Solar Power World

Thin is in — for solar cells

Left to right: Aaswath Raman, graduate student in applied physics, Shanhui Fan, associate professor of electrical engineering, and Zongfu Yu, postdoctoral researcher in electrical engineering. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences will publish Fan and Yu’s work. (Photo: Linda A. Cicero, Stanford University News Service) Engineers are trying to make solar power an affordable energy source. Those at Stanford have conducted research finding that light ricocheting around... Read More

Solar panels, clean thyself…so they do

If you find dusting a boring chore, imagine keeping dust and grime off objects spread out over an area of 25 to 50 football fields. That’s the problem facing companies that deploy large-scale solar power installations, and scientists today presented the development of one solution — self-dusting solar panels ― based on technology developed for space missions to Mars. In a report at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), they described... Read More

Thin-film CIGS solar cell sets new efficiency

Researchers from the Germany Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW) have broken a new efficiency record for thin-film copper indium gallium diselenide solar cells. The researchers produced a 20.3 percent efficient cell, only a fraction less than the best multi-crystalline cells on the market. However, producing a cell in a lab is much different than mass production. CIGS cells typically reach about 10-11 percent when manufactured in large numbers. The area... Read More

Vision sensor spots tiny solar-cell flaws

SensoPart Industriesensorik GmbH (Wieden, Germany) expanded its program of vision sensors by adding a product for photovoltaics: The new vision solar sensor FA 46 is the only sensor in its price category, says the company, that measures each individual cell and is able to identify the smallest bevel inconsistencies. Thereby, it offers ideal conditions for its use in handling areas of wafer and cell manufacturing. The vision solar sensor FA 46 examines cracks and defects of... Read More

How fused quartz improves solar panels

As the photovoltaic industry develops, fused quartz becomes more vital in creating thin films and silicon chips as well as in manufacturing and laboratory ware. The success of renewable-energy sources depends on improved efficiencies. Fused quartz is a material of primary importance because it improves the efficiency of solar powered devices. It’s also  helping researchers drive down the cost of solar devices. Here’s how. Quartz glass is used in many facets of photovoltaic... Read More

Thin Film Solar Panel Becoming Latest Solar Trend

People have been putting in efforts to improve a different source of energy by harnessing the sun’s potential, all while continuing the fight against the bad effects of global warming. To be able to produce electricity for their homes and offices, people are using a particular type of solar panel called crystallin silicon. It is very unlikely for crystalline silicon to go into massive production due to the high cost of having this type of solar panel installed. Hence,... Read More

Researchers Cool Silicon Until It Melts

Like an ice cube on a warm day, most materials melt — that is, change from a solid to a liquid state — as they get warmer. But a few oddball materials do the reverse: They melt as they get cooler. Now a team of researchers at MIT has found that silicon, the most widely used material for computer chips and solar cells, can exhibit this strange property of “retrograde melting” when it contains high concentrations of certain metals dissolved in it.The... Read More

University of Minnesota Researchers Clear Major Hurdle in Road to High-efficiency Solar Cells

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL, MN — A team of University of Minnesota-led researchers has cleared a major hurdle in the drive to build solar cells with potential efficiencies up to twice as high as current levels, which rarely exceed 30 percent.By showing how energy that is now being lost from semiconductors in solar cells can be captured and transferred to electric circuits, the team has opened a new avenue for solar cell researchers seeking to build cheaper, more efficient... Read More

MIT Sucessfully Prints Solar Cell On Everyday Paper

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have successfully coated paper with a solar cell, part of a suite of research projects aimed at energy breakthroughs. Susan Hockfield, MIT’s president, and Paolo Scaroni, CEO of Italian oil company Eni, on Tuesday officially dedicated the Eni-MIT Solar Frontiers Research Center. Eni invested $5 million into the center, which is also receiving a $2 million National Science Foundation grant, said Vladimir Bulovic,... Read More

First Solar-Powered Airplane Takes Flight

The Solar Impulse lifted off from a military airport at a speed no faster than 28 mph (45 kph) after briefly accelerating down the runway. It slowly gained altitude above the green-and-beige fields and eventually faded into the horizon as villagers watched from the nearest hills. During Wednesday’s 90-minute flight, the plane completed a series of turns by gently tilting its black-and-white wings, which are as wide as those of a 747 jumbo jet. It climbed nearly a mile... Read More

Solar Panels Inspire LED Breakthrough

Light bulbs that last 100 years and fill rooms with brilliant ambiance may become a reality sooner rather than later, thanks to a National Renewable Energy Laboratory discovery. NREL scientists found a way to generate a tricky combination of green and red that may just prove to be the biggest boost for illumination since Edison’s light bulb. Green isn’t just a symbol of environmentalism, it is a real color, and a desperately needed one for researchers looking... Read More

Asthetically Pleasing Solar Cells Save Energy

Solar engineers have long sought to develop an energy-generating glazing that is as capable of producing power as it is easy on the eyes. The feat may just have been accomplished by The Center for Architecture Science and Ecology (CASE), who have developed a concentrating solar system that is not only modern and attractive but extremely efficient and cost effective. The system is made up of rows of pyramid-shaped glass receptors that move with sulight throughout the day, magnifying... Read More

Obama Gives $2.3B In Tax Credits to Solar & Wind Energy

President Barack Obama last week announced the award of US $2.3 billion in Recovery Act Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits. One hundred eighty three projects in 43 states will receive that funds that are meant to help create tens of thousands of jobs through the domestic manufacturing of advanced clean energy technologies including solar, wind and efficiency and energy management technologies. While projects selected for this tax credit generally must be placed in service... Read More