Labs - Government
Dr. Thomas Surek Appointed to Magnolia Solar's Technical Advisory Board
08 March 2011POSTED IN Business News
Magnolia Solar Corporation announced today that Dr. Thomas Surek has joined its technical advisory board. Dr. Surek's career in photovoltaics (PV) dates back more than 37 years to the formative stages of US terrestrial PV programs.
US DOE and Masdar Collaborate in Testing Solar Coating Technologies
28 February 2011POSTED IN Politics and Policy News
The US Department of Energy (DOE) and Masdar, Abu Dhabi's multifaceted renewable energy initiative, announced that they will collaborate to test the performance of specially coated solar photovoltaic modules designed to avoid the moisture and cementation problems currently faced by PV module producers worldwide and prevent dry dust adhesion.
Laser World of Photonics' Focus on Manufacturing Photovoltaics
17 February 2011POSTED IN Business News
Photovoltaics manufacturing is one of the growth markets addressed at Laser World of Photonics and the World of Photonics Congress, held in Munich, Germany 22-26 May 2011, at Messe München.
Calculating Solar Technology Costs Beyond Dollars per Watt
16 February 2011POSTED IN Research
Researchers at the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory in partnership with an analyst at Gartner, Inc. have developed a new approach to calculate the lifetime cost for a solar-generated energy system.
Amonix and NREL Collaborate on Solar Power Concentrator
16 February 2011POSTED IN Research
The Amonix 7700 Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) Solar Power Generators are being tested for reliability and performance at the SolarTAC facility in Aurora, Colo. Credit: Dennis SchroederAmonix and NREL are jointly developing a solar power concentrator that generates electricity at prices competitive with natural gas.
Solar Junction CPV Solar Cell Achieves 41.4% Efficiency
15 February 2011POSTED IN Applications News
Solar Junction, a developer of high efficiency multi-junction cells for the concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) market, today announced another leap forward in cell efficiency.
NREL Expands Workforce, Campus and Contracts
11 February 2011POSTED IN Politics and Policy News
The presence of the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado is a $714 million annual boost to the state’s economy, according to data compiled in a soon to be released analysis by the University of Colorado.
Self-Repairing Synthetic Photoconversion
09 February 2011POSTED IN Research
Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have taken a step toward self-repairing synthetic solar conversion systems by showing that plant light harvesting complex II (LHC-II) proteins can self-assemble with polymers into a synthetic membrane structure and produce hydrogen.
Suniva ARTisun Select Solar Cells Surpass 19% Efficiency in Production
08 February 2011POSTED IN Applications News
Suniva, Inc., a US manufacturer of monocrystalline silicon solar cells and modules, today announced that its next-generation ARTisun Select series of solar cells are in production. These next-generation screen-printed cells are achieving conversion efficiencies of greater than 19% in full-scale production.
Epir CdTe Solar Cells 15.2% Efficient
08 February 2011POSTED IN Applications News
Epir Technologies has repeatedly fabricated high efficiency polycrystalline cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells on commercial glass, which recently demonstrated a maximum efficiency rate of 15.2% in tests supervised by the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL).
NREL Measures 12% Efficient Thin-Film Silicon Solar Cell
31 January 2011POSTED IN Applications News
United Solar today announced that the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has confirmed an initial 12% conversion efficiency of a large-area solar cell using United Solar’s proprietary Nano-Crystalline silicon.
Easily Fabricated Full-Spectrum Solar Cell
26 January 2011POSTED IN Research
Researchers at the US Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have demonstrated a solar cell that can respond to virtually the entire solar spectrum and can be made using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition.
HelioVolt Monolithic Solar Modules Confirmed at 11.8% Efficiency by NREL
25 January 2011POSTED IN Applications News
HelioVolt announced the company's first commercial modules have completed rigorous accelerated lifetime testing, with results showing degradation rates one to two orders of magnitude lower than typical module performance required to pass Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) certification.
Abound Solar Receives MCS Certification and Enters UK Solar Market
25 January 2011POSTED IN Business News
Abound Solar, a leading manufacturer of cadmium telluride thin-film photovoltaic solar modules, has received UK MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) certification for its AB1-series of photovoltaic modules, enabling photovoltaic systems using Abound modules to qualify for UK solar feed-in-tariffs.
US Naval Lab Collaborates on Research to Improve Understanding of Climate Change
19 January 2011POSTED IN Research
The Naval Research Laboratory is studying how Sun’s radiation interacts with the climate system., using a continuous, 32-year record of the Sun’s energy output, which they call total solar irradiance (TSI).
Top Solar Research Trends in 2010
07 January 2011POSTED IN Applications Features
Ali Javey, a Berkeley Lab-UC Berkeley chemist, has been at the forefront of nanopillar research. Photo by Roy Kaltschmidt, Berkeley Lab Public Affairs.Last year brought both incremental developments as well as big breakthroughs in solar technology. Here’s a look at some of the trending topics in solar research.
$74 Million Available for Fuel Cell Research
03 January 2011POSTED IN Research
The US Department of Energy (DOE) is accepting applications for a total of up to $74 million to support the research and development of clean, reliable fuel cells for stationary and transportation applications.
$50 Million goes to Demonstrate Solar Energy Technologies
20 December 2010POSTED IN Research
US Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that the Department of Energy (DOE) intends to fund up to $50 million to test and demonstrate innovative technologies that will lead to cost-competitive solar energy technologies.
$2 Million Solar Field for Toray Plastics’ Rhode Island HQ
20 December 2010POSTED IN Applications News
Toray Plastics (America), Inc., manufacturer of precision-performance polypropylene, polyester and bio-based films for packaging and industrial applications, today announced a plan to begin construction in the second quarter of 2011 on a $2 million 446 kilowatt (kW) solar photovoltaic (PV) field on its 70-acre (28.3 hectare) campus in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.
Supercomputer Simulation to Study Organic Solar Cells
13 December 2010POSTED IN Research
U.S Energy Secretary Steven Chu has announced the largest ever awards of the Department of Energy (DOE) supercomputing time to 57 innovative research projects.
