Photovoltaics Get Extreme Makeover
Posted by admin / Under Photovoltaics
Compared with typical photovoltaic systems requiring large and costly panels and mirrors, Cool Earth Solar's inflated solar concentrators are shaped like balloons and are primarily made of inexpensive or free materials. The company estimates that one solar power plant using its unconventional design and covering 150 square miles could generate enough power to meet all the electrical needs of the United States through 2030. And it could do so at a cost of $1 per watt, compared with rooftop photovoltaic systems that can run up to $8 per watt. (Photo Courtesy: Cool Earth Solar) The system works like a conventional...
Published on Tuesday 7th of February 2012 06:11:36 AM
Solar Cell Surpasses 40 Percent Efficiency~ (NREL) verified the milestone.
Posted by admin / Under Photovoltaics
ST. LOUIS, Dec. 06, 2006 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] today announced that Spectrolab, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary, has achieved a new world record in terrestrial concentrator solar cell efficiency. Using concentrated sunlight, Spectrolab demonstrated the ability of a photovoltaic cell to convert 40.7 percent of the sun's energy into electricity. The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo., verified the milestone. "This solar cell performance is the highest efficiency level any photovoltaic device has ever achieved," said Dr. David Lillington, president of Spectrolab. "The terrestrial cell we have developed uses the same technology base as...
Published on Tuesday 7th of February 2012 06:11:36 AM
New World Record Achieved in Solar Cell Technology
Posted by admin / Under Photovoltaics
New Solar Cell Breaks the “40 Percent Efficient” Sunlight-to-Electricity Barrier WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Alexander Karsner today announced that with DOE funding, a concentrator solar cell produced by Boeing-Spectrolab has recently achieved a world-record conversion efficiency of 40.7 percent, establishing a new milestone in sunlight-to-electricity performance. This breakthrough may lead to systems with an installation cost of only $3 per watt, producing electricity at a cost of 8-10 cents per kilowatt/hour, making solar electricity a more cost-competitive and integral part of our nation’s energy mix. “Reaching this milestone...
Published on Tuesday 7th of February 2012 06:11:36 AM
Superefficient, Cost-Effective Solar Cell Breaks Conversion Records
Posted by admin / Under Photovoltaics
A tiny solar cell doubles the efficiency of common photovoltaics' conversion of sunlight to electricity by capturing the energy from a broader spectrum of light. A tiny chip similar to the solar cells carried by many satellites and other spacecraft today--including the surprisingly long-lived Mars Rovers--has shattered previous records for maximum efficiency in producing electricity from sunlight. "This is the photovoltaic equivalent of the four-minute mile," affirms Larry Kazmerski, director of the Department of Energy's National Center for Photovoltaics in Colorado. "This is a disruptive technology that eventually could provide us, at least in the Southwest, with cost-competitive electricity fairly...
Published on Tuesday 7th of February 2012 06:11:36 AM
Cheap, Superefficient Solar
Posted by admin / Under Photovoltaics
Solar-power modules that concentrate the power of the sun are becoming more viable. A worker arranges wafers that will be fabricated into superefficient solar cells. These cells could help dramatically reduce the cost of generating electricity from solar energy. (Credit: The Boeing Company) Technologies collectively known as concentrating photovoltaics are starting to enjoy their day in the sun, thanks to advances in solar cells, which absorb light and convert it into electricity, and the mirror- or lens-based concentrator systems that focus light on them. The technology could soon make solar power as cheap as electricity from the grid. The idea...
Published on Tuesday 7th of February 2012 06:11:36 AM
Breakthrough in solar photovoltaics [Company says it can make solar electricity for 5c/kwh]
Posted by admin / Under Photovoltaics
http://www.hindu.com/seta/2005/02/03/stories/2005020300431600.htm Breakthrough in solar photovoltaics THE HOLY Grail of researchers in the field of solar photovoltaic (SPV) electricity is to generate it at a lower cost than that of grid electricity. The goal now seems to be within reach. A Palo Alto (California ) start-up, named Nanosolar Inc., founded in 2002, claims that it has developed a commercial scale technology that can deliver solar electricity at 5 cents per kilowatt-hour. Molecular self-assembly The breakthrough has come through the application of nanotechnology to create components via molecular self-assembly, including quantum dots (10nm large nanoparticles) as well as nanotemplates with structural order...
Published on Tuesday 7th of February 2012 06:11:36 AM
Photovoltaics Being Developed As Clean Energy Source(new tech)
Posted by admin / Under Photovoltaics
Home Search Photovoltaics Being Developed As Clean Energy SourceResearchers at Colorado State University are creating a reliable and inexpensive renewable energy source that could greatly reduce humankind's dependence on fossil fuels.Photovoltaics, a free-standing alternative power supply, also has the potential to better meet the energy needs of the world's six billion people, one-third of whom live without electricity.Professor W.S. Sampath and his research group at the Materials Engineering Laboratory at Colorado State have developed a manufacturing technology to efficiently produce low-cost, high-power photovoltaic solar cells. According to Sampath, photovoltaics, the new generation of solar energy, can be one...
Published on Tuesday 7th of February 2012 06:11:36 AM
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