Materials
SNEC 2012: Manz Opens New PV Fab in Suzhou, China
15 May 2012POSTED IN Business News
High-tech engineering company Manz held the grand opening of its new production facility in Suzhou, China, two hours west of Shanghai, today. In the new fab Manz will produce manufacturing equipment for the photovoltaics and the flat-panel display industry, as well as equipment for the PCB (printed circuit board) segment.
USA Wire & Cable Introduces Aluminum DC Feeder Cable Inventory
15 May 2012POSTED IN New Products
USA Wire and Cable has announced the immediate availability of aluminum photovoltaic wire in sizes for DC feeder cable runs between combiner box and inverter station. The company has also created the USA Solar Solutions group to provide industry-leading solutions and service with the goal of lowering cost per watt for contractors, developers and owners.
Online Auction Sells Solar Cell Manufacturing Equipment
14 May 2012POSTED IN Business News
Heritage Global Partners today announced its upcoming global online auction, 5-7 June, will feature a wide array of modern solar energy cell manufacturing equipment from OEMs including Roth & Rau, NPC, Centrotherm, BTU, RENA, Komax, Rofin and many more.
Simple Thermodynamic Calculations Help Researchers Find Better Solar Cell Materials
13 May 2012POSTED IN Research
A group of European researchers have developed a thermodynamic method to better understand and even predict the reactivity and stability of substances in the manufacturing of thin-film photovoltaics, which involves high temperatures.
Solarbuzz China: 2-Day PV Conference in Shanghai
10 May 2012POSTED IN Business News
NPD Solarbuzz today announced it will host its inaugural Solarbuzz China PV Conference in Shanghai, China. This two-day event will take place 19-20 July 2012 at the Renaissance Shanghai Yangtze Hotel, and will provide insight and market data to help the PV supply chain develop business strategies.
“Blackest Solar Cell” Absorbs 99.7% Sunlight
09 May 2012POSTED IN Research
Scientists at the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) together with Natcore Technology, Inc. have created the “blackest” solar cell to date, a black silicon solar cell that absorbs 99.7% of the sunlight. The scientists believe black silicon technology will make photovoltaics competitive with fossil fuels without subsidy. Could the combination of lower cost and higher energy output quickly make black silicon the anti-reflection control technology of choice?
Saint-Gobain Acquires Sage Electrochromics
09 May 2012POSTED IN Business News
Saint-Gobain has agreed to purchase all outstanding shares of Sage Electrochromics and will own 100% of the company upon completion of the transaction, the company announced today.
Must Max Efficiency Solar Cells Emit Light?
06 May 2012POSTED IN Research
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley (US) have demonstrated that designing solar cells to absorb light as well as emit light, much like a light-emitting diode (LED), could be the key to reaching efficiencies approaching the theoretical maximum of 33.7%.
CEOs Launch Global Solar Council
03 May 2012POSTED IN Business News
Representatives of leading international companies in the solar photovoltaic industry have founded the Global Solar Council, a CEO-level industry coalition that aims to expand the global deployment of solar energy in a sustainable and cost-competitive way.
CASM Analysis: China’s five-year solar plan
02 May 2012POSTED IN Politics and Policy News
China’s government recently issued a new Five-Year Plan for solar that provides for even greater government control and support of its industry, according to an analysis commissioned by the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM).
3M and Gossamer Space Frames Inaugurate Large Aperture Parabolic Trough Installation
02 May 2012POSTED IN Applications News
3M’s Renewable Energy Division has teamed with Gossamer Space Frames to unveil a new parabolic trough solar collector technology designed to reduce equipment and installation costs for CSP systems used in power generation. The Large Aperture Trough 73 (LAT 73) features a concentration factor of over 100x and an aperture size of 7.3m, both world benchmarks for the industry, according to the companies.
SNEC 2012: Sun Chemical Exhibits Pastes and Inks for PV Manufacturers
02 May 2012POSTED IN Business News
During the SNEC 6th (2012) International Photovoltaic Power Generation Conference and Exhibition on 16-18 May 2012 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (hall 2W1, booth 230) in Shanghai, China, Sun Chemical and its parent company, Dainippon Ink and Chemicals (DIC), will exhibit a range of products. They will showcase metallisation solutions for additive and subtractive processes, as well as module materials for use in the crystalline silicon (c-Si), thin-film, printed electronics and other emerging markets.
Momentive Performance Launches SilTrust Encapsulant for Solar Modules
02 May 2012POSTED IN New Products
Momentive Performance Materials Inc.'s new transparent silicone encapsulant technology can help ensure the long-lasting performance of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules in harsh outdoor environments, while improving the light-to-electricity conversion yield.
New X-Ray Technique Reveals Molecular Alignment in Solar Cells
29 April 2012POSTED IN Research
Solar researchers have long hypothesized that the alignment at the interface between an electron donor and electron acceptor molecule holds the key to more efficient organic solar cells. However, until now, no one has been able to observe what happens at the molecular level. In what could be a critical advancement for the solar industry, for the first time ever, North Carolina State University (NCSU) researchers were able to do just that with an innovative X-ray technique they discovered.
MIT Publication Names Solar Technologies to ‘Transform Our World’
27 April 2012POSTED IN Applications News
Two solar technologies made the MIT’s Technology Review annual list of the 10 emerging technologies with the greatest potential to transform our world. These innovations promise fundamental shifts in areas including energy, health care, computing, and communications, according to Technology Review editors.
Sub-2-Micrometer-Thick Solar Cell Paves Way to Ultra-Thin OPV
24 April 2012POSTED IN Research
Researchers have unveiled a sub-2-micron-thick organic solar cell that is the result of a collaborative research project between the Johannes Kepler University (JKU), Linz (Austria), and the University of Tokyo, Tokyo (Japan). The ultrathin-film devise is thinner than a thread of spider silk; so thin and elastic, in fact, it wraps around a human hair. Demonstrating equal power conversion efficiency to their glass-based counterparts, the novel OPV cells could pave the way to solar applications such as supplying power to medical sensors built into clothing, so-called “electronic skin” and surface conforming foils.
Dye-Sensitised Cell PV Market Poised for Growth
23 April 2012POSTED IN Business News
Industry analyst firm NanoMarkets announces the release of its latest report on the dye-sensitised cell (DSC) market entitled "Markets for Dye-Sensitised Cell Photovoltaics 2012."
Delaware Student Generates Hydrogen from Sunlight
19 April 2012POSTED IN Research
A Ph.D. student at the University of Delaware (UD), Newark, Delaware (US), could be days away from creating solar hydrogen, a truly clean fuel with zero emissions. Erik Koepf intends to achieve this breakthrough with his own reactor, which he designed to use highly concentrated sunlight and zinc oxide powder to produce hydrogen in a theoretically self-sustaining cycle. Essentially, he wants to thermochemically store solar energy and bottle it.
IHS Reports Surplus Supply of Polysilicon Pressures Pricing
18 April 2012POSTED IN Business News
An ongoing surplus in the production of polysilicon, the key raw material in the photovoltaic (PV) industry, will lead to excess supply, leading to further erosion in its pricing, according to an IHS iSuppli PV Perspectives Market Brief and the IHS iSuppli Polysilicon Price Index.
Polysilicon prices on both the spot market and in contract negotiations are set to decline in the coming months, according to the IHS.
Student Invents Biodegradable Protein-Incorporated Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell
17 April 2012POSTED IN Research
A doctoral student in chemistry at Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas (US) has created the first-ever environmentally friendly dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC), incorporating a protein extracted from a bacterium called Mycobacterium smegmatis.
