Solar Power World

Company Names Prominent Renewable Energy Advocates to Board

Principal Solar, a publicly traded renewable energy holding company which concentrates its resources on rapidly advancing the inevitable, worldwide utilization of solar power through a unique roll-up strategy, today announced the appointments of Carl Hefton, a partner with Dallas Social Venture, and Ron Seidel, PE, a principal of RBS Energy Consulting, to its Board of Directors (BOD). “Ron is an industry veteran who has the credentials and experience to drive our business goals... Read More

Voltaic Systems Launches Solar Charger For iPads

New York-based Voltaic Systems announced the release of its new case to charge the battery using solar energy. Therefore, users of ‘tablet’ devices will be able to take it with them because they will be able to charge the battery at any time.     Voltaic Systems' new solar I-Pad Charger “Voltaic set out to design a lightweight case that could charge a tablet quickly, but also match the sleekness and simplicity of the many of the tablets,”... Read More

Solar CEOs have a lot to say at tradeshow roundtable

Solar CEOs have a lot to say at tradeshow roundtable At the recent Solar Power International trade show and conference in California, several company executives and one state commissioner gathered to discuss the state of the solar industry. Marc Gunther from Fortune magazine led the discussion through topics of policy, what would be needed to drive the industry forward, the ambitious SEIA and SEPA goal to add 10 GW of solar power to the U.S. by 2015, and other issues affecting... Read More

Solar Power, meet Plastic

Could plastic herald a revolution in the solar power market? Cheaper and lighter compared to silicon, plastic photovoltaics (PV) could just be the answer.“Plastics are much cheaper to process than silicon. In principle the devices we’ve been making might be very, very cheap and cover large areas,” said David Lidzey from the UK’s University of Sheffield. PV is far more flexible, allowing for easier installation.  “If you’ve got panels that almost roll... Read More

Comprehensive test techniques for grid-tied solar inverters

Eric Turner,  Product Marketing Manager, AMETEK Programmable Power, Renewable Energy Initiatives, San Diego, Calif. The ever-increasing deployment of residential and commercial photovoltaic arrays has created a high demand for small solar inverters, but they must be performance-tested to ensure they are ready for the long haul. The AMETEK MX is an example of a bi-directional power source that simulates the interconnection of the inverter to the grid under a range of operating... 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

Solar Alternatives for Energy Generation

By John R. Gyorki, Editorial Director Theoretical scientists have discovered many techniques for converting sunlight into electric energy, but only photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) systems show the most promise for practical applications.It’s always fun and interesting for engineers to focus on the technical development of emerging technologies such as solar energy and specifically, photovoltaics. But we often tend to forget the influence of... Read More