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STMicroelectronics research targets low-cost solar cells
NEWS ‘It is an innovative solution for true wireless power, especially if one realizes that the standard silicon solar cells produce only 0.6 V of output,’ claims Dr Nathan Zommer, CEO of Clare’s parent company, IXYS Corporation in California. ‘This one solar IC product is indeed revolutionary since it produces more than 7 V and thus can charge batteries directly, and naturally we envision it in any battery-powered product.’ The solar cell SOI technology is scalable. As a result, Clare is currently developing additional solar cell products for higher voltages and currents required by different applications. An entire family of parts, ranging from 2 V to 30 V with a variety of output currents, will be introduced shortly. In addition, since there is excellent electrical isolation between circuit elements on the PV die, it is possible to add other power management circuitry or logic control options with minimal added cost to the product. Evaluation samples of the CPC1810 were expected to be available by the end of October, with production scheduled for the first quarter of 2004. For more information on Clare Inc, go to: www.clare.com
Carmanah order for USAF in Iraq Canadian-based Carmanah Technologies Corporation has received another order for its aviation lights from a US Air Force base in Kirkuk, Iraq. The company will supply 120 Model 702 PV-powered LED lights to be used for obstruction lighting and helipad perimeter lighting. The value of the new USAF order is approximately C$146 000 (US$112 000), bringing the total for this air base up to 520 units of Model 702 and Model 601, valued at approximately C$297 000 (US$227 000). Since introducing its aviation lighting products last December, Carmanah now has more than 2600 units – valued at C$1.1m (US$840 000) – in the Middle East, southwest Asia and the US for permanent, temporary and/or expedited airfield lighting at military installations. The new contract ‘represents the first significant reorder for our aviation lighting, and provides confirmation from end-users that our lights are an ideal alternative to hardwired systems,’ says Art Aylesworth, Carmanah’s CEO. Carmanah’s ability to provide permanent and/or temporary airfield lighting that requires no cabling or external power infrastructure has
November 2003
enabled air bases to install high-performance, reliable airfield lighting at a fraction of the cost of hardwired systems. The bases are also able to eliminate significant installation and labor costs, as well as any ongoing maintenance. For more information on Carmanah Technologies, go to: www.carmanah.com For more information on these products, go to: www.solarairportlights.com
Konarka deal with world’s largest utility Massachusetts-based Konarka Technologies has begun a cooperation with Electricité de France, the world’s largest utility company. Working through EdF’s Easenergy team based in the Silicon Valley, the companies will collaborate to develop and launch Konarka’s polymer PV products into the global market to provide a source of renewable power in a variety of form factors for commercial, industrial, government and consumer applications. Konarka’s PV nanotechnology is focused on delivering lightweight, flexible, scalable and manufacturable products. The company uses unique, proprietary low-temperature production methods to put its PV cells onto flexible, lightweight plastics. Under the terms of the agreement with Konarka, EdF will contribute expertise from its European operations to accelerate the development and roll-out of Konarka’s polymer PV products. ‘Our relationship with EdF will serve to accelerate knowledge transfer, technology development and to better position the company to enter the global market, as will Konarka’s current partnerships with ChevronTexaco and Eastman Chemical,’ says Dr Bill Beckenbaugh, Konarka’s president/CEO. For more information on Konarka Technologies, go to: www.konarkatech.com
MicroFab award for solar inkjet process Texas-based MicroFab Technologies has been awarded a National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program for fabrication of organic PV solar panels using inkjet technology. The program’s objective is to develop lowcost, high-volume flexible solar cells using the
company’s patented drop-on-demand inkjet technology. Specifically, this project will enable printing of solar cells of any size on any type of substrates including plastics, making it a lower-cost alternative to conventional inorganic semiconductor-based solar cells. The MicroFab team, under principal investigator Dr David Wallace, will develop polymer solutions, and their printing processes to demonstrate the fabrication of plastic solar cells by inkjet microdeposition techniques. ‘This is an area of considerable research and development, but unfortunately there is no manufacturing technology suitable for making them in volume at lowest cost,’ says Wallace, the company’s vice president for technology development. ‘Our inkjet microdeposition technology will demonstrate, for the first time, the unlimited potential of printing solar cells on flexible plastics.’ MicroFab will commercialize the organic plastic solar cell printing technology by licensing and/or through the sale of manufacturing systems to major corporations that would manufacture them in volume. For more information on MicroFab Technologies, go to: www.microfab.com
STMicroelectronics research targets lowcost solar cells Italian-based STMicroelectronics – one of the world’s leading manufacturers of semiconductor devices – has released details of an advanced research program that it hopes will substantially reduce the cost of generating electricity from solar power. ST is pursuing alternative approaches in which the aim is to produce solar cells that may have lower efficiencies (e.g. 10% instead of 15–20%) but which are much cheaper to manufacture. The research team, based in Catania and Naples, is focusing on applying ST’s expertise in nanotechnology to the development of new solar cell technologies that will eventually be able to compete commercially with conventional electricity generation methods. The ST team is following two approaches. The first, invented in 1990 by Professor Michael Graetzel of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, uses a similar principle to photosynthesis. In a conventional solar cell, a single material such as silicon performs all three of the essential functions: absorbing sunlight (converting photons into electrons and holes), withstanding the electric
Photovoltaics Bulletin
7
NEWS field needed to separate electrons and holes, and conducting the free carriers (electrons and holes) to the collecting contacts of the cell. To perform these three tasks simultaneously with high efficiency, the semiconductor material must be of very high purity, which is the main reason why silicon-based solar cells are too costly to compete with conventional means of producing electric power. In contrast, the Graetzel cell, also known as the Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC), mimics the mechanism that plants use to convert sunlight into energy, where each function is performed by different substances. The DSSC cell uses an organic dye (photosensitizer) to absorb the light and create electron-hole pairs, a nanoporous (high-surface-area) metal oxide layer to transport the electrons, and a holetransporting material, typically a liquid electrolyte. ‘One of the most exciting avenues we are exploring is the replacement of the liquid electrolytes that are mostly used today for the hole-transport function by conductive polymers,’ says Dr Salvo Coffa, who heads the ST research group. ‘This could lead to further reductions in cost per watt, which is the key to making solar energy commercially viable.’ The ST team is also developing low-cost solar cells using a fully organic approach, in which a mixture of electron-acceptor and electron-donor organic materials is sandwiched between two electrodes. The nanostructure of this blend is crucial for the cell performance, because the electron-donor and electronacceptor materials have to be in an intimate contact at distances below 10 nm. ST plans to use fullerene (C60) as the electron-acceptor material and an organic copper compound as the electron-donor. For more information on STMicroelectronics, go to: www.st.com
PV home opens in Boston The first new Energy Star Homes development to incorporate a PV system has opened in the Boston, Massachusetts suburb of Wrentham. A dozen Evergreen Solar PV panels on the each home’s roof are expected to generate 1250 kWh per year, based on New England’s climate. The opening of the model home officially launched Sun Power For New Homes, an initiative partially funded by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC). The home was built by DiPlacido Development Corporation in partnership with Conservation 8
Photovoltaics Bulletin
Services Group (CSG), using PV panels manufactured by Evergreen Solar. According to CSG, the MTC and state tax incentives reduce the cost of the PV systems by 50–75%, adding only $3000–5000 to a home’s price. ‘The ability to integrate PV installation into the home at the time of construction is extremely cost-effective,’ says John Livermore, CSG’s manager for the Sun Power For New Homes program. ‘By integrating solar upfront, the extra cost can be rolled into the home mortgage.’ For more information on Energy Star Homes, go to: www.energystar.gov For more information on Evergreen Solar, go to: www.evergreensolar.com
Retail store uses largest rooftop PV system In California, the well known do-it-yourself retailer Lowe’s is continuing its policy of ‘improving the home improvement’, courtesy of a new PV installation at its West Hills store in Los Angeles. It claims it is one of the largest commercial solar rooftop electric systems in North America, and the largest at any retail store in the US. Berkeley-based PowerLight furnished the 370 kW system, using Shell Solar technology. The system occupies 37 500 sq ft (3500 m2) on the roof of the West Hills store, and features 2535 PV roof tiles from Shell Solar modules. The US-manufactured PV tiles were chosen for their reliability and performance. The system features PowerGuard Technology, a patented, lightweight PV roofing assembly that delivers clean solar electricity to the building while protecting the roof from the damaging effects of weather and UV radiation. The tiles also help insulate the building, to reduce its heating and cooling requirements. For more information on Powerlight Corporation, go to: www.powerlight.com For more information on Shell Solar, go to: www.shellsolar.com
Beacon Power demos Smart Power M5 Massachusetts-based Beacon Power Corporation unveiled its newly engineered Smart Power M5 power conversion system at the recent UPEx Solar Electric Power Conference & Technology Exhibition in Scottsdale,
Arizona. The company also demonstrated its new Smart Power Monitor PC-based software, which monitors, analyzes and reports on the performance of an M5-based solar power system. The Smart Power M5 is a high-performance 5 kW inverter for grid-connected solar power applications. It incorporates a range of components in a compact, integrated system, including inverter, charge controller with maximum power point tracking, switchgear and battery backup. In the event of a grid outage, the M5 will continue to operate as an uninterruptible power system (UPS), providing PV (or battery) power to critical loads. Traditional grid-tied inverters do not function when primary power fails. The new monitoring software allows users to observe and record key system performance parameters, including solar power output (realtime and accumulated), power exported to the grid (for net-metering applications), and battery charging and discharging functions. For more information on Beacon Power Corporation, go to: www.beaconpower.com
Small Home Systems for PV in single package Japanese PV giant Sharp Corporation has introduced a pair of Small Home System (SHS) PV power generating systems that make it simple and easy to generate AC and DC power from sunlight. Aimed at regions of Asia, the Middle East and Africa where grid-supplied electricity is unavailable, these small-scale systems comprise a photovoltaic module, charger/inverter unit, battery and connecting cables in a single sales package. There is strong demand in developing regions for decentralized power generating systems, and one way of meeting this demand is the increasing introduction of small-scale, solar-powered electrical generating systems with low environmental impact and which are easy to maintain after installation. However, traditionally it has been necessary to purchase the components for such systems – such as the PV module, battery and charge controller – separately from local sources. In addition to limited sales channels, the cost and quality have tended to vary widely. Sharp’s new Small Home Systems combine all the components necessary for a PV powergenerating system into a single sales package. The components are matched to one another to provide the optimum system design, and are thoroughly tested for long-term reliability. These
November 2003
Carmanah order for USAF in Iraq Canadian-based Carmanah Technologies Corporation has received another order for its aviation lights from a US Air Force base in Kirkuk, Iraq. The company will supply 120 Model 702 PV-powered LED lights to be used for obstruction lighting and helipad perimeter lighting. The value of the new USAF order is approximately C$146 000 (US$112 000), bringing the total for this air base up to 520 units of Model 702 and Model 601, valued at approximately C$297 000 (US$227 000). Since introducing its aviation lighting products last December, Carmanah now has more than 2600 units – valued at C$1.1m (US$840 000) – in the Middle East, southwest Asia and the US for permanent, temporary and/or expedited airfield lighting at military installations. The new contract ‘represents the first significant reorder for our aviation lighting, and provides confirmation from end-users that our lights are an ideal alternative to hardwired systems,’ says Art Aylesworth, Carmanah’s CEO. Carmanah’s ability to provide permanent and/or temporary airfield lighting that requires no cabling or external power infrastructure has
November 2003
enabled air bases to install high-performance, reliable airfield lighting at a fraction of the cost of hardwired systems. The bases are also able to eliminate significant installation and labor costs, as well as any ongoing maintenance. For more information on Carmanah Technologies, go to: www.carmanah.com For more information on these products, go to: www.solarairportlights.com
Konarka deal with world’s largest utility Massachusetts-based Konarka Technologies has begun a cooperation with Electricité de France, the world’s largest utility company. Working through EdF’s Easenergy team based in the Silicon Valley, the companies will collaborate to develop and launch Konarka’s polymer PV products into the global market to provide a source of renewable power in a variety of form factors for commercial, industrial, government and consumer applications. Konarka’s PV nanotechnology is focused on delivering lightweight, flexible, scalable and manufacturable products. The company uses unique, proprietary low-temperature production methods to put its PV cells onto flexible, lightweight plastics. Under the terms of the agreement with Konarka, EdF will contribute expertise from its European operations to accelerate the development and roll-out of Konarka’s polymer PV products. ‘Our relationship with EdF will serve to accelerate knowledge transfer, technology development and to better position the company to enter the global market, as will Konarka’s current partnerships with ChevronTexaco and Eastman Chemical,’ says Dr Bill Beckenbaugh, Konarka’s president/CEO. For more information on Konarka Technologies, go to: www.konarkatech.com
MicroFab award for solar inkjet process Texas-based MicroFab Technologies has been awarded a National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program for fabrication of organic PV solar panels using inkjet technology. The program’s objective is to develop lowcost, high-volume flexible solar cells using the
company’s patented drop-on-demand inkjet technology. Specifically, this project will enable printing of solar cells of any size on any type of substrates including plastics, making it a lower-cost alternative to conventional inorganic semiconductor-based solar cells. The MicroFab team, under principal investigator Dr David Wallace, will develop polymer solutions, and their printing processes to demonstrate the fabrication of plastic solar cells by inkjet microdeposition techniques. ‘This is an area of considerable research and development, but unfortunately there is no manufacturing technology suitable for making them in volume at lowest cost,’ says Wallace, the company’s vice president for technology development. ‘Our inkjet microdeposition technology will demonstrate, for the first time, the unlimited potential of printing solar cells on flexible plastics.’ MicroFab will commercialize the organic plastic solar cell printing technology by licensing and/or through the sale of manufacturing systems to major corporations that would manufacture them in volume. For more information on MicroFab Technologies, go to: www.microfab.com
STMicroelectronics research targets lowcost solar cells Italian-based STMicroelectronics – one of the world’s leading manufacturers of semiconductor devices – has released details of an advanced research program that it hopes will substantially reduce the cost of generating electricity from solar power. ST is pursuing alternative approaches in which the aim is to produce solar cells that may have lower efficiencies (e.g. 10% instead of 15–20%) but which are much cheaper to manufacture. The research team, based in Catania and Naples, is focusing on applying ST’s expertise in nanotechnology to the development of new solar cell technologies that will eventually be able to compete commercially with conventional electricity generation methods. The ST team is following two approaches. The first, invented in 1990 by Professor Michael Graetzel of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, uses a similar principle to photosynthesis. In a conventional solar cell, a single material such as silicon performs all three of the essential functions: absorbing sunlight (converting photons into electrons and holes), withstanding the electric
Photovoltaics Bulletin
7
NEWS field needed to separate electrons and holes, and conducting the free carriers (electrons and holes) to the collecting contacts of the cell. To perform these three tasks simultaneously with high efficiency, the semiconductor material must be of very high purity, which is the main reason why silicon-based solar cells are too costly to compete with conventional means of producing electric power. In contrast, the Graetzel cell, also known as the Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC), mimics the mechanism that plants use to convert sunlight into energy, where each function is performed by different substances. The DSSC cell uses an organic dye (photosensitizer) to absorb the light and create electron-hole pairs, a nanoporous (high-surface-area) metal oxide layer to transport the electrons, and a holetransporting material, typically a liquid electrolyte. ‘One of the most exciting avenues we are exploring is the replacement of the liquid electrolytes that are mostly used today for the hole-transport function by conductive polymers,’ says Dr Salvo Coffa, who heads the ST research group. ‘This could lead to further reductions in cost per watt, which is the key to making solar energy commercially viable.’ The ST team is also developing low-cost solar cells using a fully organic approach, in which a mixture of electron-acceptor and electron-donor organic materials is sandwiched between two electrodes. The nanostructure of this blend is crucial for the cell performance, because the electron-donor and electronacceptor materials have to be in an intimate contact at distances below 10 nm. ST plans to use fullerene (C60) as the electron-acceptor material and an organic copper compound as the electron-donor. For more information on STMicroelectronics, go to: www.st.com
PV home opens in Boston The first new Energy Star Homes development to incorporate a PV system has opened in the Boston, Massachusetts suburb of Wrentham. A dozen Evergreen Solar PV panels on the each home’s roof are expected to generate 1250 kWh per year, based on New England’s climate. The opening of the model home officially launched Sun Power For New Homes, an initiative partially funded by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC). The home was built by DiPlacido Development Corporation in partnership with Conservation 8
Photovoltaics Bulletin
Services Group (CSG), using PV panels manufactured by Evergreen Solar. According to CSG, the MTC and state tax incentives reduce the cost of the PV systems by 50–75%, adding only $3000–5000 to a home’s price. ‘The ability to integrate PV installation into the home at the time of construction is extremely cost-effective,’ says John Livermore, CSG’s manager for the Sun Power For New Homes program. ‘By integrating solar upfront, the extra cost can be rolled into the home mortgage.’ For more information on Energy Star Homes, go to: www.energystar.gov For more information on Evergreen Solar, go to: www.evergreensolar.com
Retail store uses largest rooftop PV system In California, the well known do-it-yourself retailer Lowe’s is continuing its policy of ‘improving the home improvement’, courtesy of a new PV installation at its West Hills store in Los Angeles. It claims it is one of the largest commercial solar rooftop electric systems in North America, and the largest at any retail store in the US. Berkeley-based PowerLight furnished the 370 kW system, using Shell Solar technology. The system occupies 37 500 sq ft (3500 m2) on the roof of the West Hills store, and features 2535 PV roof tiles from Shell Solar modules. The US-manufactured PV tiles were chosen for their reliability and performance. The system features PowerGuard Technology, a patented, lightweight PV roofing assembly that delivers clean solar electricity to the building while protecting the roof from the damaging effects of weather and UV radiation. The tiles also help insulate the building, to reduce its heating and cooling requirements. For more information on Powerlight Corporation, go to: www.powerlight.com For more information on Shell Solar, go to: www.shellsolar.com
Beacon Power demos Smart Power M5 Massachusetts-based Beacon Power Corporation unveiled its newly engineered Smart Power M5 power conversion system at the recent UPEx Solar Electric Power Conference & Technology Exhibition in Scottsdale,
Arizona. The company also demonstrated its new Smart Power Monitor PC-based software, which monitors, analyzes and reports on the performance of an M5-based solar power system. The Smart Power M5 is a high-performance 5 kW inverter for grid-connected solar power applications. It incorporates a range of components in a compact, integrated system, including inverter, charge controller with maximum power point tracking, switchgear and battery backup. In the event of a grid outage, the M5 will continue to operate as an uninterruptible power system (UPS), providing PV (or battery) power to critical loads. Traditional grid-tied inverters do not function when primary power fails. The new monitoring software allows users to observe and record key system performance parameters, including solar power output (realtime and accumulated), power exported to the grid (for net-metering applications), and battery charging and discharging functions. For more information on Beacon Power Corporation, go to: www.beaconpower.com
Small Home Systems for PV in single package Japanese PV giant Sharp Corporation has introduced a pair of Small Home System (SHS) PV power generating systems that make it simple and easy to generate AC and DC power from sunlight. Aimed at regions of Asia, the Middle East and Africa where grid-supplied electricity is unavailable, these small-scale systems comprise a photovoltaic module, charger/inverter unit, battery and connecting cables in a single sales package. There is strong demand in developing regions for decentralized power generating systems, and one way of meeting this demand is the increasing introduction of small-scale, solar-powered electrical generating systems with low environmental impact and which are easy to maintain after installation. However, traditionally it has been necessary to purchase the components for such systems – such as the PV module, battery and charge controller – separately from local sources. In addition to limited sales channels, the cost and quality have tended to vary widely. Sharp’s new Small Home Systems combine all the components necessary for a PV powergenerating system into a single sales package. The components are matched to one another to provide the optimum system design, and are thoroughly tested for long-term reliability. These
November 2003