Stick-on Solar Panels

A construction company has developed solar panels that use peel-and-stick technology to attach to roofs.

Lumeta’s Power-Ply 380 is a solar panel sticker! The product’s adhesive back allows it to be installed about twice as fast as conventional rack-mounted solar panels.

Coming from Lumeta, a subsidiary of DRI, a $90 million a year construction company headquartered in Irvine, the product is another sign that  energy generation is being incorporated into conventional building practices.

“Solar needs to become part of the building envelop and this is a step towards that,” said Stephen Torres, COO of Lumeta. “The whole idea was to create a new product that integrates better with the roof system.”

To read more visit http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/05/roofing-company.html

Sky’s the limit for Solar Power

Global production of solar photovoltaic (PV) cells increased 51 percent in 2007, to 3,733 megawatts, according to the latest Vital Signs Update from the Worldwatch Institute, produced in collaboration with the Prometheus Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

More than 2,935 megawatts (MW) of solar modules were installed in 2007, according to early estimates, bringing cumulative global installations of PVs since 1996 to more than 9,740 MW-enough to meet the annual electricity demand of more than 3 million homes in Europe.

“Thanks to strong, smart policies in countries like Germany and Spain, the PV industry is making great strides in efficiency and cost, bringing solar power closer to price parity with fossil fuels,” says Janet Sawin, Worldwatch Senior Researcher and author of the update.

Over the past year, Europe-led by Germany-surpassed Japan to lead the world in solar cell manufacturing, producing an estimated 1,063 MW in 2007. Thanks to government policies that guarantee high payments for solar power fed into the electric grid, Germany remains the world leader in solar PV installations, accounting for almost half the world total in 2007. About 40,000 people are now employed in the PV industry in Germany……

To read more…. http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5738

 

 

 

On-site renewables can deliver zero carbon homes

 

Green architect criticises the UK Green Buildings Council for questioning whether microgeneration is viable on all new homes

The UK Green Buildings Council statement that on-site renewables cannot deliver the government definition of zero carbon on up to 80% of new homes needs questioning carefully.

 

read more at: http://www.building.co.uk/sustain_story.asp?storycode=3113586&origin=bldgsustainnewsletter

China is No. 3 in global PV output

 

China is displaying surprising progress in renewables, more than many outsiders might expect.

For example: China trails only Germany and Japan in solar photovoltaic cell output. Another: Unlike the US, China wisely halted the approval of new ethanol projects using food crops.

These are just two of 10 examples that bely the cliches that circulate about China’s green potential. Two dominate most discussions. First is that China’s emissions are a runaway train, gathering speed, that are sure to wreck any global climate agreement, no mattter what. The other, practically opposite, take is that China, with its enormous wealth and feverish pace of infrastructure building will leapfrog the west in cleantech.
The truth is of course somewhere in between.

The list, released yesterday by New Energy Finance Ltd and the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association (CREIA), shows that China is rolling out some really smart green energy policies, some of which are wisely cherry picked from Europe and the US.

1. China releases the Medium to Long-term Development Plan for Renewable Energy, setting national targets for all major renewable energy sectors for 2010 and 2020 respectively.

2. China implements a detailed plan to compensate grid companies for the extra cost of purchasing renewable power via a quota exchange system.

3. China has reformed the bidding system for the fifth round national concession wind projects to discourage cutthroat price competition. Project developers who field bids closest to the average bid now score highest in the price evaluation section. On a provincial level, Guangdong becomes the first province in China to set a fixed feed-in tariff for wind power at CNY 0.68 ($0.09588) per kWh.

4. PV cell production in China (not including Taiwan Province) exceeds the US in 2007, becoming third in the world behind Japan and Germany.

5. China makes a breakthrough in installations of domestically manufactured wind turbines in 2007. Wind turbines from domestic manufacturers account for 56% of all installed turbines in China in 2007, exceeding those made by foreign and joint-venture companies for the first time.

6. China’s first thousand-tonne polysilicon plant is commissioned in Leshan, Sichuan province, marking the beginning of the scale-up production of this raw material in the country.

7. Installed wind capacity in China reaches 6GW at the end of 2007. One quarter of this or 1.5GW is installed in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, making it China’s first province/region to have more than 1GW installed.

8. China kicks off development of grid-connected utility scale PV projects with the NDRC implementing a plan to build 5MW and larger solar PV plants in 8 provinces in western China.

9. Jinan, in Shandong province, hosts the first central government sponsored National Solar Heat Utilisation Congress in China, which aims to popularise the installation of solar water heaters in buildings across the country.

10. China halts the approval of new grain-based bioethanol projects and enacts policies to encourage non-grain based biofuels development.

‘Printed’ solar cells coming to a surface near you (or on you!)

 

Solar company Konarka wants to bring plastics to life with the sun.

Konarka has developed technology to create rolls of plastic that can convert light to electricity–a design that will result in solar power being embedded in everything from flashing Coke bottles to wireless sensors, the company claims.

Earlier this month, Konarka said that it has demonstrated the use of inkjet printing to manufacture its solar cells. And at a recent investor conference here, chairman and founder Howard Berke described Konarka’s longer-term plans to embed small solar plastic cells in hundreds of products.

In the second half of this year, Berke said, Konarka will make its first shipments to customers and will announce the location of a factory.

Initially the company intends to make portable solar chargers for gadgets as well as self-powered sensors, lights, and smart cards. Farther down the road, it plans to make solar windows and power-generating cloth. In four years, Berke said, the company intends to have products for the building-integrated photovoltaics (PV) market with “bifacial cells,” for placement on windows, that can convert electricity from both sides.
It is also working on a project, sponsored by the Department of Defense, to make fibers that can be woven into clothing, he said. “You’ll be able to wear, carry, integrate PV,” said Berke. “Wherever plastics occur, you’ll have PV.”

But some solar industry watchers have become skeptical about whether this technology will ever live up to its promise. Konarka, founded in 2001, has raised several rounds of capital and taken government grants but still doesn’t have a commercial product. Plastic solar cells have the advantage of being flexible, unlike traditional silicon, but they’re not nearly as efficient as rooftop panels.
Konarka’s cells, which are made with a roll-to-roll manufacturing process, convert about 5 percent of the light that hits them into electricity, whereas typically solar panels with silicon cells are 16 percent to 20 percent efficient.

But its organic photovoltaic cells can convert low light, can be tuned for specific wavelengths, and can work even when the light hits at a low angle, Berke said. “We see this as next-generation thin-film PV technology and not competing with silicon”.

Case for Solar Cells Brightens

 

Researchers at a Dutch university have devised a method of ’substantially improving’ the production of relatively inexpensive dye-sensitised solar cells. Long touted as a cheap alternative to high-cost silicon solar cells, dye-sensitised cells imitate the natural conversion of sunlight into energy by plants and light-sensitive bacteria.

Annemarie Huijser, from the Delft University of Technology, noted that plants are able to transport absorbed solar energy over long distances, typically about 15-20 nanometres, to a location in which it is converted into chemical energy. This is because the chlorophyll molecules in leaves are arranged in the best possible sequence.Huijser attempted a partial recreation in solar cells of this process as found in plants. She focused on what are known as dye-sensitised cells comprising a semiconductor, such as titanium dioxide, covered with a layer of dye.

The dye absorbs energy from sunlight, which creates excitons. These energy parcels then need to move towards to the semiconductor. Once there, they generate electric power. “You can compare dye molecules to Lego bricks. I vary the way the bricks are stacked and observe how this influences the exciton transport through the solar cells,” explained Huijser.”Excitons need to move as freely as possible through the solar cells in order to generate electricity efficiently.”

Growth boost to Mitsubishi PV production

 

Mitsubishi Electric Corp. is planning to invest $70 million in a major expansion of capacity to make photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules, to meet what it says is huge growing demand worldwide. Mitsubishi (Tokyo) will boost production at two plants in Japan, aiming to boost capacity from 150 megawatts last year to 500 megawatts by its 2013 financial year.

Annual production capacity of PV cells will be increased at the Nakatsugawa Works Iida Factory (Nagano Prefecture), and of modules at its Nakatsugawa Works in Kyoto. The target is to increase capacity from the already planed 220 MW from October this year, to 500MW by 2013.

The company is forecasting a global PV market size of 1,950MW in fiscal 2008 (April 1, 2007-March 31, 2008), an increase by 26 percent compared to the previous fiscal year, and anticipates demand would continue increasing at an even faster pace.

Japan’s Sharp Corp. said late last year that it would invest $220 million on a 10-fold expansion of production of thin-film solar cells, which it said could be made more quickly and cheaply than conventional solar cells.

Other firms such as Sanyo are also investing in solar power as they seek to tap growing interest in alternative energy.

Separately, Mitsubishi Electric has it achieved a world record in photoelectric conversion efficiency in a 150-millimeter square practical-use polycrystalline silicon solar cell, with a rate of 18.6 percent. This represents an improvement of 0.6 percent over the company’s previous record.

KYOCERA photovoltaic modules: KC175GT KC200GT

 

High Efficiency Polycrystalline Modules

Kyocera’s advanced cell processing technology and automated production facilities produce a highly efficient multicrystal photovoltaic module.

The conversion efficiency of the Kyocera solar cell is over 16%. These cells are encapsulated between a tempered glass cover and a pottant with PVF back sheet to provide efficient protection from the severest environmental conditions.

The entire laminate is installed in an anodized aluminum frame to provide structural strength and ease of installation. Equipped with plug-in connectors.

KYOCERA panels available at: http://www.evoenergy.co.uk/

SHARP Photovolataic Modules: ND Series Polycrystalline 170 W | 162 W | 158 W

 

Sharp, as a solar specialist with 50 years of experience in photovoltaics (PV), makes an essential contribution towards groundbreaking advancements in solar technology.

The ND Sharp series of photovoltaic modules is designed for applications with a high power requirement. These polycrystalline quality modules produce a sustained, reliable yield even under demanding deployment conditions. All Sharp ND series modules offer optimal system integration – both technically and economically – and are suitable for installation in grid-coupled systems.

Product Features

- High performance photovoltaic modules made of polycrystalline (155.6 mm2)

- 2 silicon solar cells with module efficiency of up to 13.0%.

- Bypass diodes to minimise power loss with shading.

- Textured cell surface for especially high current yields.

- BSF structure (Black Surface Field) for optimising cell efficiency.

- Use of annealed glass, EVA plastic and weather-protection foil, as well as an anodised aluminium frame with water drainage holes for prolonged use.

- Output: connection cable with water-protected plug connector.

SHARP panels available at: http://www.evoenergy.co.uk/

Sunpower Photovoltaic Modules SPR-210-WHT

 

The SunPower 210 Solar Panel provides industry leading efficiency and performance. Utilizing 72 next generation SunPower all-back contact solar cells and an optimized panel design, the SunPower 210 delivers an unprecedented total panel conversion efficiency of 16.9%. The 210 panel’s reduced voltage-temperature coefficient and exceptional low-light performance attributes provide far higher energy delivery per peak power than conventional panels.

High Efficiency

Industry leading panel efficiency of 16.9%

More Power

Delivers up to 50% more power per unit area than conventional solar panels.

Reduces Installation Cost

More power per panel means fewer panels per install. This saves both time and money.

Reliable and Robust Design

Proven materials, tempered front glass, and a sturdy anodized frame allow panel to operate reliably in multiple mounting configurations.

Sunpower panels available at: http://www.evoenergy.co.uk/