Within the next 5 to 10 years, you may be able to coat your house (literally) in a Thin Film Solar-Cell Technology that is literally sprayed on, if Norwegian company EnSol gets its way. EnSol's power-generating spray-on film, which may hit the market as soon as 2016, can be applied on any surface--exterior walls, your fence, and even windows.
How, exactly, are you supposed to see through a window with solar technology on it? EnSol's application process for the coating Norwegian you adjust how much coating you want applied to the surface.
Instead of turning your house into a cave, you'll have slightly tinted windows that catch some 8-10% of the light and let the rest through. Or, if one side of your house received more sunlight than you like, you can increase the thickness of the coating, further reducing the amount of light that comes through the window.
Needless to say, EnSol has yet to release pricing information for its solar film, but the company plans to begin commercial production by 2016. EnSol is hoping to increase the solar film's efficiency to the point where it'll be able to convert around 20% of the energy it absorbs into energy you can use, which compared to other forms of energy is substantial.
The Desertec Industrial Initiative will work with Morocco in the next month to set out a plan that includes negotiations with the European Union to provide so-called feed-in tariffs for electricity generated using large mirrors in the desert, van Son said today in an interview in Berlin.
"We're just at the beginning of this, and we're putting together a work package with Morocco first," he said. "The difficult part is putting all the pieces together while dealing with so many different governments and structures."
Feed-in tariffs are used in most EU countries to help increase the share of electricity and heat from wind turbines, solar panels and wood pellets. Currently there are no above- market prices available for renewable energy imported into the 27-member group from North Africa, van Son said.
Desertec is part of a plan to reduce Europe's dependence on fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas for power generation. The developers plan to use curved mirrors that focus sunlight to heat liquids and turn power turbines. The 400 billion euro ($546 billion) plan must also obtain backing from European and African governments as well as investors.
The project may create as many as 2 million jobs and provide 15 percent of Europe's power demand by the middle of this century, Siemens and Munich Re have said.
Solar-powered schools are making news these days! Not only are solar panels a terrific way for cash-strapped schools to save money, but its effectively a built-in science lab for learning about energy and solar power. In fact, green schools are cropping up all over the nation.
At Grant Elementary School in Redding, California, students will be returning in a few weeks to a school that merely looks the same as it did when they left in June. Over the summer, the school was outfitted with a new 202 kilowatt solar photovoltaic (PV) system. Using a solar power purchase agreement with Solar Power Partners, the school will not pay any upfront costs for the panels. Instead, it will only pay for the electricity generated by the solar installation over the term of the contract – much less than grid-based power!
Grant Elementary Superintendent John Krinkel commented:
"A PPA with Solar Power Partners meant that the school does not spend any cash to install, operate, or maintain the system, and we know that a portion of our electricity bill will remain stable. Incorporating renewable energy has been cost-conscious now and for the future."
Here's some fast facts about the solar-powered elementary school in California:
We've published a number of articles that note the fact that installing Solar Panels boosts property values. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, home values rise an average of $20 for every $1 reduction in annual utility bills. Cut your bills by $500 each year and you've just boosted your equity by $10,000.
Why does solar increase your home value?
Imagine that your electricity was going to get more expensive and your utility would raise its rates at any given time. Imagine that national demand for that expensive electricity was going to keep growing, and had already grown 25% since 1990. Finally, imagine that generating this traditional, expensive electricity was creating pollution and hurting the environment.
You're not imagining. The above are all realities that explain why solar homes sell faster, and for more money. According to the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, a solar home will sell twice as quickly as a home without solar.
More information on how solar panels increase home value is found in SunRun's recent report here.
With consumers cutting back on unnecessary expenses, we think it makes perfect sense that a residential solar panel system that can both save on electricity costs and guard against future rate increases would be top of the list for new home buyers!
What's cooler than a rotating house? One whose Solar Panels produce five times the energy the house uses. That's pretty incredible, considering that even zero-energy structures are rare.
German architect Rolf Disch built the home, called Heliotrope, to follow the sun throughout the day. The structure features triple panes of thermally insulated glass to strike a balance between letting light in and keeping the house cooler inside.
A giant 6.6-kilowatt-capacity rooftop solar panel called the Sun Sail slurps up the rays of energy, pumping them into the home and grid. Solar thermal collectors on balcony railings act as water heaters and radiators. On cloudy days, the house can be heated with wood chips and solar thermal heating.
The Sun Sail itself rotates separately from the house, adjusting itself to the best possible position at all times. This gives it a 30% to 40% advantage in energy production over traditional rooftop solar panels.
The house is green inside as well. Waste water goes through a purification system for reuse, and rain water collects in a rooftop basin. The toilet system turns human waste into compost.
Is it nice to live in? Disch must think so, as he resides in the prototype himself. Two other Heliotropes have been built to date, each costing about $2 million to build.
In the world of Solar Power, there are panels small enough to charge a cell phone and bigger panels installed on a roof by professionals, but not much in between. Clarian Technologies is shooting for that space in the middle.
The Seattle-area start-up is developing a kit that lets you dip your toe into solar-generated electricity without having to pay the hefty cost of a full array.
Called the Sunfish, the product package is designed to let a homeowner install up to three solar panels and get them generating juice in about an hour. The cost: about $800, said company president Chad Maglaque. The goal is to have a product available in the spring of 2011.
"People are interested in solar but renewable energy is out of reach of the average homeowner when you have to pay $20,000 to $30,000 to start with," he said. "Because this is plug-and-play, the installation cost is much lower."
The kit will include one or three standard solar photovoltaic panels and a mounting system, which lets a person place panels on a shed roof, wall, or other structure. The output of three panels will max out around 600 watts, which is about the amount power a large appliance, such as a washing machine, consumes. So the set-up will only offset a portion of a home's electricity load.
The panels are wired to a power module plugged into a wall socket. That device, about the size of a point-and-shoot camera, feeds electricity from the panels into a home's wiring using an inverter that converts direct current from the panels into alternating current.
A third piece of equipment is a circuit monitor, which looks something like a thermostat, that ensures electricity flows into the home wiring without overloading any circuits, explained Maglaque. Having this piece, which communicates with the power module, means that a professional electrician is not needed, he said.
Typically, a net meter is needed for when many rooftop panels produce more electricity than a house is consuming, so the meter can run backwards. Maglaque said no net meter or utility agreement should be needed because a house will soak up a few panels' electricity most of the time.
In terms of safety approvals, the installation should not require a building inspector if the Sunfish equipment gains UL certification next year.
The circuit monitor also gathers solar data so a consumer can see how much electricity is being generated via a Web site, such as Google PowerMeter or Microsoft Hohm.
The technology should work with other on-site power systems, including wind turbines. The company submitted Sunfish to GE's Ecomagination smart-grid contest to fund good ideas to modernize the grid and appears to be well received.
Whether Clarian can manufacture the system, gain certification, and meet its projected price remains to be seen. But the concept of plug-and-play solar is appealing to people interested in solar power and handy enough to mount solar panels themselves.
The shredder is powered by the hamster who runs inside the wheel. After doing its exercise, the hamster is rewarded by the paper shred coming from the shredder, using it to play in, eat and poop on.
This is just the perfect disposal of confidential documents. If someone wants to try to read what was written in my documents, they are now going to have read my hamster's poop! Good luck with that one.
The country is staking a claim as the global center of Clean Energy, with ambitious policies that are helping to drive both the manufacturing of solar panels and wind turbines and the development of large markets for renewable energy. This is leading companies such as Applied Materials and GE to set up research facilities in China, where researchers benefit by being close to both factories and customers.
One question is: to what extent is China poised to become a source of real energy innovation, instead of a just cheap goods?
I'll try to answer this question in future stories. One thing that became clear after just a few days in the country is that there's intense optimism in the air in cities such as Shanghai, where glittering skyscrapers loom over land that a decade ago had been a desolate marsh. The manager of one research lab there told me about his son's desire to attend MIT. I asked him when, if ever, he thought people like his son--that is, the most talented and ambitious of the country's 1.3+ billion inhabitants--would rather stay in China, and attend Chinese universities. It will take time, he said, but not that long--maybe five or 10 years.
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Desert solar power
Desertec envisages a massive deployment of solar technology in Middle Eastern and North African countries, exporting electricity to Europe. The vision may seem idealistic, but there have been signs recently that politicians and industry are starting to take the Desertec proposals seriously.
A recent Desertec seminar at the House of Commons was attended by the energy minister Lord Philip Hunt, as well as the Conservative shadow energy minister Charles Hendry and the Liberal Democrat shadow secretary of state for energy and climate change, Simon Hughes.
All three professed support for the concept, with Lord Hunt declaring, 'I am very interested in the work that you are doing.' Just words? Maybe. But Hunt promised that the Desertec will be seriously considered by the European Commission as it tries to make plans for future supplies of renewable energy for the whole region.
Taken seriously
The European Union is aiming to provide 20 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, and a much higher percentage by 2050. With this in mind, the European Commission has begun drafting the Strategic Energy Technology Plan, which will attempt to explain how renewable technologies can be made mature enough to supply a large part of Europe's total energy needs by 2050.
The SET Plan, as its known, is still in its early stages, but Desertec is part of the deliberations. Gus Schellekens, a director in the sustainability and climate change team at business advisors PriceWaterhouseCoopers, sees the SET Plan as a tentative first step towards the kind of European unity needed to make Desertec a reality.
The Desertec project would involve power lines being stretched across the desert and Mediterranean sea
Supergrid
A key part of the Desertec vision is for a 'supergrid' that can distribute renewable energy across Europe, be it hydro power from Scandinavia, wind power from the UK or solar energy from the Mediterranean states and North Africa.
In addition to building this supergrid, the European states would probably also have to agree a system of subsidies to make solar electricity imported from North Africa commercially viable.
'The SET Plan has the potential to be what's needed,' says Schellekens.
Next month he will publish his own report on the future of renewable power in Europe and North Africa, which argues that unified political support for Desertec across Europe is essential before investors will risk their cash to fund the building of solar power plants in North Africa.
'Unless you have the right signals coming from government level, you don't have what the market needs, nobody moves and no-one does anything,' says Schellekens.
Let's walk through a solar installation, step by step. In some instances, it can be done in a single day! And, for those of you that are considering becoming a solar installers, you may just be inspired to go after one of these great green jobs.
Typically, a team of 3-4 workers can complete a solar installation within several days, depending on weather conditions, the size of the solar array, and whether the roof is flat or sloped. Flat roofs will need a mount rail system to set up the solar panels at an angle.
Sure, you could try to do-it-yourself… and there are plenty of videos and websites set up to inspire the "Tim the Toolman Taylor" in you or your handyman friend. Yet, you do get what you pay for. This is arguably one of the home improvement projects for which you'll want to call in professionals.
So let's get started!
1. Brackets on sloped roofs or a mount rail system on flat roofs often are the first items to be installed.
2. A solar inverter is usually required and can be installed in a garage or outbuilding. The inverter takes direct current (DC) and converts it into usable alternating current (AC).
3. Solar panels – of course! They need to be hoisted to the roof, laid out one by one, and then screwed into the brackets or rail system.
4. Wiring is one of the most complicated aspects of a solar installation. Three different wires are required: negative, positive and ground wire. I find that its usually best to leave this up to the experts – the electricians!
Once the panels have been aligned in place, wiring needs to be connected underneath, with care to ensure that wire doesn't touch the actual roof. Then the wiring from the panels needs to be connected to the power meter and inverter.
As you can see, it can be relatively easy to install solar panels on your home. The payoff is immediate – many see their power bills go from several hundred dollars down to practically nothing!
With spring around the corner, you'll want to schedule a solar panel installation soon. Beat the rush now and be the first home on your block that doesn't have to worry about the high cost of air conditioning when temps start rising.
http://www.energievair.com/maximizer/Solar-Panel-Installers--Step-by-Step--Installationn
The inexpensive film works by preventing light from bouncing off the surface of the panel, according to Seth Weiss, the company's CEO and co-founder. Not only does the sticker trap light inside the semiconductor materials that convert light into electricity, but it also diverts incoming rays so that they travel across — rather than through — the panel, bettering their chances of being absorbed.
Tests at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory showed that the film increases power output by between 4 to 12.5 percent, with the biggest improvement occurring when the sky is overcast and incoming light is diffuse. Although adding the sticker, whether in the factory or on solar panels already installed, raises the overall cost of the panels by 1 to 10 percent, the additional electricity generated makes up for the price.
A more efficient solar panel also means getting by with fewer solar panels, according to Travis Bradford, a solar industry analyst and president of the Prometheus Institute. As a result, other costs such as shipping and installation could also drop. Just one downside: Although the film has been rated for 20 years, it hasn't been tested for durability — scratches, discoloring, and trapped dust can actually lower power output over time.
FloDesign has raised $40 million of venture capital financing in two rounds after winning the MIT Clean Energy Entrepreneurship Prize as well as the Ignite Clean Energy Competition in 2008. The company was awarded an $8.3 million grant in 2009 also, as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's highly competitive Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) program, which supports the development of "transformational" energy technologies.
The company was founded in 2007, after leveraging its knowledge of turbine design based on the jet engine technology. Its shrouded wind turbine design is expected to deliver more than three times the amount of energy as traditional wind turbines for the same size rotor. The rotors of its turbines are very small in size and they can be easily installed and utilized at places where there is high consumption of power but there is no space for conventional wind turbine towers; airports, for instance. It's significantly smaller compared to other wind turbines and also costs a lot less to install and operate. With the help from MassCEC's Renewable Energy Trust the Massachusetts Port Authority has already shown a keep interest in deploying FloDesign's wind turbine technology.
"Massport embraces technology that helps the environment and we are very excited about the prospect of bringing this cutting edge wind energy technology to test it in an airport environment," said Thomas J. Kinton Jr. CEO and Executive Director of the Massachusetts Port Authority. "We look forward to working with FloDesign to understand the technology fully and push for the necessary regulatory approval from the FAA so that we can install one or more turbines at a Massport airport in a pilot program."
"FloDesign has been recognized for its 'transformative' technology by U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, and I am pleased to see this innovative Massachusetts company choosing to stay and grow right here, creating jobs and helping Massachusetts show the nation and the world the way toward a clean energy economy," said Deval Governor Patrick.
As a part of the deal of the financial package the company has promised to generate around 120 new jobs in Wilbraham in the next 3 years. Although most of the investor of the company are based in California, the local government has tried hard to keep the expansion of the company within Massachusetts.
Clean, renewable energy is freely available – in the form of wind, sun and water. However, harnessing it reliably and cost-effectively remains a barrier. Wind power is one of the fastest growing alternative energy markets and researchers at Purdue University and Sandia National Laboratories in West Lafayette, Indiana, are working to make wind turbines more efficient, reliable and resilient.
They are using sensors and computational software that constantly monitor forces exerted on wind turbine blades with the aim of developing a smarter wind turbine structure.
"Our aim is to do two things: improve reliability and prevent failure. The most direct way to enable those two capabilities is by monitoring forces exerted on the blades by winds," says Douglas Adams, a professor of mechanical engineering and director of Purdue's Center for Systems Integrity.
According to doctoral student Jonathan White, who is working on the project with Adams, "the ultimate goal is to feed information from sensors into an active control system that precisely adjusts components to optimize efficiency."
One of the main problems with wind turbines is that the wind can suddenly change direction and force, decreasing efficiency and causing costly damage to blades. The team from Purdue and Sandia believes its technique can help prevent this by providing real-time information to the turbine's control system and predicting fatigue.
Sensors were embedded in the turbine blade as it was being built. Testing on a research wind turbine in Texas has shown that using a trio of sensors and "estimator model" software accurately reveal how much force is being exerted on the blades.
In the future, turbine blades could be fitted with flaps like those on an airplane's wings. Sensors inside the blades would enable blade pitch to be adjusted in real time to respond to changing conditions.
"Wind energy is playing an increasing role in providing electrical power," says Adams. "The United States is now the largest harvester of wind energy in the world. The question is, what can be done to wind turbines to make them more efficient, more cost-effective and more reliable?"
The Renewable Energy: Global Industry Guide put the value of the renewables market at USD$246 million in 2007, and there's no shortage of companies trying to improve on existing technologies and share the profits. Catch the Wind is a Virginia-based company that has developed a fibre optic laser sensor, the Vindicator. It sits atop turbines and measures wind data in real time, allowing adjustments to be made to the turbine well before the wind comes. The company's research suggests it can provide an increase of up to a 10 percent in turbine output power.
The Leviathan Wind Energizer claims to increase power output by between 15 percent and 30 percent, when the turbine is spinning. It uses aerodynamic modeling to direct the surrounding wind flow to the critical area of the blades, via a passive structure located near each of the turbines.
ExRo Technologies believes its generator reduces costs and increases output by up to 50 percent because more than 90 percent of its energy can be converted into electricity. Rather than use a traditional mechanical generator to compensate for variations in the wind, they have developed a self-adapting electrical system that can scale up and down with available energy in a way that would take almost 70 traditional generators to match.
This isn't the only example that demonstrates biomimicry can provide answers. We recently covered the Tubercle Technology, a breakthrough in aerodynamic design offering more power, less noise and the ability to generate power at wind speeds that are much too slow for traditionally shaped turbines.
Clean, renewable energy is freely available – in the form of wind, sun and water. However, harnessing it reliably and cost-effectively remains a barrier. Wind power is one of the fastest growing alternative energy markets and researchers at Purdue University and Sandia National Laboratories in West Lafayette, Indiana, are working to make wind turbines more efficient, reliable and resilient.
They are using sensors and computational software that constantly monitor forces exerted on wind turbine blades with the aim of developing a smarter wind turbine structure.
"Our aim is to do two things: improve reliability and prevent failure. The most direct way to enable those two capabilities is by monitoring forces exerted on the blades by winds," says Douglas Adams, a professor of mechanical engineering and director of Purdue's Center for Systems Integrity.
According to doctoral student Jonathan White, who is working on the project with Adams, "the ultimate goal is to feed information from sensors into an active control system that precisely adjusts components to optimize efficiency."
One of the main problems with wind turbines is that the wind can suddenly change direction and force, decreasing efficiency and causing costly damage to blades. The team from Purdue and Sandia believes its technique can help prevent this by providing real-time information to the turbine's control system and predicting fatigue.
Sensors were embedded in the turbine blade as it was being built. Testing on a research wind turbine in Texas has shown that using a trio of sensors and "estimator model" software accurately reveal how much force is being exerted on the blades.
In the future, turbine blades could be fitted with flaps like those on an airplane's wings. Sensors inside the blades would enable blade pitch to be adjusted in real time to respond to changing conditions.
"Wind energy is playing an increasing role in providing electrical power," says Adams. "The United States is now the largest harvester of wind energy in the world. The question is, what can be done to wind turbines to make them more efficient, more cost-effective and more reliable?"
The Renewable Energy: Global Industry Guide put the value of the renewables market at USD$246 million in 2007, and there's no shortage of companies trying to improve on existing technologies and share the profits. Catch the Wind is a Virginia-based company that has developed a fibre optic laser sensor, the Vindicator. It sits atop turbines and measures wind data in real time, allowing adjustments to be made to the turbine well before the wind comes. The company's research suggests it can provide an increase of up to a 10 percent in turbine output power.
The Leviathan Wind Energizer claims to increase power output by between 15 percent and 30 percent, when the turbine is spinning. It uses aerodynamic modeling to direct the surrounding wind flow to the critical area of the blades, via a passive structure located near each of the turbines.
ExRo Technologies believes its generator reduces costs and increases output by up to 50 percent because more than 90 percent of its energy can be converted into electricity. Rather than use a traditional mechanical generator to compensate for variations in the wind, they have developed a self-adapting electrical system that can scale up and down with available energy in a way that would take almost 70 traditional generators to match.
This isn't the only example that demonstrates biomimicry can provide answers. We recently covered the Tubercle Technology, a breakthrough in aerodynamic design offering more power, less noise and the ability to generate power at wind speeds that are much too slow for traditionally shaped turbines.
Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have come out with positive news about increased efficiency of thin-film solar cells. As we know that scientists are trying to increase the efficiency of the solar cells so that they can be considered as serious alternative to the fossil fuels. Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) too are working at this angle. They opted for the computer simulations to probe deeper into the indium/gallium combination to increase the efficiency of Copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS) thin-film solar cells. Till now CIGS has shown only about 20% efficiency though theoretically they can attain the efficiency levels of 30%.
Advantages of CIGS:
CIGS cells are cheaper than their counterpart silicon cells due to lower material and fabrication costs resulting in lowered manufacturing costs. CIGS has direct band-gap material therefore they exhibit a very strong light absorption tendency, and only 1-2 micrometers of CIGS is enough to absorb most of the sunlight. Conventional silicon photovoltaic cells are rigid but CIGS cells are flexible. Thin-film solar cells are slowly topping the popularity chart of solar market.
Working on the Efficiency of CIGS: Currently CIGS cells are showing efficiency of around 20%. These cells absorb sunlight through a thin layer made of copper, indium, gallium, selenium, and sulphur. The scientists at Mainz University headed by Professor Dr Claudia Felser are exploiting the computer simulations to find out the properties of CIGS. This research is a part of the comCIGS project. This project is financed by the Federal German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMU). The researchers are concentrating on the optimum proportion of indium/gallium puzzle. What ratio of indium/gallium would be ideal to increase the efficiency of CIGS? It was discovered earlier that the desired ratio should be 30:70, in practice; the highest efficiency level has been obtained with the exactly opposite ratio of 70:30.
Christian Ludwig who is the member of the Professor Felser's team worked on the calculations using a hybrid method. This hybrid method included a combination of density functional calculations and Monte Carlo simulations. Dr Thomas Gruhn is the head of the theory group in the Prof. Felser's team. He says, "Density functional calculations make it possible to assess the energies of local structures from the quantum mechanical point of view. The results can be used to determine temperature effects over wide length scale ranges with the help of Monte-Carlo simulations."
Homogeneity of the material is the key to high efficiency:
Scientists find out that the indium and gallium atoms are not distributed evenly in the CIGS material; there is a phase when indium and gallium are completely separate. This separation happens at just below room temperature. Researchers also tried out various combinations of temperatures and discovered that the higher the temperature, the more homogeneous the material becomes. The more the lack of homogeneity of the gallium-rich material the lower the efficiency levels of gallium-rich CIGS cells. This phenomenon is discovered for the first time by Prof Felser's team. The team also discovered a better way to manufacture CIGS solar cells. The research team says if gallium rich material is produced at higher temperatures, the material is notably more homogeneous. For maintaining the homogeneity, the gallium rich material should be cooled down rapidly.
Glass is used as substrate for solar cells. Glass has always restricted process temperatures. But Schott AG has been successful in inventing a special glass with which the process temperature can be increased. Naturally the cells would be more homogeneous. This would lead to the production of cells with a much greater efficiency level. Gruhn says, "We are currently working on large-format solar cells which should outperform conventional cells in terms of efficiency. The prospects look promising. RQERUBWUU4TX "
Hannover, Germany The world's largest annual Hannover Messe industry technology fair took place this year at the end of April in Hannover, Germany. The fair boasted 6,150 exhibitors from 61 different nations and around 210,000 visitors – of these one in four from abroad. South Korea was Hannover Messe Partner Country 2009.
The wind industry presented itself well at the Hannover Messe industry event, where equipment suppliers and service providers alike were mainly concentrated in Hall 27. A simultaneous conference entitled "A World Energy Dialogue" was an integrated two-day parallel event reflecting the growing importance of sustainable energy supply as a global issue affecting everyone.
Optimistic Wind Industry
The mood regarding wind market prospects for the remainder of 2009 can be described as generally optimistic. A pleasant and encouraging surprise was the far more positive market outlook compared to opinions expressed at EWEC 2009, which took place one month earlier. EWEC respondents typically expected a 20 – 25% overall wind market volume decline for 2009. Hannover exhibitors only weeks later quoted growth percentages that ranged between the industry losing 5 – 10% in volume to some surprising estimates of 5 – 10% growth.
Unfortunately wind industry news is not overall positive. Vestas Wind Systems A/S in its 1st quarter 2009 report released on 28 April 2009 announced to lay-off 1,900 of its workers in Denmark and the UK. This is due too "substantial structural excess capacity in Northern Europe" according to the report. It continues: "… The projects that will help Vestas meet its forecast for 2009 are currently only awaiting funding; everything else is in place. Consequently Vestas expects that significant contracts will be signed during the coming months." In the same report Vestas announced a new version of the 850-kW turbine model with its larger 60-meter rotor diameter in China, which is specifically developed for local low- and medium-wind speed sites.
Other wind turbine suppliers present in Hannover included major players like Enercon, Ecotécnia, Fuhrländer, GE, Nordex, REpower, and Siemens.
At a press conference German companies EnwB and Siemens signed a contract for the delivery of twenty-one 2.3-MW Siemens turbines for Germany's 2010 Baltic I offshore wind farm. Siemens this year commenced with the building of five offshore wind farms in both the UK and Denmark.
Global Wind Power
Fuhrländer displayed a full-scale model of the its 2.5-MW FL 2500 nacelle, a product development by engineering consultancy W2E based in Rostock, Germany. Apart from Fuhrländer the well-received W100 turbine model is now being produced by eviag AG and Chinese company A-Power while further global production expansion in Montana (US) is planned. In Hannover, aviag announced a major further cooperation with W2E, this time involving a worldwide license for a new 2-MW W93 sister product. A W93 prototype is planned for this autumn, followed by a 0-series in 2010 and serial production start in 2011.
Cairo (Egypt) based SWEG, a wind power subsidiary company of ELSEWEDY Cables, last August acquired a 30% share in Spain's mTorres. The latter has already developed a novel direct drive 1.5-MW turbine that is now available in a 1.65-MW version with three different rotor diameters.
A larger 2.5-MW sister turbine model is under development, with a prototype planned for 2010. Part of SWEG's ambitious wind power plan is to commence wind turbine manufacturing in Egypt. One 1.65-MW turbine as part of a special project will be erected at a demanding Red Sea desert location, explained SWEG managing director Faisal Elssa: "Egypt's New & Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) will conduct a comprehensive turbine duration testing program. These tests especially focuses at the (air-cooled) generator extreme temperature behavior and turbine built-in capabilities to cope with continuous exposure to fine sand dust particles," he said.
Another new wind industry player that presented itself in Hannover is Delaware (US) based Avantis Group. Its Chinese joint venture partner Guangxi Yinhe Avantis Wind Power Co. Ltd. (GYAW) built the first prototypes of a new IEC WC IIA water-cooled 2.5-MW direct drive turbine model with 93.2-meter rotor diameter, named AV 928. The turbine is fitted with a permanent magnet generator, developed by Avantis spin-off company German Drive Systems, and manufactured by Hyundai Heavy Industries of Korea. The company also developed sister models of 2.3-MW and 3.5-MW (offshore) and during the next few years plans additional production facilities in Europe and the US.
Super Class
In the wind turbine super class REpower presented its offshore 6M turbine with "a guaranteed rated electrical power of 6,150 kilowatts (kW)." This power rating record is achieved with a double fed induction generator, making the 6M into the world's most powerful wind turbine. (See image, left, courtesy REpower; photo: Jan Oelker.)
However, in the continuing megawatt race, BARD Engineering has already announced that is plans to scale up its 5-MW offshore turbine to 6.5-MW. Enercon is rumored to be testing an 8-MW version of the E-126 (onshore) giant. The German market leader now manufactures one 6-MW E-126 onshore turbine a month and this number will expand gradually to meet growing international demand, said a company representative in Hannover. (See lead image of the E-126 onshore turbine, above, courtesy Enercon.)
This year Enercon presented itself in a spacious new design booth. A partly open 2-MW E-82 nacelle with characteristic egg-shaped aluminum cover attracted many viewers, while one of the screens displayed details of the Enercon's revolutionary E-ship fitted with four spinning Enercon-designed cylindrical steel Flettner rotors. The operating principle known as the Magnus effect is named after German physicist, Heinrich Gustav Magnus. Another German physicist Anton Flettner first demonstrated the concept in 1924.
The 130-metre long E-ship is planned to make its maiden voyage by the end of 2009 and will be employed for transporting turbines and components. The E-ship is claimed to achieve a 30 - 40% fuel saving compared to a vessel of the same size with conventional diesel powered propulsion.
Success greets the research team of National Research Council's National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) and the University of Alberta. The Plastic Solar Cells have now an operating life of 8 months instead of mere hours. And they are low-cost, environmentally efficient, unsealed plastic dollar cells – a green energy source. Developing economically viable plastic solar panels and to produce them in large scale has been the long time goal for the scientists as the cost of ultra high-purity silicon used in the traditionally manufactured solar cells is quite prohibitive. These are the solar cells of future – to be available to common man easily. A University of Alberta-NINT team has been focusing on this for quite some time.
Prototype solar cell:
A multi-disciplinary team has been successful in developing a prototype solar panel. It was operating at high capacity for about 10 hours. After that, problems developed within which reduced the efficiency of solar cells. They found that electrode's chemical coating was the root cause of the problem. For past few months, work has been going on to correct this problem.
Role of electrode:
Producing power from solar cells is the key responsibility of electrodes and the research team found that the unstable chemical coating started leaking around the circuitry of the solar cell and reduced production capacity. They developed a new coating which solved this problem.
New polymer coating:
The team led by David Rider, consisting of Michael J. Brett, Jillian Buriak from U of A-NINT has been successful in developing a durable and longer lasting coating of polymer for the electrode which stopped the chemical leaking that reduced the production capacity. This new polymer coated electrode makes the solar cell work at high capacity continuously.
Success story:
At the time David Rider and colleagues presented their research paper in Advanced Functional Materials on June 22, 2010, the solar prototype cell had performed already for 500 hours at high capacity. In the highly competitive field of plastic solar-cell technology, this research by U of A-NINT team is considered to be a great achievement. And the cell continued to work for 8 months altogether before being damaged in transit between laboratories.
Future:
The future looks bright for hybrid organic solar cells. In Rider's words "Inexpensive, lightweight plastic solar-cell products, like a blanket or sheet that can be rolled up, will change the solar energy industry".
After one Oregon Wind Farm grapples with unhappy neighbors and noise pollution laws, another company moves to ensure tolerance for their turbines with cash.
Invenergy's 48 wind turbines whirring in north-central Oregon have been creating quite a stir. Since the 72-megawatt wind farm Willow Creek began operating last year, some residents have been complaining of sleepless nights, anxiety, headaches and nausea. They've been blaming their condition, sometimes referred to as "wind turbine syndrome," on the pulsing noise emanating from spinning turbines near their homes. Others don't seem to mind.
Some noise solutions discussed have been to shut certain turbines down at night. In May, the Morrow County Planning Commission gave Invenergy, the company that runs Willow Creek, six months to comply with Oregon's noise pollution laws.
William Yardley reports in Saturday's New York Times:
Oregon is one of a growing number of places that have drafted specific regulations restricting noise from . The Oregon law allows for noise to exceed what is considered an area's ambient noise level by only a certain amount. But what those ambient levels are is sometimes disputed, as is how and where they should be measured.
And while state law limits turbine noise, the state office that once enforced industrial noise laws, housed within the Department of Environmental Quality, was disbanded in 1991, long before wind power became a state priority.
Caithness Energy is constructing a bigger, 900-megawatt wind farm next to Willow Creek. According to the New York Times, the company is taking preemptive action to avoid conflict over the decibel levels of their 32,000-acre Shepherd's Flat wind farm. Caithness Energy is paying residents to sign noise easements. The contracts would basically waive their right to officially complain about noise from the 338 Shepherd's Flat turbines that will start whirring in 2013.
The amount to keep quiet? $5,000.
In April, I discussed efforts by the Air Force to shut down the Shepherd's Flat wind farm due to its possible interference with a radar station 50 miles from the site.
While reports of wind farms psychologically affecting their neighbors have occurred in countries across the world, more research on whether a direct connection exists between the noise and vibrations of windmills and ill health is needed. Whether $5,000 will help people sleep at night also remains to be seen.
When BP Solar made the decision to close its Sydney-based PV cell and Solar Panel Manufacturing Plant on November 18, 2008, it wasn't just the 200 employees' hearts that sank. As BP closed its doors for the final time, Australia's PV manufacturing industry looked like it would never again see the light of day. It was then that the unexpected occurred, the fate of the dormant plant was left in the hands of a nuclear energy research company. SilexSolar has now given the facility a new breath of life as it opens its doors once more.
When previous owner BP Solar ran things at the manufacturing plant, which is based in the Sydney Olympic Park, the factory represented approximately 17% of its 300MW of manufacturing capabilities. At that time, this was the only facility in the country producing monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar panels. The closure then brought a black cloud over the country, identifying Australia as a solar research and supply country rather than the preferred contributor and manufacturer.
BP Solar's decision to up sticks was motivated, of course, by monetary success. The fierce competition from companies based in Japan and China refocused the company's operations at larger scale plants in lower cost manufacturing countries, which added the benefit of being closer to Chinese sources of silicon meaning costs were significantly slashed. And so the facility was closed.
However, the story does not of course end with a dust coated plant left in the dark for all eternity.
Australian uranium enrichment group Silex Systems' subsidiary, SilexSolar, spotted the bargain and managed to purchase the plant from BP Solar in 2009 for a far lower figure than would be expected, as BP was keen to move on. SilexSolar then worked to get the facility up-and-running as soon as was possible.
Now that the plant's machines are back in action, the Olympic Park plant will produce up to 10,000 rooftop solar panel systems a year, filling more than 10% of Australia's demand for solar panels, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
However, while the revival of the plant is an obvious boost for the lagging Australian industry - - which suffers from a lack of investment compared with other countries such as China, the U.S. and Germany - - the re-opening of the plant will force a moral dilemma on go-greeners in the country. Do they really want to invest in Australian-made solar panels, when they will also, indirectly, be investing in nuclear energy?
Silex Systems' CEO, Michael Goldsworthy thinks they will. "Solar and nuclear energy are a great fit," he said. "Looking down the barrel of climate change and global warming, we need to develop alternative electricity sources."
While it is obvious that Goldworthy would take this stance, it is unlikely that the company's bloodline will affect the sales of its solar panels with a noticeable effect, as most customers will appreciate the nuclear research company's investment. Solar energy is becoming more of a common investment with each year that passes; it is not solely environmentalist, earth-praising go-greeners that are turning to renewable energy sources, it is also Joe and Jane Average who want to invest. However, like everything, only time will truly tell how successful the plant will be.
The re-opening of this plant really is great news for the Australian solar industry (nuclear complaints aside) as the demand for solar panels has significantly surged since 2006 when the national solar incentives scheme came into effect. Solar feed-in tariffs, especially the gross variety, are boosting the market in the country by a noteworthy proportion, and are expected to continue to do so. The Sydney-based manufacturing facility will now match the country's effort to increase its percentage of renewable energy generation by producing a product to meet the industry's growing needs.
http://www.energievair.com/maximizer/Sydney-largest--solar-panel-plant--rescued-from-the-brink-of-extinction1
Ontario's Green Energy Act along with Ontario Power Authority's feed-in tariff program (FIT) have stimulated corporate expansion into the solar technology marketplace. These companies could help create significant numbers of green jobs in 2010 and 2011.
Windsor, Ontario will be the site of a new Solar Panel Manufacturer, Solar Source Ontario, part of the SolarBancorp Group of Companies. It expects to create nearly 500 green jobs within the next three years as it produces solar panels for the building integrated, ground mounted, and commercial rooftop markets. Production is slated to begin at the end of 2011, with the first 150 full time green jobs created over the next year. The project is in conjunction with India-based technology manufacturer, HHV Solar.
Some of the green jobs available will be in assembling, engineering, and other solar technology related work. Ross Beatty, president of Solar Source Corporation, said the company will primarily hire "local talent."
Other Solar Technology Companies Plan Green Jobs Expansion in Ontario
Also gearing up for production is Unconquered Sun Solar Technologies, a Tecumseh, Ontario firm that will start producing solar panels in June 2010. CEO, Sean Moore, is confident that the solar technology marketplace can absorb competition. He sees a "huge opportunity with implementation of [Ontario's] Green Energy Act." In fact, the legislation and incentives offered under the Act are what originally prompted him to plunge into the energy market.
Moore's company expects to create up to 50 new green jobs during 2010. It already has orders from developers and local customers.
Launched in 2005, SolGate Solar is another company eager to establish a more permanent foothold in the energy game. With its 15,000 square foot facility just north of Toronto, it claims to be the first large-scale photovoltaic panel manufacturer in Canada. Since the Green Energy Act and feed-in-tariff programs were launched, SolGate has almost doubled its workforce and expects to triple it by the time production reaches full capacity.
Demand for Solar Training & Green Job Prep
The market will determine the exact number of new jobs created, but demand is expected to be high. Already, solar training programs are gearing up across the province in anticipation. Associate Director of Ontario Solar Academy, David Gower, details how unmet demand in previous months prompted his school to expand the number of monthly solar training classes offered. "Every month, our classes sold out, and the waiting list became difficult to manage. We wanted to keep class sizes small, so we had to begin offering more courses."
In such a high-demand marketplace, filling these new green jobs with enough workers trained in solar, wind, and energy storage technology could prove challenging and may even impede the pace with which Ontario fulfills its 2030 Green Energy goals. However, rising employment could very well provide the training and career incentives needed to keep the province's sustainability efforts on track.
http://www.energievair.com/maximizer/Solar-Technology-Manufacturers--to-Create-Hundreds-of--Ontario-Green-Jobs1
Current high costs for the type of silicon used in photovoltaics have significantly driven up the price of conventional solar panels. Solaria's cells generate about 90% of a conventional solar panel's power, while using half as much silicon, says Kevin Gibson, Solaria's CTO.
Ordinarily, the silicon in a solar panel spans its surface, collecting light from as much area as possible. But Solaria slices the silicon into thin strips and spaces them apart so that they only account for about half the panel's area. A clear molded plastic cover collects light from the entire panel and funnels it to the strips of silicon.
This approach saves money because the total costs of the molded plastic, other extra materials, and added manufacturing steps still are lower than the cost of the additional silicon used in conventional solar panels. Solaria also reduces costs by using manufacturing equipment already developed for the semiconductor industry, thus avoiding expensive customized equipment. Gibson says Solaria's first products will be economical enough to compete with panels produced by much larger companies, and that successive product generations will cost between 10 and 30 percent less than their competitors.
Silicon prices are high now. But the element is abundant, and already new facilities are coming on-line to produce more refined silicon. For Solaria is to be competitive in the long run, it will need to implement other cost-saving measures, especially improving the overall efficiency of its solar panels, says Tonio Buonassisi, a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT.
Such improvements are possible, Gibson says. For example, in conventional solar cells, wires for collecting current are placed on top of the cell, where they block some of the incoming sunlight. Solaria could place its wires between the strips of silicon, where they block no light. Because the wires wouldn't need to be made thin to avoid blocking light, they could be sized to collect electricity more efficiently.
