THIN FILM SOLAR PANELS

Archive for July, 2009

Earlier today the Zwentendorf nuclear plant in Austria reopened as a solar power station, making it the largest facility of its kind anywhere in the country.

Following its completion over 30 years ago, the plant’s operation was fiercely contested - culminating in a 1978 national referendum forcing it to close. Since then it has lain dormant as a visible testament to Austrian concerns over nuclear energy.

Now, following a €1.2 million investment the plant has reemerged as a major renewable energy production facility.

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David Schiraldi has seen the future and it is clay.  The Case Western Reserve University professor and his research team are developing a clay aerogel that transforms common clay into a super lightweight material that could be used as insulating or packing foams, magnets, conductors, and yes, even high tech kitty litter that weighs only 1/10 as much as conventional clay litter.

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San Francisco has been host to some big solar industry events this month, especially the Intersolar North America conference. In the middle of a recession, it is hard to walk the halls of a trade show of an industry dominated by manufacturers and not feel some pain. And it has been tough – industry revenues are forecast to be down 40% this year. But hopefully most of these players know that what doesn’t kill them, makes them stronger.

While some analysts are still down on the sector, and in some cases for good reasons of too much capital in the wrong places, most are bullish for next year. Some forecast 60% growth for 2011 and beyond. Certainly our experience is that there’s a lot of residential consumers out there that still want to go solar as a great way to save themselves money.

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Researchers at MIT’s SENSEable City Lab have developed smart tags to be attached to individual pieces of your trash and send its location back in real time.

Where did that candy bar wrapper go after you tossed it in your trash bin?  Did that juice container with a #1 recycling symbol make it to the recycling center? As soon as we throw something away, we lose our connection to it.  We don’t stop to wonder where the trash goes - does it get burned, go to landfill, or get placed on a boat?

These questions and more will be answered by Trash Track, an information system designed to monitor the path your garbage takes when it leaves your bin.  Researchers at MIT’s SENSEable City Lab have developed smart tags to be attached to individual pieces of your trash and send its location back in real time. The mobile sensor is akin to a miniature cell phone, encased in a type of resin to ensure its durability throughout its journey.  Since cell phone technology is ubiquitous and cheap, Trash Track should be able to capture the location of trash globally.  The team is looking to expose the “removal chain” of trash.

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As I write this I am preparing to board a very long flight to China, where I’ll be talking to a few Chinese PV module manufacturers, as well as our existing inverter supplier, Motech, in Taiwan. This will be a chance to meet and greet potential future suppliers on their own ground, and review factories as we consider sourcing more materials from China, but there are many things I already know before embarking.

New York Times Columnist, Tom Friedman is right. China is investing heavily and preparing to leave the rest of the renewable energy world in the dust. In the past two weeks Suntech, currently the largest solar module manufacturer in the world, signed 2 GW (2000 MW) of projects in China. Those 2 GW represent merely the contracts of a single company. Last year – and likely this year – the total U.S. market is 350 MW (0.35 GW). Granted, not all the Chinese projects happen this year, but plans are on paper – there is a schedule.

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