means to make molecular highways for organic solar cells.

The shortage of fossil fuels and the degradation of the global environment has focused research attention on solar cells, which can convert sustainable solar energy into electricity. However, the cost of electricity from inorganic solar cells (silicon-based photovoltaics) is presently much higher than that generated by hydroelectric power and nuclear or fossil fuels. Therefore, it is necessary to develop low-cost solar cells with high power conversion efficiencies Eta). Organic solar cells would be promising candidates if they fulfil their potential, especially as they bear unique advantages over inorganic solar cells as they are flexible, lightweight and colorful.

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New compact concentrating solar panels “Heliotubes” are cheaper than conventional solar panels
Source:  New Scientist, 9/12/2006, issue 2581 p.32
Duncan Graham-Rowe

A solar panel designed to cut the cost of harnessing the sun’s energy will go on the market next year. Its trick is to focus sunlight that strikes the entire panel onto far smaller slabs of the pricey material that turns light into electrical energy.

Called Heliotubes, the panels are designed to improve on today’s solar concentrators, which use sun-tracking dishes to collect sunlight. These dishes need space in which to move, so they occupy twice the area of flat panels that gather the same amount of light. This rules them out for sites like rooftops where space is limited. They also need an external power source to keep them pointed at the sun.
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GLEN ALLEN, Va., Dec. 18 /PRNewswire/
Source: http://www.nanomarkets.net/

Organic electronics is rapidly making its way out of the lab and into real world applications, according to NanoMarkets, LC, a leading industry analyst firm based here. The firm is set to release a new report that finds the market for products such as OLEDs, organic thin-film transistors and other electronic products made from organic materials will grow from $1.4 billion in 2007 to $19.7 billion by 2012 and then go on to reach $34.4 billion in revenues by 2014. Additional information about the report, “Organic Electronics: A Market & Technology Assessment” including the first chapter can be found on the firm’s website at http://www.nanomarkets.net/.

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Ohio State gives $18.6M to power Univ Toledo research Program to develop solar energy cells

By JOSHUA BOAK
Toledo BLADE STAFF WRITER
Source: Toledoblade.com
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061216/NEWS21/612160431

A University of Toledo-led team received an $18.6 million state grant to create facilities to develop and test solar power cells, the governor’s office announced yesterday. “It would be nice to say this was a wonderful Christmas gift,” UT President Dr. Lloyd Jacobs said. “But this was not a gift. This was an earned recognition of some people’s very hard work.”

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Here comes the sun
Ashley Seager
Guardian Weekly /Guardian Unlimited, Friday December 1 2006
Source:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianweekly/story/0,,1959898,00.html

In the Sahara desert is a vast source of energy that can promise a carbon-free, nuclear-free electrical future for all Europe, if not the world. We are not talking about the vast oil and gas deposits beneath Algeria and Libya, or uranium for nuclear plants, but something far simpler – the sun. Every year it pours down the equivalent of 1.5m barrels of oil of energy for every square kilometre.

Most people think of solar power as a few panels on the roof of a house producing hot water or a bit of electricity. But according to two reports prepared for the German government, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa should be building vast solar farms in North Africa’s deserts using a simple technology that more resembles using a magnifying glass to burn a hole in a piece of paper than any space age technology.

Two German scientists, Dr Gerhard Knies and Dr Franz Trieb, calculate that covering just 0.5% of the world’s hot deserts with a technology called concentrated solar power (CSP) would provide the world’s entire electricity needs, with desalinated water for desert regions as a valuable byproduct, as well as air-conditioning for nearby cities.
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Published: 14:35, December 11, 2006
Source: PhysOrg.com
http://www.physorg.com/news85070121.html

A new analytical technique that uses infrared spectroscopy to study light-sensitive organic materials could lead to the development of cheaper, more efficient solar cells. Using infrared (IR) spectroscopy to study the vibrations of atoms within the material, the technique provides information about the movement of electrons within a film of carbon-based materials. Obtaining this information is a critical step in the development of a new class of solar cells, which promise significant savings in production costs compared to conventional silicon-based cells. The new analytical technique, published as the cover story in this week’s issue of the Journal of Physical Chemistry B, was developed by a team led by Penn State University researcher John B. Asbury, assistant professor of chemistry.

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By Kevin Bullis  / Dec 12, 2006
source: MIT Technology Review
http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/17887/

Researchers in Switzerland have demonstrated more-efficient water-splitting solar cells based on a cheap, abundant, and long-lasting material: rust. The advance could lead to a cheap and energy-efficient way to generate hydrogen for fuel-cell vehicles using solar energy. Water-splitting solar panels would have important advantages over existing technologies in terms of hydrogen production. Right now, the primary way to make hydrogen is to separate it from natural gas, a process that generates carbon dioxide and undercuts the main motivation for moving to hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles: ending dependence on fossil fuels. The current alternative is electrolysis, which uses electricity to break water into hydrogen and oxygen, with the two gases forming at opposite electrodes. Although electrolysis is costly, it can be cleaner if the source of the electricity is wind, sun, or some other carbon-free source.

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Several Solar Energy related companies have been identified as 2007 Tech Pioneers in Energy by World Economic Forum

source: World Economic Forum
http://www.weforum.org/en/about/Technology%20Pioneers/SelectedTechPioneers/2007TechPioneers/Energy/index.htm

Following is list of Solar Energy-related companies who have been selected as 2007 Tech Pioneers by World Economic Forum panel of specialists:

Advent Solar, Inc / http://www.adventsolar.com
Advent Solar, Inc. is a developer of advanced technology solar cells and modules. The company is bringing to the market low-cost solar photovoltaic products based on its proprietary emitter wrap-through back-contact cell technology.

ClimateWell AB / http://www.climatewell.com
ClimateWell AB is a supplier of highly efficient solar air conditioner equipment with the unique ability to store energy and convert hot water to cooling and heating. ClimateWell’s technology makes it possible to use solar energy for delivering cooling not only when the sun shines but around the clock.

Flisom AG  / http://www.flisom.ch
Flisom, a Swiss Federal Institute of Technology spin-off, has a high-efficiency copper-indium-gallium-selenide solar cell technology that it plans to put on plastic foil—not glass—potentially opening up new applications like solar for cell phones.

NanoSolar   /http://www.nanosolar.com
NanoSolar, Inc. manufactures solar panels using high-throughput thin-film process technology. The company’s solar cells can be as efficient and last as long as conventional silicon solar cells. The key part of the company’s technology is that it can “print” (solution-coat) the most expensive layers of a solar cell.

Seahorse Power Company  /http://www.seahorsepower.com
Seahorse Power Company develops, manufactures, and sells energy-efficient products. It offers BigBelly, an automatic and compacting trash bin powered by solar energy, which reduces litter, cuts emptying frequency, and waste handling costs. The company primarily serves municipalities and outdoor entertainment venues.