University of Illinois Professor Xiuling Li has led a group of researchers to develop a method for growing semiconductor nanowires on silicon wafers that holds promise for advanced device applications, including solar cells. The team published its results in the journal Nano Letters.
Semiconductors in the III-V (pronounced three-five) group are promising for devices that change light to electricity and vice-versa, such as high-end solar cells or lasers.
“The biggest challenge has been that III-V semiconductors and silicon do not have the same lattice constants,” Li said. “They cannot be stacked on top of each other in a straightforward way without generating dislocations, which can be thought of as atomic scale cracks.”
Instead of a thin film, the Illinois team grew a densely packed array of nanowires, tiny strands of III-V semiconductor that grow up vertically from the silicon wafer.
The Lasers and Material processing division of Jenoptik has secured its first contracts for laser processing systems, which are used to make energy saving glass, also known as smart windows.
The company will provide the laser processing systems to US-American plants for manufacturing modern glass. According to the company, this new application was a major reason for a large number of orders for 2011.
US-based Ascent Solar Technologies has reported that its flexible CIGS solar panels were named one of TIME's 50 Best Inventions of 2011. Ascent's technology was one of six ‘green' inventions to be recognized in this year's list, featured in the Nov. 28 TIME issue.
For each of the past 10 years, TIME has recognized the top 50 breakthroughs in science, technology and the arts. Previous honorees have included the iPad, Nissan Leaf, 3-D cameras, and the world's first synthetic cells.
TIME refers to Ascent's solar panels as "ingenious" for their ability to be directly integrated with building materials without the limitations of standard, glass solar panels.
California-based crystaline solar panel maker Solaria has raised $30m, according to SEC filings, it was reported on Venture Beat. Previous Solaria investors include Sigma Partners and Moserbaer India. The company raised $65m in a Series D in September of 2010. VentureBeat contacted Solaria for a comment on the funding announcement. However, no one was available for comment at the time of going to press.
In October the company launched a new 270 Watt solar module designed and optimized for industrial and utility-scale tracking applications.
2011年11月28日星期一
2011年11月20日星期日
150 MW solar power plant to be set up at Dhule soon
A 150 MW solar power plant will be set up in Dhule with financial assistance of Euro 250 million from KFW, a German investment bank. The project is claimed to be one of the biggest in the country.
Speaking to TOI on conditions of anonymity, a senior director from Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Ltd said, "This would be one of the first solar power generation plants for which finance is coming from abroad. The total cost of the project is Rs 1,800 crore, of which some Rs 1,700 crore (Euro 250 million) is being financed by KFW and the state government will pump in the rest of the amount." The project is expected to start generation by the end of 2012. This would be the first solar project that will be connected to the national grid, he added.
Photo voltaic cells will be used in the solar panels for storing power. The cells are durable and have higher efficiency than the silicon wafers. The state government has signed the supply contract in May this year with manufacturers of solar power panels. Lanco Solar and Juwi Renewable India Ltd will jointly supply crystalline technology-based photovoltaic solar panels for building a 75 MW power plant. The supply for the remaining 75 MW plant would come from other two partners, one of which is a Spanish company.
The efficiency of the power panels is 20% of the total heat absorption, said the official. The proposal for the project came from the Union government, where the requirements for setting up a power plant were high radiation, bright light and dry climatic conditions. Dhule is one of the few districts in the state that has suitable climatic conditions.
Data received from National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( Nasa) about radiation from solar rays revealed that Dhule will have maximum days with bright sunlight and heat for better power generation as it falls in the same line of radiation level as Rajasthan and Gujarat, said the official.
Speaking to TOI on conditions of anonymity, a senior director from Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Ltd said, "This would be one of the first solar power generation plants for which finance is coming from abroad. The total cost of the project is Rs 1,800 crore, of which some Rs 1,700 crore (Euro 250 million) is being financed by KFW and the state government will pump in the rest of the amount." The project is expected to start generation by the end of 2012. This would be the first solar project that will be connected to the national grid, he added.
Photo voltaic cells will be used in the solar panels for storing power. The cells are durable and have higher efficiency than the silicon wafers. The state government has signed the supply contract in May this year with manufacturers of solar power panels. Lanco Solar and Juwi Renewable India Ltd will jointly supply crystalline technology-based photovoltaic solar panels for building a 75 MW power plant. The supply for the remaining 75 MW plant would come from other two partners, one of which is a Spanish company.
The efficiency of the power panels is 20% of the total heat absorption, said the official. The proposal for the project came from the Union government, where the requirements for setting up a power plant were high radiation, bright light and dry climatic conditions. Dhule is one of the few districts in the state that has suitable climatic conditions.
Data received from National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( Nasa) about radiation from solar rays revealed that Dhule will have maximum days with bright sunlight and heat for better power generation as it falls in the same line of radiation level as Rajasthan and Gujarat, said the official.
2011年4月18日星期一
Harnessing Solar Power without Cells?
Home solar power is a beautiful thing. An already sound investment, state and federal incentives continue to bring costs down every day. Most homeowners are surprised at what they can save on new systems (and if you’re curious what it would cost you, you can get an estimate here).
But large, utility-scale solar has a lot of growing to do. Many critics of industrial solar argue that costs of manufacturing are still too high for solar energy to compete with coal, nuclear or natural gas on a national level.
University of Michigan researchers, however, may have found an alternative way to harness photonic energy from the sun, and although the technology may not be perfected or deployed for years, it has given environmentalists new hope that clean, reliable energy sources are not so far off.
Professor Stephen Rand described the university’s latest discovery in a recent press release. He explained that the power of magnetic energy may be the key to realizing solar’s full potential. Essentially, they learned that light passing through non-conductive materials creates magnetic fields over 100 million times stronger than previous theories had predicted.
Says Rand, this level of magnetic energy can generate similar power to that of traditional electricity. It is a discovery that could lead to the development of new technology without the need for solar cells, semiconductors or a number of other key components used in today’s solar panels.
The team also cautions that sunlight must focus on these cells at an end intensity of 10 million watts/square centimeter. Sunlight isn’t this intense on its own, but the university and their partners are working on alternative materials that could generate the magnetic energy at lower levels of focus intensity.
It could take years before the tech is fully refined and the new solar cells are deployed in any number, and these cells will most likely be installed first in military facilities, government buildings, and universities before they become available in American homes.
Are solar cells truly an efficient way to replace power lines? Time (and research) will tell.
But large, utility-scale solar has a lot of growing to do. Many critics of industrial solar argue that costs of manufacturing are still too high for solar energy to compete with coal, nuclear or natural gas on a national level.
University of Michigan researchers, however, may have found an alternative way to harness photonic energy from the sun, and although the technology may not be perfected or deployed for years, it has given environmentalists new hope that clean, reliable energy sources are not so far off.
Professor Stephen Rand described the university’s latest discovery in a recent press release. He explained that the power of magnetic energy may be the key to realizing solar’s full potential. Essentially, they learned that light passing through non-conductive materials creates magnetic fields over 100 million times stronger than previous theories had predicted.
Says Rand, this level of magnetic energy can generate similar power to that of traditional electricity. It is a discovery that could lead to the development of new technology without the need for solar cells, semiconductors or a number of other key components used in today’s solar panels.
The team also cautions that sunlight must focus on these cells at an end intensity of 10 million watts/square centimeter. Sunlight isn’t this intense on its own, but the university and their partners are working on alternative materials that could generate the magnetic energy at lower levels of focus intensity.
It could take years before the tech is fully refined and the new solar cells are deployed in any number, and these cells will most likely be installed first in military facilities, government buildings, and universities before they become available in American homes.
Are solar cells truly an efficient way to replace power lines? Time (and research) will tell.
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