Labs - Government
Particle beams: Danger in space
19 October 2010POSTED IN Applications Features
Following the first in our series on space weather and solar flares (“Our Inconstant Sun: Solar activity and flares”), we now take a look at the output of solar flares and its impact on Earth.
Our Inconstant Sun: Solar activity and flares
23 September 2010POSTED IN Applications Features
Widespread blackouts, devastated electrical grids, immobilized electrical and communication devices. All of these and more may be the result of immense levels of magnetic energy from solar super-flares, according to a report by the US National Academy of Sciences.
Solar physicists predict that a new wave of major solar flares will strike over the next few years, peaking around 2013. What impact this will have on solar installations has become the topic of much discussion. But rather than falling victim to dire predictions or possibly over-hyped scenarios, it’s important to have a scientific understanding of solar flares. Solar Novus Today turned to Dr. Frédéric Clette, a solar physicist at the Royal Observatory of Belgium. The following is first in a series on “space weather” and its potential impact.
LDK Solar Reaches Agreements with NREL and Q-Cells
20 September 2010POSTED IN Business News
LDK Solar Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of multicrystalline solar wafers and photovoltaic (PV) products, made two announcements today.
Petra Solar Wins Prestigious SEGIS Award
09 September 2010POSTED IN Business News
The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Sandia National Laboratories has awarded Petra Solar its prestigious Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems (SEGIS) contract as part of the US DOE’s Solar Energy Technologies Program.
DOE Announces $8.5 Million for Solar Energy Grid Integration
08 September 2010POSTED IN Politics and Policy News
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced that Sandia National Laboratories is investing $8.5 million in four projects that have reached stage 3 (pilot production) of its Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems (SEGIS) program.
New Acceptors for Organic Solar Cells
20 August 2010POSTED IN Research
Researchers from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore have synthesized new acceptors that could help reduce the cost of organic solar cells and make them easier to produce.
System Detects Trace Impurities in III-V Semiconductor Manufacturing
09 August 2010POSTED IN Research
In a step toward solving a long-standing problem in semiconductor manufacturing, scientists have developed a way to detect traces of contaminant molecules in the arsine gas used to make a variety of semiconductor devices including solar cells.
Caltech Awarded $122 Million to Research Solar Energy
22 July 2010POSTED IN Business News
Caltech will partner with Lawrence Berkeley Nat. Lab. and other California institutions to develop method to produce fuels from sunlight
As part of a broad effort to achieve breakthrough innovations in energy production, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman today announced an award of up to $122 million over five years to a multidisciplinary team of top scientists to establish an Energy Innovation Hub aimed at developing revolutionary methods to generate fuels directly from sunlight.
US Solar Demonstration Zone
06 August 2010POSTED IN Politics and Policy News
US Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu joined U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) Secretary Ken Salazar and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada recently to announce the site of the new Solar Demonstration Zone, which will provide more than 25 square miles dedicated to the demonstration of cutting-edge concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies. Photo courtesy of Solar Program Staff.
NREL Solar Research Garners Two R&D 100 Awards
06 August 2010POSTED IN Applications News
An etching technique that makes silicon wafers more efficient and a mammoth power generator that sets a new standard for the production of solar energy – both developed at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory – have been named among this year’s most significant innovations by Research & Development (R&D) Magazine.
Nanowire Mini-Circuits
28 June 2010POSTED IN Research
Researchers from the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) have synthesized complex organic nanowires and attached them together with electrically conducting links, a process that could be used to create complex nanowire electric circuits for solar cells. They developed a vacuum deposition process for synthesizing organic nanowires and by exactly controlling the substrate temperature, molecule flow and substrate treatment, the organic nanowires develop a previously unattained, perfectly monocrystalline structure.
NREL Director Talks of Weaning the US from Oil Addiction
24 June 2010POSTED IN Politics and Policy News
In a speech to the Economic Club of Kansas City yesterday, NREL Director Dan Arvizu looked at how renewable energy can help reduce America's dependence on oil, pointing out that the country gets as much energy from renewable sources now as it does from offshore oil production.
Colorado State Forms Solar Research Center
17 June 2010POSTED IN Research
A $2.5 million solar research and development center will bring together Colorado State University in Fort Collins and industry partners to explore next-generation solar technology with a focus on thin film cadmium telluride (CdTe) photovoltaics.
Trina Solar and SERIS to Develop High Efficiency Solar Cells
01 June 2010POSTED IN Applications News
Converting Waste CO2 into Diesel Fuel with Solar
01 June 2010POSTED IN Applications News
Spire Produces World’s Most Efficient Large Area Concentrator Solar Cell
21 May 2010POSTED IN Applications News
Spire Corporation, an American global solar company providing capital equipment and turnkey production lines to manufacture photovoltaic (PV) modules and cells, today announced its wholly owned subsidiary, Spire Semiconductor, LLC, has matched the current efficiency record for a concentrator solar cell. The record efficiency is available on a production ready cell with a photo area of 1.0 cm2.
NREL Study Shows Power Grid Can Accommodate Large Increase in Wind and Solar Generation
20 May 2010POSTED IN Applications News
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory today released an initial study assessing the operational impacts and economics of increased contributions from wind and solar energy producers on the power grid. The Western Wind and Solar Integration Study examines the benefits and challenges of integrating enough wind and solar energy capacity into the grid to produce 35 percent of its electricity by 2017.
Paul Hommert To Become Director of Sandia National Laboratories
13 May 2010POSTED IN Business News
The Sandia Corp. board of directors today announced the appointment of Paul J. Hommert as president of Sandia Corp. and director of Sandia National Laboratories, effective July 9, 2010. Hommert, currently Sandia’s executive vice president and deputy laboratories director for the nuclear weapons program, will succeed Thomas O. Hunter, who has announced his decision to retire.
MIT and Eni Open Solar Frontiers Center
07 May 2010POSTED IN Business News
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) President Susan Hockfield and Eni CEO Paolo Scaroni today celebrated the opening of the Eni-MIT Solar Frontiers Center (SFC).
Prestigious French Science Prize for Fraunhofer Researcher
06 May 2010POSTED IN Applications News
Dr. Frank Dimroth, a researcher at Fraunhofer's Institute of Solar Energy Systems (ISE) is the recipient of the “Fondation LouisD” award for his work on metamorphic triple-junction solar cells.
