Posted: 2010-08-31
The California Energy Commission announced this week that it had approved the first loan under its Clean Energy Business Financing Program.
The $5 million loan will go to a firm called Calisolar. It will use the funds to purchase solar-cell production equipment: Calisolar's annual output will go from 60 megawatts today to 75 megawatts when its expansion is complete...
Posted: 2010-08-09
By dye-sensitizing solar cells, a team of international researchers has achieved 11 percent conversion efficiency - what they say is the highest ever achieved for DSSCs without the use of ruthenium.
According to the French and Chinese researchers - who hail from National Chiao Tung University, the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and National Chung Hsing University - the use of a unique porphyrin dye was the key to achieving such high efficiency. "High" is a relative term: The best silicon-based solar cells are about 20 percent efficient. But, until now, solar technology site Solar Novus Today says, poyphyrin-dyed solar cells had only been between 5 and 7 percent efficient...
Posted: 2010-08-03
The efficiency of solar photovoltaic equipment degrades as its temperature rises - but a new solar power system developed by researchers at Stanford University could change that forever.
A research team at the Palo Alto, California school has developed a solar technology dubbed PETE, for "photon enhanced thermionic emission." The PETE process involves semiconductor material coated with a thin layer of cesium; unlike conventional silicon-based solar panels, PETE-based solar equipment performs better as it heats up...
Posted: 2010-07-12
New solar energy technologies that will make clean electricity more affordable are drawing attention and praise from industry colleagues.
In fact, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory announced recently that two of its technologies have been named among the year's most significant innovations by Research & Development Magazine...
Posted: 2010-07-08
A corner of Nevada that was once known as a nuclear testing ground is expecting to be put back into use as a proving area for advanced new solar energy technologies.
According to the Department of Energy, about 25 square miles of the Nevada Test Site area will be set aside with an eye on developing concentrated solar technology. By doing so, the government is hoping to bring some of the most promising new solar technologies closer to mass commercial development...
Posted: 2010-06-24
Homeowners will find their investments in solar energy paying off more quickly than ever in the coming years, with considerable help from researchers who are currently developing the next generation of highly efficient photovoltaic panels.
A new world record for solar cell efficiency was announced this week by SunPower Corp., which highlighted a new product with a 24.2 percent electricity conversion efficiency rate...