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Firm starts commercial grade DSTF production
News/Roundup
Firm starts commercial grade DSTF production G24 Innovations Limited (G24i), headquartered in Cardiff, Wales, has announced the production of what it says is the “world’s first commercial grade Dye Sensitised Thin Film” (DSTF). The technology expects to make solar PV a viable renewable energy option for a range of new industries and geographies. According to G24i, its Dye Sensitised Thin Film represents a technological breakthrough that combines innovative material science and nanotechnology to generate renewable power in a process much like nature’s photosynthesis. The solar cells and products are extremely lightweight, durable and are unique in that the thin film produces electricity in both low light and indoor conditions. Because G24i’s advanced solar cells work under all real-world conditions – sunrise, sunset, rainy and cloudy days – the cells provide more electricity to the user than most of the highly efficient traditional solar cells, which produce at their high efficiency levels for only a few hours on a sunny day. Clemens Betzel, president of G24i says that DSTF has been at the lab stage for some 18 years: “The production of commercial grade Dye
Sensitised Thin Film marks an important leap forward for G24i and for the PV industry as a whole. This technology will bring solar energy into the mainstream, opening up a wealth of new applications and opportunities and successfully navigating the barriers to mass production experienced by other solar technologies.” The dye sensitised solar cell, known as the “Graetzel Cell” was originally developed by Dr. Michael Graetzel, a member of the G24i Advisory Board, at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL). G24i holds a worldwide license to manufacture Dye Sensitised Thin Film. • G24 has also recently announced a partnership with BASF, which is manufacturing ionic liquids – salts which are liquid below 100°C – that are suitable for use across a broad range of different applications ranging from processing chemicals and polymers, to engineering liquids like hydraulic liquids or lubricants, to uses in electrochemistry. The two companies will initiate a program to develop ionic liquids and formulations that further improve both performance and efficiency of DSTF technology.
BT announces major wind scheme Telecommunications giant BT has unveiled plans to develop windfarms aimed at generating up to 25% of its existing UK electricity requirements by 2016. The windfarm scheme represents the UK’s biggest corporate wind power project outside of the energy sector. The project will cost up to £250m, and will bring together third party funding and renewable energy partners to safeguard future supplies of clean, green energy for BT as part of the company’s strategy to reduce carbon emissions. BT is one of Britain’s biggest consumers of electricity, with an annual requirement of around 0.7% of the UK’s entire consumption. BT’s wind farms could generate a total of 250MW of electricity – enough to meet the power needs of 122,000 homes or a city the size of Coventry. This would prevent the release of 500,000 tonnes of CO 2 each year compared with coal generation – equivalent to a quarter of a million return air trips to New York. BT is currently identifying high wind-yield sites on or adjacent to BT-owned land for development with the aim of generating power from 2012 onwards. It was confirmed today that BT has applied for planning permission for test
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renewable energy focus
masts at Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station in Cornwall, Wideford Hill Radio Station in Orkney and Scousburgh Radio Station in Shetland. Subject to planning consent and suitable sites being secured, BT’s windfarms would have a total installed generating capacity of around 100MW by 2012, equivalent to around fifty wind turbines, with the remaining 150MW targeted by 2016. BT is committed to working responsibly with local communities and will ensure that they are engaged throughout the development process. A BT spokesman told renewable energy focus, “BT expects to partner with a third-party company, probably in the energy sector, and finance the entire cost externally – not on BT’s balance sheet. BT will be bring to the table its land assets, planning permissions, substantive project expertise and a long-term commitment to purchase all the renewable energy produced by the wind farms. We have been working behind the scenes for two years already, evaluating our sites and refining the business model. We believe we have the commercial, technical and financial firepower to deliver this project, and we are being advised by the best external experts in the business – E&Y, PMSS and AEAT”.
November/December 2007
IN BRIEF NaiKun Wind Energy Group Inc is to install a ZephIR LiDAR, a laser wind velocity measurement system, at its offshore wind project site near the coast of Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands). Developed by QinetiQ of the United Kingdom, the ZephIR LiDAR technology provides a greater profile of wind resources than regular cup anemometers because it measures wind speed, direction, turbulence and shear at multiple heights; The CORUS Centre, the Ion Beam Laboratory (LAFI) and LM Glasfiber have formed a research partnership to develop a surface treatment process to reduce the formation and build-up of different types of ice on the external parts of wind turbines. The project involves developing an anti-icing process to treat the surface of wind turbine blades based on ion implantation and UV irradiation, and optimising the technical parameters of the process in order to make it fit for industrial use. Over the course of the project, the adhesion of ice shall be tested before and after each type of treatment in order to assess the effectiveness of the process; American Superconductor Corp., an energy technologies company, and TECO-Westinghouse Motor Co., a manufacturer of motors and generators, have formed a research joint venture to develop high temperature superconductor and related technologies for high-power, direct drive wind generators for offshore wind farms; Merrill Lynch has introduced two indices designed to offer investors exposure to the fast-growing biofuels market – with “greater liquidity, transparency and efficiency than financial instruments currently available”. The indices are the MLCX Biofuels Index and the MLCX Biofuels Plus Index. IBC SOLAR AG has unveiled its first subsidiary in Greece. The joint venture with Lanitis Solar Ltd will trade under the name IBC SOLAR A.E, with IBC owning a 51% stake;
Firm starts commercial grade DSTF production G24 Innovations Limited (G24i), headquartered in Cardiff, Wales, has announced the production of what it says is the “world’s first commercial grade Dye Sensitised Thin Film” (DSTF). The technology expects to make solar PV a viable renewable energy option for a range of new industries and geographies. According to G24i, its Dye Sensitised Thin Film represents a technological breakthrough that combines innovative material science and nanotechnology to generate renewable power in a process much like nature’s photosynthesis. The solar cells and products are extremely lightweight, durable and are unique in that the thin film produces electricity in both low light and indoor conditions. Because G24i’s advanced solar cells work under all real-world conditions – sunrise, sunset, rainy and cloudy days – the cells provide more electricity to the user than most of the highly efficient traditional solar cells, which produce at their high efficiency levels for only a few hours on a sunny day. Clemens Betzel, president of G24i says that DSTF has been at the lab stage for some 18 years: “The production of commercial grade Dye
Sensitised Thin Film marks an important leap forward for G24i and for the PV industry as a whole. This technology will bring solar energy into the mainstream, opening up a wealth of new applications and opportunities and successfully navigating the barriers to mass production experienced by other solar technologies.” The dye sensitised solar cell, known as the “Graetzel Cell” was originally developed by Dr. Michael Graetzel, a member of the G24i Advisory Board, at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL). G24i holds a worldwide license to manufacture Dye Sensitised Thin Film. • G24 has also recently announced a partnership with BASF, which is manufacturing ionic liquids – salts which are liquid below 100°C – that are suitable for use across a broad range of different applications ranging from processing chemicals and polymers, to engineering liquids like hydraulic liquids or lubricants, to uses in electrochemistry. The two companies will initiate a program to develop ionic liquids and formulations that further improve both performance and efficiency of DSTF technology.
BT announces major wind scheme Telecommunications giant BT has unveiled plans to develop windfarms aimed at generating up to 25% of its existing UK electricity requirements by 2016. The windfarm scheme represents the UK’s biggest corporate wind power project outside of the energy sector. The project will cost up to £250m, and will bring together third party funding and renewable energy partners to safeguard future supplies of clean, green energy for BT as part of the company’s strategy to reduce carbon emissions. BT is one of Britain’s biggest consumers of electricity, with an annual requirement of around 0.7% of the UK’s entire consumption. BT’s wind farms could generate a total of 250MW of electricity – enough to meet the power needs of 122,000 homes or a city the size of Coventry. This would prevent the release of 500,000 tonnes of CO 2 each year compared with coal generation – equivalent to a quarter of a million return air trips to New York. BT is currently identifying high wind-yield sites on or adjacent to BT-owned land for development with the aim of generating power from 2012 onwards. It was confirmed today that BT has applied for planning permission for test
18
renewable energy focus
masts at Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station in Cornwall, Wideford Hill Radio Station in Orkney and Scousburgh Radio Station in Shetland. Subject to planning consent and suitable sites being secured, BT’s windfarms would have a total installed generating capacity of around 100MW by 2012, equivalent to around fifty wind turbines, with the remaining 150MW targeted by 2016. BT is committed to working responsibly with local communities and will ensure that they are engaged throughout the development process. A BT spokesman told renewable energy focus, “BT expects to partner with a third-party company, probably in the energy sector, and finance the entire cost externally – not on BT’s balance sheet. BT will be bring to the table its land assets, planning permissions, substantive project expertise and a long-term commitment to purchase all the renewable energy produced by the wind farms. We have been working behind the scenes for two years already, evaluating our sites and refining the business model. We believe we have the commercial, technical and financial firepower to deliver this project, and we are being advised by the best external experts in the business – E&Y, PMSS and AEAT”.
November/December 2007
IN BRIEF NaiKun Wind Energy Group Inc is to install a ZephIR LiDAR, a laser wind velocity measurement system, at its offshore wind project site near the coast of Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands). Developed by QinetiQ of the United Kingdom, the ZephIR LiDAR technology provides a greater profile of wind resources than regular cup anemometers because it measures wind speed, direction, turbulence and shear at multiple heights; The CORUS Centre, the Ion Beam Laboratory (LAFI) and LM Glasfiber have formed a research partnership to develop a surface treatment process to reduce the formation and build-up of different types of ice on the external parts of wind turbines. The project involves developing an anti-icing process to treat the surface of wind turbine blades based on ion implantation and UV irradiation, and optimising the technical parameters of the process in order to make it fit for industrial use. Over the course of the project, the adhesion of ice shall be tested before and after each type of treatment in order to assess the effectiveness of the process; American Superconductor Corp., an energy technologies company, and TECO-Westinghouse Motor Co., a manufacturer of motors and generators, have formed a research joint venture to develop high temperature superconductor and related technologies for high-power, direct drive wind generators for offshore wind farms; Merrill Lynch has introduced two indices designed to offer investors exposure to the fast-growing biofuels market – with “greater liquidity, transparency and efficiency than financial instruments currently available”. The indices are the MLCX Biofuels Index and the MLCX Biofuels Plus Index. IBC SOLAR AG has unveiled its first subsidiary in Greece. The joint venture with Lanitis Solar Ltd will trade under the name IBC SOLAR A.E, with IBC owning a 51% stake;