The Energy Blog

Sungri Claims 5-7 cents per kWh for CSP Solar Technology

Using SUNRGI's propriety technology it is possible to produce large amounts of electricity from solar radiation at a wholesale price of US $0.05 / kWh is the lead headline on SUNGRI's website. The system is called Xtreme Concentrated Photovoltaics ™ or XCPV™.

XCPV efficiently concentrates sunlight so than it is more that 1,600 times brighter than the sun. This concentrated sunlight is focused onto triple-junction solar cells photovoltaic (PV) solar cells that convert more than 37% of the sunlight directly into electricity. The technology will enable power companies, businesses, and residents to produce electricity from solar energy at a lower cost than ever before was announced recently by SUNRGI at the National Energy Marketers Association's 11th Annual Global Energy Forum. 

"Solar Power at 5 cents per kWh would be a world-changing breakthrough. It would make solar generation of electricity as affordable as generation from coal, natural gas or other non-renewable sources, without requiring a subsidy"

-- Craig Goodman, president, National Energy Marketers Association

"In a little more than a year we were able to develop and successfully test XCPV. We expect the SUNRGI system to become available for both on and off-grid power applications, worldwide, in twelve to fifteen months"

-- Robert S (Bob) Block, co-founder and SUNRGI principal.

Focus Aquires Inspira, a Spanish Solar Tracker Company

PR Newswire - SolFocus, Inc., manufacturer of concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) systems, announced today that it has acquired Inspira, S.L., a privately owned solar tracker company based in Madrid,. Inspira will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of SolFocus and will continue to market products under its own name. With established global supply chain management and low-cost manufacturing facilities, SolFocus will enable Inspira to drive down the cost of solar trackers.  . . . continued

This acquisition is another sign that consolidation and vertical integration is starting to take place in the solar industry which will enable prices to be reduced due to the lower margins and manufacturing efficiencies made possible by consolidation.

Update on the Green and Gold SolarCube

Green and Gold Energy of Australia just released this picture of their Sun Cube rooftop concentrating solar photovoltaic module. Shown left: 600 711kWh/year SunCube Mark 5 Solar Appliance™ with toughened glass lenses, internal 2 axis tracking motors / grid connect inverter.

Retail cost of the AC SunCube = AU$1,500 inc GST at 10%. Cost in the US is expected to be US $1,000.

Their website states: We anticipate the SunCube development process will be completed by the end March 2007 with the first Adelaide installations occurring before the end of April 2007.

According to their discussion group, there are at least several months of backorders in the queue.

SunCubes are not available for export, but will be built by local licensees.  As far as I have been able to determine, outside of Australia there are licensees in Korea, India, Malta, Spain, Portugal, Israel, and Italy with ongoing negotiations in several other countries.

The Australian production is to proceed as follows:

1) Initial 1,000 SunCube per month manual assembly line - in
progress now
2) 5,000 SunCube per month manual assembly line - to be
operational mid 2007
3) 50,000 SunCube per month robotic assembly line - to be
operational end 2007
4) Many more of the 50,000 robotic lines - as required by the market

More details on Green and Gold can be found in this previous post,  from there you can follow links back to earlier posts.

11 MW Solar Tower Plant Dedicated in Spain

An Abengoa (XETRA:AYO.DE) press release reveals the dedication of an 11 MW Solar Tower, the PS10, the world's first commercial solar tower power plant. Solucar, an Abengoa company, constructed the plant in the municipality of Sanlucar la Mayor (Seville),which will be operated by Abengoa.

The 11 megawatt PS10 solar power plant will generate 24.3 GW/hr per year of clean energy and comprises 624 movable heliostats (mirrors). Each of the mirrors has a surface area of 120 square meters (1292 square feet) which concentrates the Sun's rays to the top of a 115-meter (377 foot) high tower where the solar receiver and a steam turbine are located. The turbine drives a generator, producing electricity. The two axis heliostats move automatically as a function of the solar calendar. This power plant alone will prevent the emission of 18,000 tons of CO2 per year.

DOE Selects 13 Projects for Solar Technology Development

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel W. Bodman on February 8 announced the selection of 13 industry-led solar technology development projects for negotiation for up to $168 million (FY’07-’09) in funding, subject to appropriation from Congress.  These projects will help significantly reduce the cost of producing and distributing solar energy.  As part of the cost-shared agreements, the industry-led teams will contribute more than 50 percent of the funding for these projects for a total value of up to $357 million over three years. These cooperative agreements, to be negotiated, will be the first made available as part of President Bush’s Solar America Initiative (SAI), a component of his Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI), announced in his 2006 State of the Union Address. 

These projects enable the projected expansion of the annual U.S. manufacturing capacity of PV systems from 240 MW in 2005 to as much as 2,850 MW by 2010, representing more than a ten-fold increase.  Such capacity would also put the U.S. industry on track to reduce the cost of electricity produced by PV from current levels of $0.18-$0.23 per kWh to $0.05 - $0.10 per kWh by 2015 – a price that is competitive in markets nationwide.

Delta Electronics Producing Spectrolab Cells

Delta Electronics (TSE:2308), today announced that it has successfully completed the development of a certified and cost effective assembly process for the manufacturing of concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) modules, a new and exciting solar cell technology that boasts greater than 35% efficiency. Collaborated with Spectrolab, who originally developed the underlying technology, Delta aims to enable wide availability of CPV modules by its advanced assembly process and bring about a superior alternative to the burgeoning solar power industry.

Spectrolab, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Boeing, is the world leader in the development of highly efficient terrestrial concentrator solar cells. It recently demonstration converting 40.7 percent of the sun’s energy into electricity.

Sol X Signs Agreement with GSS to Produce Solar Concentrator Modules

Silicon Valley Solar (SVS), maker of the Sol-X internal concentrator solar modules, announced today that they have finalized an agreement with GSS that will accelerate the market introduction of the company’s Sol-X2 internal concentrator solar modules. The contract defines specific product, process and equipment development that will be executed by GSS to ensure that SVS’s module design can be seamlessly produced on the GSS manufacturing line.

This is an important milestone in the scale-up of our company”, offered Dave Shannahan, president of SV Solar. “We have been evaluating potential manufacturing partners to enable us to meet the demand for our module technology on an accelerated schedule. This agreement is a perfect complement to the 10MW purchase order we secured from Pacific Power Management in December.”

“GSS is an integral part of the German solar industry, having won numerous awards and provided innovative solutions for companies such as Conergy AG, Q-Cells AG and Shell Solar GmbH," added Patrick Callinan, CEO of SV Solar.

Production samples from the new venture are anticipated to ship in late Q1 of this year, with volume ramping up over the latter half of 2007. GSS has the capacity to produce nearly 100,000 modules per year (16MWp), and it is anticipated that the company will represent a significant portion of SVS’s initial annual production.

Silicon Valley Solar Receives $35 Million Order for Concentrator Modules

In what I believe is the first large order for concentrator modules, Silicon Valley Solar, Santa Clara, CA, has received a $35 million order for 10MW of Sol-X2 solar panels from Pacific Power Management of Auburn, California, a solar system integrator. Shipments will begin in the first quarter of 2008, with a linear delivery schedule over a three year period.

SV Solar's Sol-X2 products are high efficiency, low cost flat plate modules utilizing a unique "internal" concentrator. The modules require less than half the number of solar cells when compared to traditional solar modules, while producing equivalent or even higher power output. This reduces cost while enabling higher volume production given a fixed supply of silicon. Solar cells currently account for up to 75% of the total module cost, and with the current shortage of refined silicon, are a limiting factor on the total production of solar modules.   

The modules are dimensionally and electrically equivalent to standard flat plate modules without the need for a complex tracking mechanism. The "compatible" form-factor of these modules enables traditional installation, and the lack of moving parts provides the long-term reliability the solar industry demands.

Open Energy, Infinia to Develop a Suncone/Stirling Solar Electric Power System

Open Energy Corporation, formerly Barnabus Energy, (OTC BB: OEGY.OB) and Infinia are joining forces to develop a Suncone/Stirling solar electric power system. The agreement combines Open Energy's solar concentrating technology with Infinia's proprietary free piston Stirling engine to produce renewable energy

Open Energy System holds an exclusive, worldwide license to a solar thermal technology called SunCone™ CSP. SunCone™ CSP utilizes non-imaging optical cones made of reflective composites to concentrate sunlight on rods at the base of each cone. The cones stay cool, but the fluid flowing through the base is superheated, generating steam to drive a turbine and produce electricity.

Infinia's free piston Stirling engines are currently used for aerospace and national security applications, where a high degree of reliability and long, maintenance-free service life is required. Operating without internal combustion, a Stirling engine utilizes high temperature differentials to drive a piston and produce electricity.

Sharp Shows CPV Panel at Solar Power 2006 Conference

At the Solar Power 2006 Conference and Expo in San Jose, Sharp Electronics showed a concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) solar panel. This system, which may come to market as early as the next year or two, would be used for solar power plants--large installations in a field that would pass power onto the grid.

The panel consists of a series of tiny solar cells measuring about a quarter of an inch (7 x 7 mm) per side, siting beneath Fresnel lenses which concentrates sunlight. The solar cells in these panels is made out of III-V compounds (molecules made from elements in the III and V columns of the Periodic Table of Elements). Producing chips from these materials, such as gallium arsenide, is expensive. Thus, the solar cell needs to be small. The lens, by contrast, is much less expensive and measures a few inches across. The panel itself measures about 12.5 feet by 16 feet and contains 270 lenses. A panel with 270 lenses can produce 2.9 kilowatts and tracks the sun for maximum efficiency.

Jason Bobruk, of Sharp Electronics presented a paper, "Concentrating Photovoltaics on the Path to Grid Parity," at the conference.

Source: CNET News.com