The Energy Blog

DuPont To Enter Thin Film Amorphous Silicon Market

Per DuPont press release:

DuPont (NYSE: DD) announced that it will soon begin construction on a research center in Hong Kong and a manufacturing facility in Shenzhen to support the rapidly growing photovoltaic (PV) solar energy industry.  . . .

DuPont expects growth in the photovoltaic market to exceed 30 percent in each of the next several years. The company has made significant investments in product development and capacity expansions to help keep pace with the demand.

Accelerating its capability to meet emerging materials requirements is critical for DuPont, which has long been a leading supplier of materials primarily serving the crystalline silicon (c-Si) cell and module markets. The expansions in Hong Kong and Shenzhen will provide new offerings to serve the amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin film market.

Thin film technology is well-suited for large-scale utility applications such as "solar farms" and industrial installations. The growth rate for thin film is projected to be approximately twice as high as demand for c-Si, and DuPont expects this increase to drive specifications for both new and existing products that serve the thin film industry.

This announcement is important because it shows that Dupont recognizes that the PV market is significant and growing. It can bring its manufacturing expertise to produce low cost products for the fastest growing segment of the solar PV market. Locating the manufacturing facility in Shenzhen takes on the Chinese manufacturers on their home turf.

Optisolar to Build Largest Solar Farm in North America

OptiSolar, Hayward, California, is developing a 550 megawatt photovoltaic (PV) solar farm, the largest in North America, covering over 6,000 acres, in San Luis Obispo County, California.

OptiSolar intends to submit an application to San Luis Obispo County for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) in May. Construction is targeted to begin in 2010, after completing the local approval process. Installation of panels will occur over a period of up to three years.

OptiSolar is a vertically intigrated company manufacturing its own solar cells and panels and claims its amorphous silicon thin-film solar PV panels combine proprietary manufacturing processes and innovative design to yield affordable, durable panels that significantly reduce the cost of clean solar power. Their thin-film design requires only about 1% of the silicon used in crystalline systems, thus not being affected by the availability of crystalline silicon. The companies technology enables low-profile solar panels to be placed on simple concrete and steel ballasts with minimal grading.

Although photovoltaic solar panels are currently less efficient than solar thermal systems, OptiSolar claims that its solar cells are significantly more cost effective as they require less expensive silicon during manufacture, consume little water, and require far less maintenance than turbine based systems. In addition they avoid the need for large structures that turbine-based systems require, and do not result in the noise associated with such systems.

OptiSolar Farms Canada has 21 solar project  in Canada under various phases of development including the 60-megawatt "Sarnia Solar" park, which will be broken into six construction phases with the first 10-megawatt phase expected to be completed by year's end and the balance competed in 2009.

Thanks to Tyler Hamilton in the Toronto Star for the tip

Trina Solar Cancels $1 Billion Polysilicon Plant

China-based Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) announced that it has canceled plans to build a $1 billion polysilicon plant that was revealed in December of 2007, with a target completion date by the end of 2012. Favorable changes in the polysilicon market has led Trina to believe that it can now obtain sufficient polysilicon on the open market to meet its production requirements. 21 new firms started manufacturing polysilicon during 2007.

Trina also announced on 4/2/08 that it has entered an eight-year polysilicon supply agreement with GCL Silicon Technology Holdings Ltd.for enough polysilicon to produce about 2.6 gigawatts worth of solar modules. Trina has now secured about 95 percent of its estimated polysilicon requirements for 2008.

Trina previously had said that it was targeting solar module production capacity of 350 megawatts of annual capacity by the end of this year. Trina announced in late October 2007, that it had launched production on its new multicrystalline module line, complimenting its monosilicon module line.

In a somewhat related announcement Fluor Corporation said that it has been awarded the contract for engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services by LDK Solar for its $1 billion, 15,000MT polysilicon plant in Xinyu City, Jiangxi, China.

High purity silicon ("Polysilicon") is the key feedstock for almost all solar cells and modules produced today. The solar PV industry and semiconductor manufacturers are the two main consumers of polysilicon. In 2000 the solar industry consumed only 10% of the world's silicon supply. In 2006 the PV industry consumed more than half of the world's available supply of polysilicon for the first time ever.

So Trina sees that it can obtain enough silicon from the open market, such that its own production facility is not needed.  Its recent agreement with GCL will supply nearly all of its silicon needs for the next eight years.  Meanwhile silicon suppliers such as LDK Solar continue to expand production. Does this mean that the silicon supply shortage is over?  My opinion is that, at this moment, there is not enough silicon production to allow the much needed expansion of the PV solar cell industry, but that facilities under construction will probably allow for some expansion.  The trend to use more thin film silicon PV and non-silicon PV will reduce requirements for silicon. How much is enough? This will depend on whether solar PV modules can reach the price target of under $1.00 per Wp that have been promised by some. In the meantime there is a market demand for more modules than can currently be produced at relatively high prices (Solarbuzz currently lists $3.74/Wp (€2.36/Wp) as the lowest price for thin film solar modules).

MIT Spin-off Developing Solar Cells That are 27% More Efficient, No more Expensive to Make

1366 Technologies claims that its small multicrystalline solar cells are 27% more efficient than conventional cells while keeping costs about the same.  It also announced its first round of funding of $12.4 million from Venture capitalists co-led by North Bridge Venture Partners and Polaris Venture Partners.

The company's efficiency and cost claims are based on results from small solar cells (about two centimeters across) made in the lab of professor of mechanical engineering Emanuel Sachs, who is one of the company's founders.

1366 Technologies is building a pilot-scale manufacturing plant that will make full-sized solar cells (about 15 centimeters across) that should yield results in about a year.

Sachs says that current solar cells cost about $2.10 per watt generated. When manufactured at a commercial scale, the first cells incorporating his new technology will cost $1.65 per watt while planned improvements will reduce the cost to about $1.30 a watt.

The company's solar cells include three key innovations to improve efficiency:

1. A method for adding texture to the surface of the cells that allows the silicon to absorb more light.
2. A method for making the current collecting wires as small as one-fifth the width of the wires that are typically used, while improving their conductivity.
3. A new Light-Capturing Ribbon that increases the efficiency of a solar module by reflecting light back onto the surface of the cell. This grooved ribbon replaces the traditional wires used to interconnect solar cells.

Professor Sachs previously invented the String ribbon™ wafer technology being commercialized at Evergreen Solar, a leading developer of solar energy products. Sachs is joined by 1366 Technologies co-founder and investor, Frank van Mierlo, who serves as the company’s president. Harvard Business School professor Joseph Lassiter rounds out the board of directors, all of whom hold degrees from MIT.

Sources: Technology Review and 1366 Technologies website.

Sodium Sulfur Batteries to be Used for Energy Storage at MN Windfarm

Xcel Energy, (NYSE: XEL)in partnership with the University of Minnesota, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Great Plains Institute, will soon begin testing a one-megawatt sodium-sulfur battery storage system to demonstrate its ability to store wind energy and dispatch it to the electricity grid when needed.

Fully charged, the batteries could power 500 homes for six and one-half hours. Xcel Energy will purchase the batteries from NGK Insulators, Ltd. that will be an integral part of the project. The sodium-sulfur battery is commercially available and versions of this technology are already being used in Japan and in a few US applications, but this is the first U.S. application of the battery as a direct wind energy storage device.

The 50-kilowatt battery modules, 20 in total, will be roughly the size of two semi trailers and weigh approximately 60 tons. They will be able to store about 6.5 megawatt-hours of electricity, with a charge/discharge capacity of one megawatt. When the wind blows, the batteries are charged. When the wind calms down, the batteries can be used to supply energy to the grid as needed.

"Energy storage is key to expanding the use of renewable energy. This technology has the potential to reduce the impact caused by the variability and limited predictability of wind energy generation."

-- Dick Kelly, Xcel Energy chairman, president and CEO.

The project will take place in Luverne, Minn., with the battery installation beginning this spring adjacent to a nearby 11-megawatt wind farm owned by Minwind Energy, LLC. Testing will begin in October and is expected to last up to two years.

Commercial projects are now underway that use flow batteries, compressed air energy storage, thermal energy storage, pumped hydro, and sodium sulfur batteries for energy storage in connection with renewable energy projects.  American Electric Power (AEP) is also using NaS batteries in a couple of their systems, but not in connection with wind power. While not enough experience has been gained with any of these technologies to make any decision as to which technology is best under what conditions, pumped hydro and sodium sulfur batteries are the most well proven and thus seem to be the first choice of electric utilities. Thermal storage is gaining acceptance for use with thermal solar systems, the only energy technology that it is suitable for use with. As Mr. Kelly stated, energy storage is essential to widespread use of renewable energy technologies. 

REC to Build World's Largest Solar Manufacturing Complex in Singapore

REC Group announced that it will build a new worldscale solar manufacturing complex in Singapore with total investments possibly exceeding US$4.3 billion (EUR 3 billion) within the next 5 years. It has simultaneously signed an agreement with the Singaporean government agency Economic Development Board (EDB) that defines the terms and conditions related to the development of a new production site, the process of establishing a manufacturing complex, as well as operational and commercial conditions.

In addition to wafer, cell and module production, the manufacturing complex will incorporate infrastructure and support facilities, as well as an on-site supplier park. Sufficient space has also been reserved for future R&D activities and possible manufacturing facilities based on potential new technologies.

The green field site can hold a capacity of up to 1.5 GW within each product area, although it is not likely that the production capacity for wafer, cells and modules will be fully balanced. Depending on the final capacity and site development, total investments in the Singapore site may exceed EUR 3 billion within the next 5 years and the total number of employees could be around 3 000 people.

The development of this site will enable us to continue expanding in a cost efficient manner and will support REC's ambitious cost target. Our future cost position will determine our ability to deliver solar products that can compete with traditional energy sources in the sunny areas of the world without government incentives", said Erik Thosen, the President & CEO of REC.

REC is positioned in the solar energy industry as the only company with a presence across the entire value chain. REC Silicon and REC Wafer are the world's largest producers of polysilicon and wafers for solar applications. REC Solar produces solar cells and solar modules. REC Group had revenues in 2006 of US$810 million (NOK 4 334 million) and an operating profit of US$294 million (NOK 1 574 million).

Solar Power to Reach Parity with Fossil Fuels in Sunny Countries in Five Years, Most Countries by 2020

Solar power could be the world's number one electricity source by the end of the century . . . production of solar panels will double both next year and in 2009, according to U.S. investment bank Jefferies Group Inc, driven by government support especially in Germany and Japan. . . . costs are dropping by around 5 percent a year and "grid parity", without subsidies, is already a reality in parts of California. Very sunny countries could reach that breakeven in five years or so, and even cloudy Britain by 2020. . . .  General Electric Co's Chief Engineer Jim Lyons told the Jefferies conference in London; "The solar industry will eventually be bigger than wind." . . . But all the growth is from a tiny base. The sun supplies just 0.3 percent of electricity even in market leader Germany, says Jefferies. "It doesn't even register statistically outside Germany," said Jefferies analyst Michael McNamara.

This article totally agrees with the consensus of what I have been reading over the past year, actually a little more pessimistic than the claims of some companies.  The technology is so close to being there now, the only thing holding it back is the scaling up of production facilities of the right technology to the gigawatt scale - in a single location.  Some form of thin-film PV solar will be the dominant technology, if not more than one.  Even though a lot of the technology is being developed by U.S. and German companies, don't be suprised if a Japanese company with manufacturing in China is the first one to take the big leap.

See complete Reuters article here.

Macy's to Install 8.9 MW of Solar Power in California Stores, Combined with Energy Efficiency Program Utility-Provided Energy to be Reduced 40%

Per a SunPower press release:

Macy's is launching a program to install solar electric power systems at 28 California stores, including 15 in Southern California. SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq:SPWR), a Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of high-efficiency, solar cells, solar panels and solar systems, is partnering with Macy's to design and install the systems. . . .

Through its 28-store partnership with SunPower, Macy's has committed to installing a total of 8.9-megawatts of solar power systems on its California stores. In addition, SunPower is assisting Macy's to improve the energy efficiency at the stores. Combining solar power with energy efficiency will allow Macy's to achieve an estimated 40 percent reduction in utility-provided energy, almost doubling the impact of the solar power alone. . . .

For 17 of the 28 stores, Macy's will purchase solar-generated electricity under the SunPower Access(tm) program, a solar services agreement that allows the retailer to purchase just the electricity generated at its stores -- not the solar power systems. At the end of a 10-year term, Macy's will have the option to renew the agreement, transfer the equipment to a new site, or buy the system. Macy's will buy solar power systems for the remaining 11 stores through an outright system purchase.

SunPower commercial 300 series solar panels deliver panel efficiencies of up to 19.3% and are backed by a 25 year warranty.

The company is headquartered in San Jose, California and is a subsidiary of Cypress Semiconductor Corporation.

This is a very large commitment by Macy's and with a potential energy savings of 40%, with energy efficiency improvements, demonstrates that solar power combined with energy savings has a great potential, even at the present time, in areas where there is high solar radiation. There are large incentives in California, as well as high solar radiation, which enable such installations now and help develop a solar industry that can be incentive free when production costs are reduced as they most certainly will be in the next 3 to 5 years.

Evergreen Solar Breaks Ground on Manufacturing Plant in Massachusetts

Evergreen Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESLR), the Marlborro, MA manufacturer of String Ribbon(TM) solar power products announced on September 13 that it had broken ground for its new $165 million, 70 Megawatt (MW), facility in Devens, MA where it will expand production its solar products. This will bring their worldwide production capacity to 170 MW with plans to increase it to 300 MW by 2010.

Its press release states:

The new manufacturing plant will increase Evergreen Solar's production capacity in Massachusetts to 75 MW including 5 MW at it headquarters. In addition it has 90 MW of production capacity at EverQ in Germany, an equal partnership of Evergreen, Q-Cells AG (XETRA: QCE.DE) ( the worlds second largest producer of solar cells in 2005) and Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (OSEAX: REC.OL) (REC) (Q-cells has a long term silicon supply agreement with REC). The Devens facility keeps Evergreen on schedule to increase its production to 300 MW by 2010

Richard M. Feldt, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, noted that the new factory will use the Company's revolutionary Quad furnace technology with its state of the art automated ribbon cutting feature. This innovative wafer production process provides substantial opportunity to further increase yield, cell efficiency and labor productivity as well as to reduce the Company's already industry-leading silicon consumption.

Applied Materials Aquires HCT and Introduces Integrated Thin Film Production Line

Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMAT) is making its mark on the solar PV industry with recent acquisition of HCT Shaping Systems and the announcement of the introduction of its Applied SunFab^™ Thin Film production line. By applying their four decades of thin film on silicon experience to the manufacturing of solar modules, the company claims that the total volume of solar panels manufactured each year can be vastly increased. At the same time, their products are aimed at reducing the cost per watt of energy produced, to become more competitive with current electricity generation.

HCT Shaping Systems SA (HCT) is the world’s leading supplier of precision wafering systems for manufacturing crystalline silicon (c-Si) substrates for the solar industry. The acquisition of HCT expands Applied’s portfolio of solutions for helping solar customers reduce the costs of manufacturing photovoltaic (PV) cells to make solar energy more competitive with grid electricity.

“This acquisition, combined with our strong production technology and global support infrastructure, will enable us to bring crystalline silicon solar manufacturing to a new level of efficiency and help drive down the cost-per-watt of solar power,” said Mike Splinter, president and CEO of Applied Materials. “HCT’s technology is critical to our roadmap since it complements our high-throughput deposition systems and will enable customers to scale up production and reduce costs.”

Applied SunFab^™ is the world’s first and only integrated production line for manufacturing thin film silicon solar modules using 5.7 square meter (m²) glass panels. These ultra-large substrates, sized at 2.2m x 2.6m, are four times bigger than today’s largest thin film solar production panels. This line defines a new standard for the industry that can be replicated by customers around the globe to rapidly establish solar panel manufacturing capacity and achieve the lowest production cost per watt to drive down the cost of solar electricity.

IBM Entering Solar Cell Business

Neal Dikerman has a comprehensive post in the Cleantech Blog about IBM becoming a player in the solar cell business within the next 18-24 months.  The company has made overtures about solar since 1978, but recently has become more active, obtaining about a dozen patents in the area recently.

According to Neal they are developing both both advanced crystalline technologies and CIGS processes with the potential for very high efficiency multi-junction cells in the foreseeable future.

The advent of Applied Materials and now IBM into this field is a sign that they believe the market for solar cells is becoming quite large and that they believe they can drive the production costs down with their technology improvements and manufacturing expertise. It is probably bad news for many of the small players in this field, who just can't keep up with these industry giants.  It is another sign that consolidation of many of the small companies will be accelerated.

NJIT Researchers Develop Inexpensive, Easy Process To Produce Solar Panels

Researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) have developed an inexpensive solar cell that can be painted or printed on flexible plastic sheets.

“The process is simple,” said lead researcher and author Somenath Mitra, PhD, professor and acting chair of NJIT’s Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science. “Someday homeowners will even be able to print sheets of these solar cells with inexpensive home-based inkjet printers.”

“We foresee a great deal of interest in our work because solar cells can be inexpensively printed or simply painted on exterior building walls and/or roof tops. Imagine some day driving in your hybrid car with a solar panel painted on the roof, which is producing electricity to drive the engine.  The opportunities are endless,” said Mitra.

The science goes something like this. When sunlight falls on an organic solar cell,  the energy generates positive and negative charges. If the charges can be separated and sent to different electrodes, then a current flows. If not, the energy is wasted. Link cells electronically and the cells form what is called a panel, like the ones currently seen on most rooftops.  The size of both the cell and panels vary.  Cells can range from 1 millimeter to several feet; panels have no size limits.

80 MW Solar Farm for California

Photovoltaic Solar Farm for Fresno Area would be the Largest in the World

FRESNO - Kings River Conservation District (KRCD) and San Francisco, CA-based Cleantech America, LLC, today announced that they have entered into a multi-year agreement for Cleantech America to provide up to 80 megawatts of utility scale, emission-free, peak solar power to the recently formed San Joaquin Valley Power Authority (SJVPA). Upon full build-out, KRCD's Community Choice Solar Farm would be the nation's largest utility scale photovoltaic facility by far.

The memorandum of understanding calls for the facility to be developed in phases of 10 megawatts in 2009, 30 megawatts in 2010 and 40 megawatts in 2011, for a total of 80 MW. Currently the largest announced facility in the U.S. is a 15 MW solar plant at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. . . . More

First Solar Announces Five New Agreements for 685 MW and Production Expansion

• 685 Megawatts of Additional Long Term Module Supply Agreements
       Totaling $1.28 Billion
• 120 Megawatt Annual Nameplate Production Capacity Expansion

In one of the largest solar cell supply agreements, First Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq:FSLR) announced that it has entered into five agreements for the manufacture and sale of solar modules totaling 685 Megawatts. These new agreements are expected to allow for sales of approximately $1.28 billion at an assumed exchange rate of $1.30/EUR1.00, over the period of 2007 to 2012.

Included in the new agreements are long term agreements with EDF Energies Nouvelles, Sechilienne-Sidec, RIO Energie GmbH & Co, and KG, a joint venture of the Stadtwerke Mainz AG utility company and the Juwi Group. First Solar and the Juwi Group have also agreed to increase volumes under an existing agreement.

First Solar also announced that its board of directors has approved the construction of an additional manufacturing plant in Malaysia with an annual production nameplate rating of 120 Megawatts, representing an investment of approximately $150 million. The additional production capacity of the new plant is scheduled to come on line in the first half of 2009.

Mitsubishi Claims Highest Commercial Solar Cell Efficiency

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (OTC:MIELY) announced on May 31 its achievement of a world record photoelectric conversion efficiency rate of 18.0% in a 150mm square practical use multi-crystalline silicon solar cell, an improvement of 1.2% over their previous models.

They claimed to have achieved the world’s highest conversion efficiency rate of 18.0% by adding a low reflectivity surface texture on the multi-crystalline silicon as well as developing a process to print electrodes on the surface of the silicon (metallization) and reducing shade loss of front grid electrodes. In the same surface area as previous products, they have achieved a 7% greater electric output, making it suitable for even smaller installations such as narrow roofs.

In October of last year, Kyocera announced it achieved an efficiency improvement in its polycrystalline solar cells, taking them to 18.5%, although it is not clear when they will commercialize their cell. SunPower claims 22% efficiency, but for monocrystalline solar cells, which have higher efficiency than polycrystaline cells, but are more expensive. SunPower is currently in production with these 22% efficiency cells.

It may be nitpicking to argue over 0.5%, but Mitsubisihi certainly is aware of the Kyocera announcement and it is brazen of them to make this claim. I gather they are using the practical use qualifier to cover themselves as Kyocera has not announced any specific plans to commercialize their cells. In any event it is good to see that efficiencies of commercial solar cells are going up. Continuing on with Mitsubishi's press release.

Main features of cell

1. Increased light absorption using a unique Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) method

Using a nano-sized mask material, the RIE method uses highly reactive ions generated by RF plasma, letting ions precisely etch the target materials. This decreases reflectivity from the texturized surface of the multi-crystalline silicon, increasing the amount of absorbed light.

2. Suppresses reduced electrical performance in crystalline

New metal electrode material reduces metallization time by approximately half that of previous models, and sustains electrical performance of crystalline.

3. Expanded effective electrical output surface area

Using modified screens and front metal electrodes we reduced shading loss of front grid electrodes by 40% compared with our conventional cells.

They will begin introducing this technology into our mass produced photovoltaic modules after the end of 2007.

Solar PV Costs to Decrease by Over 40% in Next 3 Years

Combined with technology advances and an increase in polysilicon supply the costs of solar photovoltaic (PV) cells will decrease rapidly—by more than 40 percent in the next three years, according to a new assessment by the Worldwatch Institute in Washington, D.C., and the Prometheus Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

According to the report global production of solar photovoltaic (PV) cells has risen sixfold since 2000 and grew 41% in 2006 alone. Although grid-connected solar capacity still provides less than 1 percent of the world's electricity, it increased nearly 50 percent in 2006, to 5,000 megawatts, propelled by booming markets in Germany and Japan.

Some further excerpts from the report:

This growth has been constrained by a shortage of manufacturing capacity for purified polysilicon, the same material that goes into semiconductor chips. But the situation will be reversed in the next two years as more than a dozen companies in Europe, China, Japan, and the United States bring on unprecedented levels of production capacity. In 2006, for the first time, more than half the world's polysilicon was used to produce solar PV cells.

“Solar energy is the world’s most plentiful energy resource, and the challenge has been tapping it cost-effectively and efficiently,” says Janet Sawin, a senior researcher at Worldwatch, who authored the update. “We are now seeing two major trends that will accelerate the growth of PV: the development of advanced technologies, and the emergence of China as a low-cost producer.”

Lower Priced Silicon Possible with SRI Process

Red Herring reports that SRI International has licensed technology to produce lower cost solar-grade silicon to three Asian companies and that pilot plants could be up and running in 18 months.

SRI’s technology promises to make solar-grade silicon for $14 per kilogram, less than half the price of competing technologies, Mr. Dubois says. SRI claims its process produces silicon with almost no impurities (0.02 parts per million) at one-tenth the energy and one-fifth the capital costs of the conventional Siemens process used by most of the big polysilicon manufacturers. So far, SRI’s technology has only been used in the lab. But analysts say that, with contract prices rising up to $85 per kilogram and non-contract prices skyrocketing to $200 per kilogram, companies are willing to try new technologies.

A 1986 patent by A. Sanjurjo, assigned to SRI, is described as follows:

Apparatus is described for producing low cost, high purity solar grade silicon ingots in single crystal or quasi single crystal ingot form in a substantially continuous operation in a two stage reactor starting with sodium fluosilicate and a metal more electropositive than silicon (preferably sodium) in separate compartments having easy vapor transport there between and thermally decomposing the sodium fluosilicate to cause formation of substantially pure silicon and a metal fluoride which may be continuously separated in the melt and silicon may be directly and continuously cast from the melt.

Evergreen Solar Marches On

Evergreen Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESLR), the Marlboro, MA, manufacturer of solar power products made four significant announcements on March 17 which indicate that the company is progressing rapidly on a plan to produce and market its proprietary, low-cost String Ribbon™ wafer technology. (click to enlarge the image of a string ribbon furnace)

• It announced the construction of a new $150 million facility, expected to be located on the campus of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) in Westborough, MA, that will increase its production capacity in Massachusetts by 70 MW and double its employee base in the state to more than 600 employees. A Commonwealth of Massachusetts financial incentive program is expected to include up to $23 million in grants, up to $17.5 million in low-interest loans and a low-cost, 30-year lease of MTC land. Construction of Evergreen Solar’s new facility is planned to begin in early fall 2007 with completion expected in late 2008.
• It has signed a multi-year polysilicon supply agreement with DC Chemical Co., Ltd with shipments beginning in late 2008 and continuing through 2014. Under the agreement, Evergreen Solar will receive sufficient polysilicon to manufacture a total of approximately 1 GW of photovoltaic solar modules through 2014. Concurrent with the execution of the supply agreement, DC Chemical agreed to purchase 3 million shares of Evergreen Solar common stock for $12.07 per share, representing the closing price of Evergreen Solar’s common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market on April 16, 2007. Evergreen Solar agreed to issue 4.5 million shares of restricted common stock and 625 shares of restricted preferred stock to DC Chemical. DC Chemical Co., Ltd is a leading Korean chemicals producer with annual consolidated revenues in excess of $2.4 billion.

Solar Installations up 33% in US in 2006, 41% in World, Solar Capacity only Utilized 62%

In an update on the solar industry Solarbuzz reports that the installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) devices in the United States increased by about 33 percent in 2006 over the previous year. Worldwide PV installations totaled 1,744 megawatts (MW) in 2006, a new record and a growth of 19 percent over 2005. The United States contributed just 8 percent of those installations, or about 140 MW, while Germany led the world market with 960 MW of PV installations, comprising 55 percent of the world's total PV installations for 2006. To supply that market, the global production of solar cells reached 2,204 MW in 2006, a growth of 33 percent over PV production in 2005, while the production of polysilicon a critical ingredient for silicon solar cells increased by 16 percent.

The Photovoltaic Service Program at Navigant Consulting has published a “Pre-Release” of its quarterly PV industry newsletter, Solar Outlook. The feature article in the release is an analysis of 2006 PV technology shipments. The PV industry grew by 41%, the same rate as the CAGR from 2000 to 2006. In 2005, thin film technologies were 6% of total shipments. Thin films increased their share of total to 7% in 2006, and are on track to increase by another percentage point, to 8% in 2007. Many more facts are included in the referenced pdf.

Notice that the Solarbuzz numbers are for global production, while the Navigant numbers are for shipments, perhaps explaining the difference in numbers or it may simply be a matter of discrepencies in data collection.

TOP TEN SOLAR MANUFACTURERS

RANKING	2004	2005	2006
1	Sharp Solar	Sharp Solar	Sharp Solar, 22%
2	Kyocera	Kyocera	Q-Cells, 12%
3	BP Solar	Q-Cells	Kyocera, 9%
4	Shell Solar	Shott Solar	Suntech, 8%
5	Q-Cells	BP Solar	Sanyo, 6%
6	Shott Solar	Mitsubishi Electric	Mitsubishi Electric, 6%
7	Sanyo	Sanyo	Shott Solar, 5%
8	Mitsubishi Electric	Shell Solar	Motech, 5%
9	Isofoton	Motech	BP Solar, 4%
10	Motech	Isofoton	SunPower, 3%
Total Shipments	1049.8	1407.7	1982.4

11 MW PV Solar Tracking Plant Dedicated

GE Energy Financial Services, a unit of General Electric (NYSE: GE), PowerLight, a subsidiary of SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWR) and Catavento dedicated the 11-megawatt Serpa solar power plant on March 28, on schedule.

GE Energy Financial Services financed and purchased the project in an approximately US $75 million transaction last year. PowerLight designed, deployed, operates and maintains the plant. The plant uses PowerLight's PowerTracker(R) system that follows the sun's daily path across the sky to generate more electricity than conventional fixed-mounted systems. Catavento did the project development, permitting and manages the project, which began feeding Portugal's electricity grid in late January.

BP Solar Announces Two Mega Cell Plants

BP Solar today announced that it has begun constructing two mega cell plants, one at its European headquarters in Tres Cantos, Madrid and the second at its joint venture facility, Tata BP Solar, in Bangalore, India.

For phase 1 of the Madrid expansion, BP Solar is aiming to expand its annual cell capacity from 55 MW to around 300 MW. The Bangalore expansion could add another 300 MW to BP Solar's total capacity.

The new cell lines use state-of-the-art screen printing technology,much of it proprietary to BP Solar. By fully automating wafer handling,the lines will be able to handle the very thinnest of wafers available and ensuring the highest possible quality. 

"The announcement of the two mega cell plants cements BP Solar's commitment to maintain a market leadership position in PV" said Lee Edwards, BP Solar's CEO. "The new cell technologies we are using, our intellectual property in casting with Mono2 and the contracts we have signed to secure preferential access to metallurgical grade silicon are all important steps towards our goal of offering customers PV generated electricity on a par with the cost of conventional grid supplied electricity."

Cheaper, More Efficient Solar Cells

A new type of material could allow solar cells to harvest far more light.

According to StarSolar's website, the biggest problem facing solar power today is the high cost of solar electricity compared to conventional sources. StarSolar's patent-protected technology solves this problem by significantly increasing the efficiency of solar cells, which is the single biggest driver in solar cost reduction. These improvements are achieved through innovative light trapping technology that enhances infrared light absorption by a factor of seven, thus increasing overall power generation by 37%.

Technology Review, March 21, 2007 -- ... The effort uses a type of material called a photonic crystal that makes it possible to "do things with light that have never been done before," says John Joannopoulos, a professor of physics at MIT who heads the lab where the new designs for solar applications were developed. ...

But StarSolar needs to choose a large-scale manufacturing technique that will allow it to produce the photon crystals inexpensively. More

AMAT to Install 1.9 MW of Solar Panels, the Largest Corporate Installation

Applied Materials, Inc.(NYSE: AMAT), announced today that it will install over 1.9 megawatts of solar power generation capability at its research campus in Sunnyvale, California. This is believed to be the largest solar power installation on an existing corporate facility in the United States and will be rolled out in three phases.

“When the project is complete we will have a silent, non-polluting 1.9 megawatt power plant on what is currently open roof space and parking areas, and a great hedge against future energy cost increases,” said Mike Splinter, president and CEO of Applied Materials. “As we pursue our strategy to significantly drive down the overall solar cost-per-watt we feel it is important to lead through example and that installations of this size will help lower consumer cost and spur overall market growth.”

Applied Materials will start installing panels later this year that use a variety of state of the art solar technologies. Once completed in 2008, Applied Materials’ system will generate over 2,330 megawatt hours annually – the equivalent of powering 1,400 homes.

This megawatt installation by a single company is certainly the way for all companies to go in the future. This is the ultimate example of distributed renewable power. Applied Materials has its own interests also, recently entering the market as a supplier of equipment to manufacture solar cells and solar panels that they believe will reduce the cost of this equipment through greater efficiency in production.

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.

SolarWorld Expanding to 600 MW in U.S., 500 MW in Germany

Solarworld builds USA's largest solar cell factory
Christoph Hammerschmidt EE Times Europe, 03/01/2007

With the production of monocrystaline silicon wafers for solar cells, German renewable energy company Solarworld AG intends to widen its product spectrum. The devices will be produced in what Solarworld claims to be the USA's largest solar cell factory in Hillsborough, Orgeon.

In close vicinity to chip manufacturer Intel, Solarworld has bought a wafer fab from Japanese Komatsu group for €30 million ($39.6 million). Now the German concern plans to invest another €300 million into the integrated manufacturing line, covering the entire value chain from silicon to solar cell.

Free Solar Power for Staples

The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF), Staples and SunEdison hosted a dedication ceremony on Jan. 16 to unveil the largest solar power installation in New England at Staples’ 300,000-square-foot retail distribution center in Killingly, Connecticut. The solar power installation, built at no capital cost to Staples, was made possible through the collaborative effort of CCEF, which provided a $1.7 million grant for the project, and SunEdison, which financed the remaining costs of the project and designed and installed the system.

Is this the way we want to see our solar projects financed?  Or is this type of financing necessary to enable expansion of the industry so it is more competitive with conventional power?  I certainly think that the end user should pay a share of the costs. I don't especially blame Staples for taking advantage of a business opportunity.

Catching Up

Here are some of the items I have missed the last couple of weeks that are of some significance.

Abengoa S.A. the $3 billion Spanish based energy company, best known to The Energy Blog readers for its efforts in ethanol and cellulosic ethanol  has formed Solucar Power, Inc., a new U.S. subsidiary that will handle market development in solar energy using concentrating solar power (CSP) (Their techology is usually referred to as themal solar which concentrates solar energy onto a fluid. CSP is usually defined as a technology that concentrates solar energy onto a PV cell ) technologies.  Abengoa will initially focus on parabolic trough technology. Solucar Power has purchased Industrial Solar Technology (IST) Corporation's assets and technology in solar troughs. IST, based in Denver, Colorado, has 20 years' experience in CSP with IST systems delivering hot water, air conditioning, district heat, steam and potable water from a desalination unit, but not electricity generation. Abengoa recently completed an 11 MW central receiver plant in Spain and has started construction of a 20 MW plant.

According to this press release, Katabatic Power Corp., a privately held wind energy developer, announced a joint venture with Deutsche Bank AG to develop a 3,000 MW wind farm, the world's largest, located in Northwest British Columbia (BC). Under the terms of the joint venture, Katabatic will develop the first 700 MW of the full 3,000 MW Banks Island wind resource over the next two years, with construction to commence in early 2009.

Solar Engines

Red Herring reports that  Carmanah Technologies(OTC: CMHXF) is planning to introduce a line of "solar engines",  a bundle that will integrate solar panels, batteries and electronics to power off grid applications like telecom towers and monitoring equipment for pipelines.

This is a new market for Carmanah, whose core business is making solar LED lights, like street signs, airfield lights and lighted marine bouys for off grid applications.  Shown is a solar powered light on a telecom tower.

This is the type of installation that traditionally has been served by lead-acid batteries and recently the fuel cell industry has made some inroads.  Carmanah's product is a step further than the fuel cells, requiring less maintenance. The Red Herring article also delves into why they are going into this market and the potential market size.

Thanks to Tyler at Clean Break for the tip.

How Long will the PV Silicon Shortage Last

Red Herring has an article telling of SolarWorld forming a joint venture to "turn dirty metallurgical-grade silicon into high-purity solar-grade silicon."  They also report that: "According to SolarWorld, the joint venture will develop and build a manufacturing plant to produce, initially, 1,000 tons (per year?) of solar-grade silicon from metallurgical-grade silicon."

They also report on other recent entries into the solar silicon market and quote Jesse Pichel, a vice president and senior research analyst of technology at Piper Jaffray as saying“There’s no reason to go to metallurgical silicon,”

The article goes on to question this statement.

From all that I have read, the silicon shortage will not go away in a couple of years as some say, but will continue as long as sales of solar modules continue to grow at 25% to 35% a year. This rate of growth is necessary for an extended period if silicon PV solar is to continue to be the major source of PV modules and PV solar becomes the alternative energy source of choice. The only fly in the ointment is if CIGS and/or CIS technology develops as proponents say and it becomes the low cost source. I have no knowledge of the merits of metallugical silicon.

Boeing Solar Cell Sets New Record At 40.7% Efficiency

Boeing (NYSE: BA) today announced that Spectrolab, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary, has achieved a new world record in terrestrial concentrator solar cell efficiency. Using concentrated sunlight, Spectrolab demonstrated the ability of a photovoltaic cell to convert 40.7 percent of the sun’s energy into electricity. The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo., verified the milestone. ... more

Prisim Solar Licenses Hitachi Bifacial PV Cells

Hitachi America Ltd. (Hitachi) has signed a Cooperation Agreement with Prism Solar Technologies, Inc. (PST).  Under the agreement PST will market Hitachi’s proprietary bifacial photovoltaic (PV) cells and manufacture modules for sale under the Hitachi brand name in the US to key clients and customers groups. 

Hitachi manufacturers a unique “bifacial” PV cell as well as several bifacial module styles. While most of the PV module manufacturers use monofacial PV cells in their modules, Hitachi has developed a unique high-efficiency cell that can produce power from both the back and front sides of the PV cell.  The amount of power produced from the back-side is dependant on the amount and method of getting sunlight onto the back of the solar cell or module.  Until recently, options to accomplish this have been limited to using mirrors or reflectors.  New optics and technologies being developed separately by the two companies are providing exciting opportunities to gain improved power production from solar cells.

Sunpower, PowerLight to Merge

In a major merger in the solar industry,  SunPower Corporation, previous post, (Nasdaq: SPWR - News),  manufacturer of the world's highest-efficiency, commercially available solar cells and solar panels, announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire PowerLight Corp., a privately owned solar systems provider.

PowerLight is the leading global provider of large-scale solar power systems, having designed and deployed hundreds of large-scale solar systems with a total capacity of more than 100 megawatts over the past ten years. The company recently began providing complete residential solar system solutions to homebuilders. In Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Korea, PowerLight designs, develops, operates and maintains solar electric power plants ranging from one megawatt to more than 10 megawatts, including two of the world's largest solar electric power plants.

SunPower recently announced the SPR-315 solar panel which utilizes the company's newly developed 22-percent-efficient Gen 2 solar cells and carries a rated power output of 315 Watts. Improved panel efficiency was obtained through a combination of enhanced cell architecture and improved packing density. It utilizes the next generation solar cell rated at 22 % efficiency on 170um wafers, which will bring polysilicon consumption to less than 6 g/W. The SPR-315 solar panel is planned for commercial availability in the Spring of 2007. 

SunPower Predicts Rosey, but Slow, Outlook for PV Solar

John Addison reporting on the Solar Power 2006 conference in the Cleantech Blog had this snippet of information on the growth of the solar PV industry.

SunPower is approaching a 23% efficient PV (previous post). This helps it take business from typical 17% efficient PV. Dr. Richard Swanson, CEO, SunPower gave the conference good reason to expect continued high growth. He pointed out that in 1975 solar modules cost $100/watt. By 2002, the cost had fallen to $3 per watt. The industry learning curve of 30 years has been consistent – each time that production doubles, cost drops 81%. Dr. Swanson expects $1.40 per watt by 2013 and 65 cents per watt by 2023.

That's good news for the future, but I hope production grows at a higher rate or it will be an even longer time than I anticipated before solar power becomes an economical source of power for everyone.  If the silicon producers can't grow any faster, then the CIGS industry will take over. Nanosolar is building its first commercial scale factory, to begin operation in 2007, which it claims will be the worlds largest, (what about Sharp?) with an annual capacity of 430 megawatts. Other CIGS producers; Innovalight, Konarka, Miasolé, HelioVolt, and Daystar are all expanding their production.

Sharp Expands Solar Cell Production

Sharp Corporation has increased annual production capacity for solar cells by 100 MW (megawatts) to meet burgeoning demand in Japan and abroad, and has constructed a $30 million (3.5 billion yen)system that will be able to enter full production by November 2006. As a result, solar cell production capacity at the Katsuragi Plant in Nara Prefecture  will reach 600 MW per year, the world's highest.

To more effectively utilize raw materials, Sharp is working to make solar cells even thinner and improve thin-film solar cells which use minimal amounts of silicon, as well as establish highly efficient production systems and expand and upgrade its production lines.

In September Sharp president Machida Katsuhiko said "By the year 2010 we'll be able to halve generation costs; by 2020 we expect a further reduction - half of 2010; by 2030 we expect half the 2020 level and by 2030 the cost will be comparable to electricity produced by a nuclear power plant"

Evergreen Solar Continues to Shine

Evergreen Solar (Nasdaq: ESLR) is continuing to make progress in the marketplace as indicated in this statement from their quarterly report:

“Through the EverQ partnership, we have captured the initial promise of our String Ribbon technology and demonstrated that it is exportable, scalable and profitable – at 30MW,” Richard M. Feldt, President and Chief Executive Officer said. “As a result of our accomplishments to date, we have created a clear path to grow the EverQ business to roughly 10 times its current size, generating 300MW of solar production by 2010. Based on our technological capabilities and additional growth opportunities, we believe Evergreen Solar is strongly positioned to be in the forefront of helping the solar industry achieve economic parity with retail grid electricity.”

In the String Ribbon technique, high temperature strings are pulled vertically through a shallow silicon melt, and the molten silicon spans and freezes between the strings (diagram left). The process is continuous: long strings are unwound from spools; the melt is replenished; and the silicon ribbon is cut to length for further processing, without interrupting growth. This advantage in material efficiency means String Ribbon yields over twice as many solar cells per pound of silicon as conventional methods. Additionally, the resulting distinctive shape of the solar cell allows for a high packing density. Productivity has been continually increased by increasing the width of the strings, the th ickness of the strings, the speed of pulling the strings and the number of strings pulled from a single furnace. More details about their technology can be found in this previous post.

Is 100% Solar Power Economical?

SanDiegoDave100 writing in The Motley Fool ran some numbers on using Solar PV to provide 100% of his homes electricity and electricity to a Tesla electric car.

His current cost for 600 kWh per month costs $101 and gas for his car $180 for a total of $281.

At $0.25 kWh/mile and 1500 miles per month he would require 375 kWh of electricity, combined with 600 kWh for the house would require 975 kWh of solar power. He determined that he would require an 8 kW solar system, for a San Diego location, at an installed cost of $55,000 before rebates of $17,600 for a net of $37,820.

A home equity loan of $37,800 at the current 6.5% rate would be only $239/month, a saving of $40/month.

He neglected to state how he would store the electricity so he could operate his house and charge his car at night, but it still is an interesting calculation. Perhaps he could be tied to the grid and sell his surplus during the day and buy electricity at night, but he did not make that calculation. The rates might even be in his favor if he was selling at peak rates and buying at off peak rates.

Thanks to AutoblogGreen for the tip.

"Solar Revolution: The Economic Transformation of the Global Energy Industry"

In his new book, "Solar Revolution," fund manager and former corporate buyout specialist Travis Bradford  says that is happening not so much because solar is the clean, renewable source of energy but because it has proved to be cost-effective. Solar Revolution outlines the path by which the transition to solar technology and sustainable energy practices will occur.

"The shift will happen in years rather than decades and will occur because of fundamental economics."

Although that process could be expedited by more government incentives for the promotion of solar energy use and disincentives for investment in fossil fuels and nuclear power, the inevitable dominance of solar will not depend on government assistance, Bradford writes.

Google to Install Largest Corpoarate Solar System

MarketWatch reports that Google is constructing a solar electricity system which will become the largest solar installation on any corporate campus in the United States. The solar panels, which cover an area equal to about four acres, will be installed on the roofs of some campus buildings and double as shading for cars in parking lots. The project will utilize 9,212 solar panels provided by Sharp Electronics.

Once they are in place next spring, the solar panels are expected to produce about 1.6 megawatts of electricity, enough to supply about 1,000 homes. The anticipated savings from future energy bills should enable Google to recoup the project's costs in five to 10 years.

Sunpower Announces Commercial 22% Efficient Solar Cells

SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq: SPWR), manufacturer of the world's highest efficiency, commercially available solar cells and solar panels, today announced its newest solar panel, offering significantly higher power output and conversion efficiency than its current products. The new SPR-315 solar panel utilizes the company's newly developed 22-percent-efficient Gen 2 solar cells and carries a rated power output of 315 Watts. Improved panel efficiency was obtained through a combination of enhanced cell architecture and improved packing density.

Daystar Production Exceeds Expectations

DayStar Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: DSTI), a developer and manufacturer of CIGS Photovoltaic Foil(TM) products, reported that production throughput and performance objectives for cells produced on the Gen II production line are exceeding expectations, and anticipates reaching 10 percent or greater cell efficiencies by the end of this year. DayStar has ramped up its operations, and is now running three production shifts, five days a week. TerraFoil(TM) cells from the Gen II line are being used for two purposes: by current customers for early market acceptance, and as a means to secure new strategic relationships.

Dr. Stephan DeLuca, Chief Operating Officer of DayStar commented, "As the first manufacturer to successfully begin factory production of discrete CIGS solar cells on metal foil substrates, that are compatible with wafer Si cell module operations, we have initiated a paradigm in the expanded adoption of thin-film PV products. This vital step now clears the way for our next generation of higher volume production, required for achieving our goal of Gigawatt-scale manufacturing."

See previous posts for desciption of their technology and their producrion milestones.

Miasole to Go Public

Miasole, San Jose, CA, a CIGS solar cell developer (previous post) and one of the darlings of the investment community, will try to do an IPO within 12 to 18 months, according to CEO David Pearce. In May they announced that they had raised about $16 million in a round led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

The timing is pretty good because of the high demand for solar cells and the shortage of silicon used by most solar cell suppliers. Copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) cells do not contain silicon and unlike silicon solar cells, CIGS cells can be printed on flexible sheets of foil or other material.

Iowa State Researchers Developing More Powerful Solar Cells

According to Science Daily, Iowa state is working with PowerFilm Inc., an Ames company that manufactures thin, flexible solar cells. Powerfilm uses thin-film cells made from amorphous silicon that is about 2 micrometers thick compared to the 300 micrometers thick crystalline wafers used in conventional solar cells. The result is thin solar cells that can absorb lots of light and can be mounted on flexible plastic and other materials. But the thin cells produce about half the electricity as crystalline silicon. And their performance drops by about another 15 to 20 percent over time.

Iowa State researchers have made discoveries in materials science and plasma chemistry that can improve hydrogen bonding to the silicon in the thin solar cells, which can improve the performance of the cells by about 35 percent and eliminate about 15 percent of the drop in performance.

They're expected to be a potential boost to PowerFilm, the new techniques should work with essentially the same manufacturing processes and equipment now used by PowerFilm.

New Lead and Cadmium-Free PV Materials Enable Reduced Silicon Use in Multi-Crystalline Solar Cells

Ferro Corporation (NYSE:FOE - News) annouced that they have developed materials that enables solar cell manufacturers to be able to significantly reduce silicon usage. A compatible lead and cadmium-free system of novel aluminum, rear silver, and front silver metallizations offers improved electrical performance on silicon wafers that are less than 180 microns thick.

The current generation "thin" wafers are 240 microns thick. Ferro's new aluminum product permits further silicon reductions to less than 180 microns thick, with less than 1 mm of camber on 150 mm square wafers. It provides the same BSF thickness at a higher concentration of dopant for a strong BSF (carrier concentration of more than 1019 atoms/cm3), with equivalent or better electrical performance on multi-crystalline wafers.

Ferro's compatible new lead free front and rear silver metallizations provide improved electrical performance and are able to contact emitters with sheet resistivity of 50 to 70 ohms/square. The products also offer improved solderability, and adhesion of more than 800 gms using a 4 mil tabing ribbon. Front silver products are also available in a Hot Melt option for peak performance and line resolution.

Ferro is a leading global producer of a diverse array of performance materials sold to a broad range of manufacturers in approximately 30 markets throughout the world. The Company applies core scientific expertise in organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, polymer science and material science to develop coatings for ceramics and metal; materials for passive electronic component and solar cells.

Renewable Energy Park Completed

A subsidiary of PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL), PPL Energy Services, today marked the completion and commercial operation of a renewable energy park comprising three green energy projects in Camden County, N.J. The 3,800 kilowatt (kW) Energy Park located in Camden County, New Jersey is composed of three power generating plants and was built by PPL Energy Services, a subsidiary of PPL Corporation, which owns, operates and maintains them. Kyocera supplied over 5,000 solar modules for the park.

Two projects - a 2800-kilowatt landfill gas-to- energy power plant at the Pennsauken Sanitary Landfill and a 500-kilowatt photovoltaic (solar) power plant at Aluminum Shapes in Pennsauken, N.J. - produce power for Aluminum Shapes. The company uses the output to run a variety of applications, from presses that extrude aluminum to machines that fabricate and coat metal surfaces.

Spire Announces Turnkey Production Line

This announcement from Spire, the leading supplier in the design and manufacture of specialized equipment for producing photovoltaic solar modules, is an indication of the maturity that the solar industry is achieving:

Spire Corporation (Nasdaq:SPIR) introduces a 100 megawatt turnkey solar module production line. The new turnkey manufacturing line includes all the equipment needed to produce solar photovoltaic modules with an output of 100 megawatts per year, as well as comprehensive training, process technology, automation and support.

Gratzel on Dye-Sensited Solar Cells

Todays MIT's Technology Review has an interview with Michael Gratzel, the Swiss inventor of the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). The cells are now in limited production by Konarka, based in Lowell, MA USA, primarily for the military. Konarka has just announced a 25-megawatt facility for a foil-backed, dye-sensitized solar cells, by G24innovations ltd. in England, based on a Konarka license.

Gratzel said that silicon cells have about twice the efficiency of DSSCs, but DSSCs operate more efficiently in the early morning and in the evening and it efficiency is not affected by temperature.  As a result the DSSC is 20% or 30% less efficient than silicon cells. The main advantage of DSSC is that a factor of 4 or 5 (lower in cost than silicon) is realistic.

Their is more to the interview, so please read the article.

New Book: "solar energy will inevitably become the most economic solution for most energy applications"

In the book Solar Revolution, The Economic Transformation of the Global Energy Industry, published by MIT Press, fund manager and former corporate buyout specialist Travis Bradford argues--on the basis of standard business and economic forecasting models--that over the next two decades solar energy will increasingly become the best and cheapest choice for most electricity and energy applications. Solar Revolution outlines the path by which the transition to solar technology and sustainable energy practices will occur.

Solar energy will eventually be the cheapest source of energy in nearly all markets and locations because PV can bypass the aging and fragile electricity grid and deliver its power directly to the end user, fundamentally changing the underlying economics of energy. As the scale of PV production increases and costs continue to decline at historic rates, demand for PV electricity will outpace supply of systems for years to come.

A couple of quotes from the first chapter indicate the thrust of the book:

"For reasons that this book explores in full, solar energy will inevitably become the most economic solution for most energy applications and the only viable energy option for many throughout the world. Currently, sunlight is the only renewable-energy source that is ubiquitous enough to serve as the foundation of a global energy economy in all of the locations where energy will be required, from the industrialized world to the developing one."

"Increasingly and dramatically over the next few decades, however, consumers will turn directly to the sun for their energy. This will happen not because solar power is clean and green but because basic economic and political reasons compel us to make this choice."

Ovonics Proceeds on Expansion Plans

Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ECD Ovonics) (NASDAQ:ENER) announced today that it is expanding its thin-film solar module manufacturing capacity by another 60MW per annum by adding a second facility at its Greenville, Michigan site. This second facility is expected to begin operation in mid-2008.

This expansion represents the next phase in the company’s announced intention of expanding its solar module manufacturing capacity to an expected annual capacity exceeding 300MW by 2010. The company is presently constructing its first 60MW per annum facility at its Greenville site, which is expected to begin operation in late 2007. A new 30MW per annum facility (Auburn Hills II) is anticipated to begin operation in Fall 2006. ECD Ovonics' existing solar module manufacturing plant (Auburn Hills I) is presently at 28MW per annum and continues to advance manufacturing production to its expected capacity of 30MW per annum.

ECD Ovonics operates its solar module business through its wholly owned United Solar Ovonic (USO)subsidiary. USO is the world leader in thin-film amorphous photovoltaics. Their high-volume production equipment is the world's largest and most advanced machine for the manufacture of thin-film amorphous-silicon alloy solar cells  USO holds the basic patents covering the continuous roll-to-roll manufacturing of thin-film amorphous-silicon alloy multi-junction solar cells and related products.

Applied Materials Launches Solar Strategy

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT), the global leader in equipment and services for manufacturing semiconductors and flat panel displays, has launched its strategy to enter the rapidly growing solar photovoltaic (PV) equipment market. Applied Materials will provide a combination of manufacturing tools, together with technology and process innovations from the flat panel and semiconductor industries, that are expected to enable customers to increase conversion efficiency and yields, helping to lower the overall cost per watt for solar electricity users.

Sharp: Cost of generating solar power to halve by 2010 and to be comparable with that of nuclear power by 2030

"By the year 2010 we'll be able to halve generation costs; by 2020 we expect a further reduction - half of 2010; by 2030 we expect half the 2020 level and by 2030 the cost will be comparable to electricity produced by a nuclear power plant" said Sharp president Katsuhiko Machida.

Machida said he expected that a shortage of solar-grade silicon, would ease by 2008 as silicon makers step up production to catch up with soaring demand.  They also have are beginning to produce more  thin-film solar, which use less silicon but are less efficient than traditional solar panels.

Asked how the costs were likely to compare with those for producing electricity from fossil fuels such as coal, Machida replied: "Fossil fuel resources will be totally out by then."