Pure Wafer makes its solar cells from scraps
By MB-BigB | March 6, 2010
A UK based silicon wafer recycling company named Pure Wafer has announced that it will start manufacturing high efficiency solar cells from the scrap material it processes. Pure Wafer’s core business is to help semiconductor manufacturers “gain further efficiencies through the increased re-use of silicon test wafers within their production processes.” Now Pure Wafer says that it has developed a process to develop solar cells out of recycled silicon materials. The company says that by using scrap silicon, their cells will have a “much lower carbon print than the majority of conventional solar cells available on the market.”
In a statement, the company said: “In order to expedite the move to mass production of its solar offerings, Pure Wafer is prudently investing an initial amount in equipment to manufacture solar panels from its own solar cells thus providing a wholly UK manufactured product. These products will enable Pure Wafer to offer complete solar systems and solutions to its customers, ranging from single dwellings to large public and commercial buildings. Pure Wafer has started to receive initial orders for its new products and services, and the level of interest and inquiries are encouraging.”
via: WalesOnline
Topics: Solar Power | No Comments »
Wired: 10 Companies Reinventing our Energy Infrastructure
By MB-BigB | March 3, 2010
Wired Science has an article today on 10 companies that are “reinventing our energy infrastructure.” The 10 companies they talk about recently presented at a Department of Energy ARPA-E symposium and covered everything from “the actual wires that power is transmitted on to the waste heat produced in industrial processes.” Hit the link for the 10 companies.
via: Wired Science Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: alternative energy | 1 Comment »
Lots of questions, and only some answers, about the Bloom Box
By MB-BigB | February 28, 2010
But while Bloom Energy showed off their “power plant in a box” at an event this week, which included lots of execs from the companies already using them, lots of questions remain. The biggest questions concern reliability and costs – fuel cells don’t have the greatest track record for lasting all that long, and the units will need to last at least 10 years before you’ll see widespread adoption.
Here’s some links if you want to read more:
Forbes works through the nubers in “Doing the Math on Bloom Energy”
MSNBC has “10 questions about the Bloom Energy Server”
Ecogeek finds the Bloom press releases to by annoying.
IT World – Bloom Energy: What We know, What We Don’t
Topics: Fuel Cells | No Comments »
The latest federal tax breaks for hybrid buyers
By MB-BigB | February 28, 2010
If you’re interested in buying a hybrid, the rules for federal tax breaks on your hybrid purchase can be somewhat confusing. Some breaks for models such as the Prius have been phased out entirely, while others, such as one for a Ford Fusion Hybrid, are being phased out this year (March 31 for the Fusion, so hurry if you want one).
www.fueleconomy.gov has the latest list
Topics: hybrid and electric cars | No Comments »
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders – on why “It’s time for a solar revolution”
By MB-BigB | February 21, 2010
The Independent senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, speaks his mind in today’s Burlington Free Press on why he feels the US needs a “Solar Revolution”, and why he’s sponsored the “Ten Million Solar Roofs Act” .
“Thomas Edison, one of history’s greatest inventors, said, “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.”
Topics: Solar Power | 1 Comment »
New solar cell design from CalTech uses much less silicon
By MB-BigB | February 20, 2010
California Institute of Technology physics professor Harry Atwater has come up with a new way of making efficient solar cells that use only 1 to 2% of the silicon needed to make conventional silicon based photovoltaic solar cells.
“Our technology uses 50-100 times less silicon,” Atwater said, “in the form of a sparse array of wires. And that sparse array of wires has exactly the same light absorption and electricity-collection properties as the conventional silicon wafer cell.”
The cost of the purified silicon needed for silicon based solar cells is very high, so anything that cuts down on the amount of silicon used leads to cheaper solar cells. Unfortunately, most designs that cut the amount of silicon, or use lower grades of silicon, also reduce the efficiency of the cells. But Professor Atwater says that with his nanowire design the efficiency stays high and that the absorption rate is even higher with his methods. ”The light comes in and is both directly absorbed by the wires, and some of the light bounces around in between the wires. And that bouncing around or multiple scattering in between the wires results in dramatically enhanced absorption. In fact, the absorption enhancement that we see is in the range of 20 to 50 times the single-pass absorbance.”
Another benefit is that he’s creating his cells on a thin plastic substrate, which makes for light and flexible solar cells. Professor Atwater says that these cells could be easily incorporated directly into roofing material, or anywhere you don’t have a flat surface, such as the roof of a car. He thinks that this new cell design could be commercialized easily since it uses current manufacturing techniques and won’t require any new technology to mass produce.
Via: VOAnews.com
Topics: Solar Power | No Comments »
Cheaper enzymes lead to biofuel breakthrough
By MB-BigB | February 17, 2010
Some pretty big news on the biofuel front today, as two Danish companies that make enzymes for the production of biofuel announced that they have developed new enzymes that can cheaply convert agricultural waste into cellulosic ethanol. Cellulosic ethanol is recognized as a better solution than corn ethanol, since cellulosic ethanol can be made from all sorts of agricultural waste products, like wood chips, corn cobs, straw, grass, etc.
The two Danish competitors, Novozymes and Genencor (a division of Danisco), are both presenting their findings this week at a Biofuel Conference being held in Orlando, Florida. Enzymes are used to break down the agricultural waste into cellulose so that it can be turned into alcohol, and are currently the major cost drivers in the production of cellulosic ethanol. Both companies are claiming that their new enzymes dramatically cut the cost – Genencor’s new version of its Accellerase 1500 enzyme (called Accellerase DUET) results in higher yields while using only one third of the amount, while Novozymes says their new CTec enzyme reduces enzyme production costs to $.50 / gal, which will lower the total cost to produce a gallon of cellulosic ethanol to $2.25 and making the price of cellulosic ethanol very close to the cost of corn ethanol and gasoline.
Topics: biofuel | No Comments »
Distributed solar power projects becoming more popular
By MB-BigB | February 15, 2010
While announcements about new big solar power plants grab the headlines (and the concerns of environmentalists (see this NY Times artlcle – BrightSource Alters Solar Plant Plan to Address Concerns Over Desert Tortoise)), many utilities are focusing on small distributed solar rooftop arrays and small solar farms that can be built close to power transmission lines. This approach has a lot of merit – connecting huge solar farms to the power grid is a major cost and regulatory driver for the utilities. By building small scale solar arrays to take advantage of the already existing infrastructure, these projects can cost a lot less and can be built much quicker. And since there’s currently an oversupply of solar modules, the costs to build these smaller solar farms have come down even more.
For example, a couple of weeks ago, California regulators authorized Southern California Edison (SCE) to install about 500 megawatts of solar power on commercial rooftops. They also gave the go-ahead to Pacific Gas and Electric to begin work on a 500 megawatt project to install ground mounted photovoltaic arrays near PGE’s electrical substations. The New York Power Authority has just started a project to build about 100 megawatts of solar arrays at various locations in NY. And Recurrent Energy of San Francisco announced that they have signed contracts with SCE to provide 50 megawatts of electricity from small solar farms they plan to build on private land in Kern and San Bernardino counties.
“Distributed solar is faster on permitting, on environmental issues and interconnection to the grid,” said Arno Harris, Recurrent’s chief executive. “It offers a safety valve for utilities who don’t want to put all their eggs in one basket.”
via: NY Times Green, Inc
Topics: Solar Power | 1 Comment »
IBM developing inexpensive solar cells made from available materials
By MB-BigB | February 12, 2010
IBM researchers have been developing new efficient thin film type solar cells that use abundant materials instead of the scarce materials used in current thin film cells. The materials that IBM is seeking to replace are cadmium iridium, gallium, and selenide, which make up CIGS type cells. The new CZTSS cells that IBM is working on use copper, zinc, tin, sulfur and selenium, all of which readily available. IBM is also claiming 9.6% efficiency so far for these CZTSS cells, and they note that they have just started researching these new cells, so they expect the efficiency to go high. Their manufacturing technique will also help keep the cost low – they are using a simple, non-vacuum process called a “slurry-based coating method” that lets the photovoltaic layer be applied by painting or spraying methods.
If you want to read the technical paper that IBM published in the journal Advanced Materials, you can download the pdf here
Topics: Solar Power | No Comments »
BNET roundup of ten serious nuclear fusion projects
By MB-BigB | February 10, 2010
Nuclear fusion has been in the news lately – researchers at the National Ignition Facility in Livermore, California were able to bring all 192 lasers online at the same time and were able to heat a BB sized pellet of fuel to millions of degrees Fahrenheit. They still have a ways to go before they achieve fusion ignition, but the successful test makes the researchers confident that they can achieve fusion ignition and a self-sustaining fusion reaction as soon as October of 2010.
Another fusion story that made the rounds this week comes from MIT. The Levitated Dipole Experiment (LDX) – a joint project from MIT and Columbia University, uses a large donut shaped superconducting magnet that levitates inside a closed container. The magnet is used to control the motion of superheated plasma. The researchers found that the turbulence from the motion causes the plasma to become more concentrated in spots – which is a crucial step to getting atoms to fuse together.
BNET.com has a wrap up of ten current nuclear fusion projects making progress around the world.
Topics: alternative energy | 1 Comment »
