Thin-film solar is being used in a variety of new applications, from solar roof shingles to solar tiles (like clay tiles) to solar panels glued right onto the roof. Its flexibility in use is one major benefit of this technology.

Lower cost is the number one factor responsible for its anticipated growth, but there are trade-offs as well.

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This facility is PSEG Solar Source’s first large-scale solar project. It is one of the largest solar projects in the state of New Jersey, which is already 2nd only to California in its amount of installed solar capacity. The MARS headquarters adjacent to the solar garden is the workplace of about 1,200 employees and is where M&M’S® Brand Chocolate Candies are manufactured.

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But this is just the beginning. SOLARIG has a more global vision.

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The new efficiency record is 7.6% and it breaks 7% for the first time.

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Just the other day, I wrote that it was a great time to go solar, especially due to the great rebates and discounts on solar technology. Apparently, I jumped the gun and was a few days early. A new report by Lawrence Berkeley National Lab — “Tracking the Sun II: The Installed Cost of Photovoltaics in the US from 1998-2008” — shows a significant decrease in solar costs over the last ten years and shows that now is a great time to go solar.

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New research at the University of Florida (UF) has just brought to light a new method in the capturing and guiding of energy that may lead to cheaper and more efficient solar cells.

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A Chinese company set a new world record in solar power efficiency this week. According to the company, Suntech Power Holdings, they achieved a 15.6% conversion efficiency on “a commercial grade multi-crystalline silicon PV module.” This breaks a 15-year-old world record set by US company Sandia National Labs.

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Hail – the Return of the Sun

There’s been a lot of negativity around the solar space in recent weeks because it has been hard going for some companies. And I don’t want to belittle their pain – manufacturers have big stockpiles and if they’re publically listed their share price is down; project developers can’t get bank finance or government cash fast enough, despite the stimulus; and installers may be seeing some consumer sentiment dropping in places.

But please don’t think that’s all she wrote. The future of photovoltaics is bright as the sun!

Just for one example of how serious a contender PV is becoming, consider Spain. Right now that beautiful country is copping a lot of blame because of changes in the incentive structure that have led to a major drop in solar sales there, large and small. Indeed, little old Spain is being held responsible for most of the oversupply currently being experienced by the PV manufacturing industry, which I think could be seen differently…

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India’s ‘National Solar Mission’, plans to have India generating 200,000 MW of solar power by 2050, and 100,000 by 2030 according to an official document.

The plan calls for 20,000 MW by 2020. For the next 11 years there is a three-phase approach: 1-1.5 by 2012, 6-7 GW by 2017 and 20 GW by 2020. Another goal for the 2030 milestone (besides the 100 GW target) is parity with energy production from coal.

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A model of clean technology and green building, a rail center planned for Anaheim, CA in 2013 will also provide a link to Disneyland. Taking design cues from NYC’s Grand Central Station, the building will also be a centerpiece of Anaheim and a site to see in itself.

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Major US renewables company Astonfield is set to invest a massive $2 billion in India over the next five years, the largest single cash-injection in renewable energy ever seen in the sub-continent.

The deal will generate about 1,000 MW of power, most of it from solar sources.

Much of the proposed $2 billion investment will go towards building solar-photovoltaic powered projects with a capacity of 500 MW.

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When we start talking about fossil fuels, most of us immediately think of coal, oil, and natural gas. But in the developing world where many people have little to no access to electricity — or even in places that do but have regular issues with outages — these are all secondary to kerosene.

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A recent study released by Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization, and several environmental organizations has concluded that solar technology alone could supply electricity for the whole state.

They cite a number of mind-blowing prospects from a variety of sources, all pointing to Texas as having the number one solar generating potential of the US states.

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You can check out the fascinating and entertaining video here.

Image credit: Kronn at Wikimedia Commons under a GNU Free Documentation License.

Parabolic troughs are a type of concentrated solar power that uses shaped mirrors which follow the sun during the day and heat up a liquid which then heats water to make steam in order to move conventional turbines.

Parabolic dishes are like large satellite dishes with curved mirrors that reflect sunlight to a central point where the energy heats to 750 C. A liquid also heats up and drives a piston to generate electricity.

Central receivers use an array of mirrors in a tower to heat up a liquid to 650 C. Steam is produced to drive a turbine. Linear fresnel reflectors use long rows of reflectors to heat a liquid or to directly make steam. They don’t generate as much energy but could cost less in production and long-term maintenance. To reduce energy consumption hot waters could be used. For example, over 80% of homes in Israel have solar water heaters, according to the report.

New Jobs

Also cited is the job growth potential should Texas become a world leader in solar technology. An institute at the University of Texas at Austin found that 123,000 jobs could be created in the long-term in manufacturing and solar electrical services.

Texas is already a leader in wind power. Coupled with its’ colosal solar potential, the state is poised to become a true force of nature in the clean energy arena, nationally and perhaps globally.

Image Credit: Public Domain

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The new polymer could also enable much more efficient charge separation since electrons dislodged by light in the material remain free much longer than in conventional solar cells used in solar powered battery chargers.

The inorganic/organic hybrid polymer material can be made into polymer blends that can “absorb essentially across the entire solar spectrum–they go from about 300 nanometers down to about 10,000 nanometers,” said professor Malcolm Chisholm of Ohio State University.

Solar materials work by using incident light to boost the energy of electrons, thereby separating then from the hull of atoms in the material. They can then be harvested to generate electricity.

However, separated electrons fall back into their host atoms if not collected quickly. Usually, solar materials either fluoresce (called singlet emisson) or phosphoresce (triplet emission). The new hybrid material does both, further increasing potential efficiency.

“The materials we have made show both singlet and triplet emissions,” said Chisholm. “The singlet state lasts a relatively long time, in the region of about 10 pico seconds; the triplet lasts a lot longer–up to a 100 or so microseconds, which should be good for separating the electrons and the hull.”

Parabolic troughs are a type of concentrated solar power that uses shaped mirrors which follow the sun during the day and heat up a liquid which then heats water to make steam in order to move conventional turbines.

Parabolic dishes are like large satellite dishes with curved mirrors that reflect sunlight to a central point where the energy heats to 750 C. A liquid also heats up and drives a piston to generate electricity.

Central receivers use an array of mirrors in a tower to heat up a liquid to 650 C. Steam is produced to drive a turbine. Linear fresnel reflectors use long rows of reflectors to heat a liquid or to directly make steam. They don’t generate as much energy but could cost less in production and long-term maintenance. To reduce energy consumption hot waters could be used. For example, over 80% of homes in Israel have solar water heaters, according to the report.

New Jobs

Also cited is the job growth potential should Texas become a world leader in solar technology. An institute at the University of Texas at Austin found that 123,000 jobs could be created in the long-term in manufacturing and solar electrical services.

Texas is already a leader in wind power. Coupled with its’ colosal solar potential, the state is poised to become a true force of nature in the clean energy arena, nationally and perhaps globally.

Image Credit: Public Domain

Once accepted into the program, a property owner would schedule an appointment for a solar installer to determine the appropriate solar system for the property. The city would pay the homeowner for the system and its installation, minus any applicable state and federal rebates, and would add a special tax to the property owner’s tax bill to pay for the system.

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Photo credit: Pete Beverly, NREL/DOE

A new model of solar purchasing appears to be coming of age: community solar purchasing programs. Last month, two colleagues in the Local Clean Energy Alliance and I carpooled to a workshop by the Downtown San Jose Solar Project about their experiences setting up a community purchasing program.

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