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IMEC and Plextronics collaborate on high-efficiency reproducible organic solar cel...
"(Nanowerk News) IMEC, Europe’s leading independent nanoelectronics research institute and Plextronics, Inc., an international technology company specializing in printed solar, lighting and other organic electronics, signed an agreement to collaborate on state-of-the-art materials and inks for organic solar cells.
With this collaboration, IMEC aims to develop a reproducible process for high-efficiency organic solar cells using Plextronics’ Plexcore® branded materials and inks, which have demonstrated world-record efficiencies as high as 5.9%, according to recent testing at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado.
IMEC aims to develop organic multi-junction solar cells with efficiency of 10% by 2012. The company’s focus is also on up-scaling of the process to achieve a large-area industrial manufacturing technology with an average efficiency of 7% (+/- 0.5%) and solar cell lifetime of 5 years.
To realize these goals, high-quality, highly reproducible commercial materials are essential. In the first phase, IMEC will investigate Plexcore® OS, which is a regioregular poly-3-hexylthiophene (P3HT) polymer with a high absorption coefficient close to the maximum photon flux in the solar spectrum and high mobility. Plexcore® OS materials will be processed using spin coating and validated on film morphology, carrier mobility and reproducibility. Solar cells will be processed on different substrates using spin-coated films of the material.
Future research will include evaluation of other Plexcore® materials and inks, using deposition techniques such as screen and inkjet printing and spray coating on large-area substrates..." "(Nanowerk News) IMEC, Europe’s leading independent nanoelectronics research institute and Plextronics, Inc., an international te... more -
NanoGram Enlists OTB to Build Californian Solar Pilot Plant
"(Nanowerk News) Nanostart Holding NanoGram Corporation today announced that it has selected OTB as one of its contributing partners in building out the company's solar pilot plant currently under construction in Milpitas, CA.
NanoGram will use the facility to scale-up their award-winning SilFoil(TM) technology for solar modules that will deliver the product performance and reliability of wafer-based crystalline silicon modules at prices competitive with thin film modules. Comprised of a set of proprietary processes, the SilFoil technology has as one of its cornerstones NanoGram's laser reactive deposition LRD(TM) process. The US Department of Energy recently recognized NanoGram's photovoltaic approach with an Energy Innovator Award.
OTB has a proven track record for helping Fortune 100 companies build lines in the solar, electronics and industrial arenas by providing production equipment and technologies that enable manufacturers to expand their businesses while realizing efficiencies and cost reductions. The announcement of this partnership is the culmination of months of collaboration to design and specify key portions of the NanoGram facility.
'By partnering with OTB we are integrating the expertise and proprietary technology of two companies working to speed the time-to-market of NanoGram's SilFoil technology,' said Dr Kieran Drain, president and CEO of NanoGram Corporation. 'OTB is helping us to deliver affordable, highly efficient, and reliable photovoltaic modules to the renewable energy market.'... "(Nanowerk News) Nanostart Holding NanoGram Corporation today announced that it has selected OTB as one of its contributing partn... more -
Hybrid Air Breeze Tower
"The Hybrid Air Breeze Tower would contain translucent photovoltaic windows so the amount of energy usage would be minimal. The building could also have mixed residential and commercial usage capabilities.
Crowing the top of the Hybrid Air Breeze tower, a giant sized LED billboard much like the one in Times Square, which could contain the sponsorship of companies and individuals who helped fund and make the building a reality. Just think, with a little imagination, one of these massive high rise buildings in every polluted city could genesis a whole new era in how we perceive and breathe air.
Simple, elegant, and eco friendly, who else thinks that this is a great idea?" "The Hybrid Air Breeze Tower would contain translucent photovoltaic windows so the amount of energy usage would be minimal. The b... more -
California Utility Mainstreams Solar Photovoltaic Power
SAN FRANCISCO, California, August 15, 2008 (ENS) - Pacific Gas and Electric Company has entered into two utility-scale solar power contracts for a total of 800 megawatts of energy to be generated in California, the utility announced Thursday. The power purchase pacts bring solar photovoltaic cells out of the rooftop realm and into the mainstream.
Both huge projects will be located in San Luis Obispo County's California Valley, although they are not adjacent to each other. When complete, they are expected to hold the record for the world's largest set of grid-connected solar photovoltaic installations.
Once the solar farms are up and running, they will deliver enough energy to power 239,000 homes a year, nearly 12 times as much electricity as the largest such plant operating today.
Generating 250 megawatts of power, SunPower's California Valley Solar Ranch is the smaller of the two. It is expected to begin power delivery in 2010 and be fully operational in 2012, using high-efficiency crystalline photovoltaic panels that generate up to 50 percent more power than conventional crystalline cells.
The larger of the two projects at 550 megawatts, OptiSolar's Topaz Solar Farm will use its own proprietary thin-film solar cells manufactured in Hayward and Sacramento... SAN FRANCISCO, California, August 15, 2008 (ENS) - Pacific Gas and Electric Company has entered into two utility-scale solar power con... more -
13 Startups Working on Solar-Concentrating PV
Over a dozen startups are working on ways to use mirrors and lenses to concentrate sunlight hundreds of times onto tiny, highly efficient solar cells.
We’re all familiar with standard photovoltaic solar panels, and many of us are starting to become acquainted with solar thermal tech that uses the sun’s heat to generate power, but there’s also a third option. Called concentrating photovoltaic technology (CPV) the systems are meant to cut back on one of the most expensive parts of traditional PV: the silicon-based solar panel. Over a dozen startups are working on ways to use mirrors and lenses to concentrate sunlight hundreds of times onto tiny, highly effici... more -
NY Times blows the solar PV story
It would seem like an easy story for the paper of discord record:
In recent months, chains including Wal-Mart Stores, Kohl’s, Safeway and Whole Foods Market have installed solar panels on roofs of their stores to generate electricity on a large scale….
In the coming months, 85 Kohl’s stores will get solar panels; 43 already have them. “We want to keep pushing as many as we possibly can,” said Ken Bonning, executive vice president for logistics at Kohl’s.
Macy’s, which has solar panels atop 18 stores, plans to install them on another 40 by the end of this year. Safeway is aiming to put panels atop 23 stores….
Wal-Mart [is considering a] program that would put panels and other renewable technologies at hundreds of stores.
All that is left for the Sunday NYT story, “Giant Retailers Look to Sun for Energy Savings,” is to explain why these bottom-line savvy companies are making such large bets on rooftop solar photovoltaics (PV), even though the power is widely thought to be expensive.
This should be incredibly easy — assuming this reporter or her editor even bothers to read their own paper. After all, just a few months ago a different NYT reporter explained it all in a story titled, “Pay for the Power, Not the Panels“:
The new financial techniques allow the solar companies to separate the capital expense of the systems they sell and the tax benefits that accrue to the buyer from the final costs of the electricity produced. In doing so, the solar companies have made it possible for more corporations and even some homeowners to kill two birds with one stone: doing good for the environment while cutting the cost of the power they consume.
[Small note to NYT: In an environmental story, maybe use a different metaphor than bird-killing.]
That’s right. Corporations are actually cutting their electricity costs by installing solar panels. But you would never know that from Sunday’s story. In fact, you’d think these companies were throwing away their money:
Booming demand in recent years has driven up the price of solar panels, and analysts say it costs far more to generate electricity from solar energy than from coal.
Coal generation costs about 6 cents for a kilowatt hour, which is enough electricity to run a hair dryer for an hour. Natural gas generation costs about 9 cents a kilowatt hour, said Reese Tisdale, a senior analyst with the consulting firm Emerging Energy Research. In comparison, “best case” for power from solar panels is about 25 to 30 cents a kilowatt hour, he said.
But retailers believe that they can achieve economies of scale. With coal and electricity prices rising, they are also betting that solar power will become more competitive, especially if new policies addressing global warming limit the emissions from coal plants.
No, no, no, and no! Un-friggin’-believable.... It would seem like an easy story for the paper of discord record: ... more -
Zero energy media wall // it's Italian the project for the biggest LED screen
Close to the site of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing there's the biggest LED screen in the world.
A great piece of architecture that don't forget the environment.
Its photovoltaic system allows that to be self-powered during the night.
The project was proudly designed by the Italian Architecture Studio
Simone Giostra & Partners http://www.sgp-architects.com/
which created the media content as well Close to the site of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing there's the biggest LED screen in the world. ... more -
Thin film solar cell production breakthrough
Advancing a viable market for photovoltaic solar energy involves a balancing act between creating efficient solar cells and at the same time reducing the cost of the manufacturing process. Solar efficiency has been demonstrated to levels as high as 22% (a record set by SANYO last year), and although HelioVolt Corporation's latest announcements concern technology that is only delivering 12.2% conversion, the company has made great strides on the other side of the equation. Its proprietary FASST reactive transfer printing process has produced solar cells in a record setting six minutes, according to HelioVolt that's 10 to 100 times faster than current production of thin-film photovoltaics and could lead to manufacturing costs of less than $1 per watt. Advancing a viable market for photovoltaic solar energy involves a balancing act between creating efficient solar cells and at the sam... more
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Green Living in Pasadena
This family has dedicated themselves to living life close to the earth, even though they live in urban California. See how they do it. This family has dedicated themselves to living life close to the earth, even though they live in urban California. See how they do it... more
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Cohousing community shines with solar
Originating in Denmark, cohousing is a concept whereby residents actively participate in operation of their own neighborhoods and are committed to living as a community. In Colorado, one such neighborhood is installing solar systems into homes and a shop, supplying half of the community's electrical needs and reducing their carbon footprint.
Nyland neighborhood will install 23 solar system units in the community by the end of 2007 thanks to a collaboration between Sharp and Namaste Solar Electric. This initiative will meet more than 50% of the electrical needs of the planned cohousing neighborhood. The systems to be installed are Sharps OnEnergy solar electric systems that blend into existing building designs and use a simplified mounting system to make installation faster, easier and more cost-effective.
The OnEnergy system includes Sharp's PV solar technology and is available in made-to-order kits customized to specific system needs. The racking system is compatible with most roofing materials, on both peaked and hipped roofs, for retrofit or new construction. The OnEnergy system is designed to avoid cutting, drilling and horizontal rails whilst allowing vertical bolts, minimal tool changes, one flow up the roof and an ultra-low profile.
Nyland is a cohousing community of 42 private homes located in a rural setting six miles outside of Boulder, Colorado, with an expansive view of the Rocky Mountains. There are approximately 135 resident members with varied backgrounds, careers, ages and views that share meals, meetings, workshops and miscellaneous events at the common house - a centerpiece of the neighborhood. The Nyland communitys commitment to solar demonstrates true environmental stewardship that can be emulated by communities across the country," said Ron Kenedi, vice president of Sharp Solar Energy Solutions Group. Originating in Denmark, cohousing is a concept whereby residents actively participate in operation of their own neighborhoods and are ... more
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