Solar parity with other energy
generation sources predicted within 5 years making solar more cost effective
than other historic generation options before new coal or nuclear plants could
be built.
Tom Werner, chief executive of SunPower Corp, the
largest North American solar company by sales and other analysts, see such "grid
parity" for solar power in the United States and elsewhere happening in
about five years, or possibly as soon as 2010.
http://www.reuters.com/article/vcCandidateFeed7/idUSN0342345720080613
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/02/thinfilm-solar-clobbering-oil.php
Thin
film Solar PV advances leading to significant reductions in solar panel price,
making thin film solar PV cheaper than other traditional options within 5 years
www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=solar-power-lightens-up-with-thin-film-cells
Solar concentrator technology and solar
thermal power plants have also had major advances and rapidly falling prices.
Honda
Soltec Co., Ltd., headquartered in
First Solar PV Modules represent the latest advancements in thin-film solar module technology and demonstrated large power plant capability . (cadmium telluride solar cells) http://www.firstsolar.com/product_overview.php
http://www.firstsolar.com/large_scale_power_plants.php
“We chose to include First Solar modules in our expansion because we are interested in supporting the development of products that will lower the cost of solar generated electricity.” said Tom Hansen, VP & Technical Advisor of Tucson Electric Power. “The newest arrays are achieving the results we expected.”
New Thin Film Solar
Efficiency Record: 19.9%
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/03/thin-film-solar-panel-efficiency-record.php
Solaria: Finding Clever Ways to Make Cheaper Solar Panels
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/03/solaria-cheaper-solar-panels-pv-silicon.php
Nanosolar Creates Largest Thin-Film Tool
The
company says that its coater can produce up to1 gigawatt of solar cells each
year, potentially cutting manufacturing costs by two orders of magnitude.
Company claims to have the lowest cost solar panel. [ copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) ] http://www.nanosolar.com/products.htm
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/nanosolar-creates-largest-thin-film-tool-1023.html
Dye-sensitized, silicon-free solar cells have passed an important
viability test at a Chinese lab. Do innovations like this herald the age of
cheap solar power?
The sensitized films, which are far less expensive than traditional photovoltaic panels, were previously known for their inefficiency, a plague on the entire solar industry (which only converts 15-30% on average) but thin-film solar in particular (the new record for this cell was 8.2%). Thin-film has achieved far higher conversion rates in the past, but the Chinese test is significant because the sensitized film it was using had no chemical solvents involved in the production–that is, in addition to being a renewable energy source, it was also eco-friendly, and will be easy to manufacture on an industrial scale. MIT has also made major advances. "MIT opens new 'window' on solar energy
New efficiency benchmark for dye-sensitized solar cells
In a paper published online June
29 in the journal Nature Materials, EPFL professor Michael Graetzel,
Shaik Zakeeruddin and colleagues from the Changchun Institute of Applied
Chemistry at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have achieved a record light
conversion efficiency of 8.2% in solvent-free dye-sensitized solar cells. This
breakthrough in efficiency without the use of volatile organic solvents will
make it possible to pursue large scale, outdoor practical application of
lightweight, inexpensive, flexible dye-sensitized solar films that are stable
over long periods of light and heat exposure.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/epfd-neb062708.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dye-sensitized_solar_cell
MIT concentrating solar dish holds promise for low-cost energy
production for industrial and other applications.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/20/mit-solar-dish-holds-promise-for-low-cost-energy-production
Plug Power
Receives NYSERDA Contract to Further Commercialization of Residential Fuel Cell
Systems
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/primenewswire/145579.htm
