Tawanai

As reported by Stanford News, a new solar energy conversion process discovered by Stanford engineers could revamp solar power production. This
process simultaneously combines the light and heat of solar radiation to generate electricity could offer more than double the efficiency of existing solar cell technology, say the Stanford engineers who discovered it and proved that it works. The process, called “photon enhanced thermionic emission,” or PETE, could reduce the costs of solar energy production enough for it to compete with oil as an energy source.

Clean Technology, Energy, Renewable Energy, Solar, Technology, research

Recently WSJ published an article on a slightly different use of solar energy – to have hot water supply in a home. As the article states, you don’t need a super hot climate and tens of thousands of dollars to go solar. In many cases, all it takes to offset two-thirds of your hot water bill is a couple of panels resembling skylights, an 80-gallon water storage tank and some shade-free southern rooftop exposure. Costs range from about US $2,000 to $10,000,

Buildings, Environment, Solar

Pakistan Ministry of Water and Power would provide electricity to around 100 villages through solar energy during this year as part of its programme to ensure light in every village of the country. Electrification through Renewable Energy Technologies in remote and off-grid villages of country is the prime focus of the government which has initiated projects not only to overcome power shortage but also to electrify the remotest parts, said an official at the Ministry.

The official said a project has already been approved to electrify 400 remote villages of Sindh and Balochistan through solar energy. Around 49 villages (3000 households) have been electrified in district Tharparker using solar energy through government own funds.

The funds for remaining work in Sindh and the projects in Balochistan are being negotiated with the donors and are expected to be initiated during this year. Moreover, 100 Solar Home Systems in three villages of district Dera Bugti, 119 Solar Home Systems in 10 villages of Deh Tiko Baran district Jamshoro, Sindh and 200 Solar Home Systems in 16 Villages of district Khuzdar, Balochistan are also being installed through which thousands of people would be facilitated.

The official said in view of the electricity crises in the country the government has given a serious thought to both short and long-term measures. Public sector hydro plants with generation capacity of 347 MW will be added to the system at a cost of US $500 million and 1,700 MW of high efficiency public sector thermal generation would start generation between end 2010 and upto 2012. The outlay for these projects is estimated as US $1.5 billion.

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Consumers, Electricity, Energy, Pakistan, Renewable Energy, Solar, power

Converting to solar energy means covering a roof in unsightly solar panels. Not necessarily: Philadelphia company SRS Energy has developed the Solé Power Tile, a roof tile designed to sustainably convert sunlight into electricity without compromising aesthetics. The dark blue tiles, manufactured by SRS Energy, are jointly branded and distributed by US Tile and specifically designed to be compatible with the clay roof tiles manufactured by US Tile. Customers who purchase clay tiles will be given the option to upgrade a section of their roof to Solé Power Tiles. When installed, the system can offset a large proportion of a homeowner’s energy costs—not to mention cleaning their carbon conscience. The tiles are available in select West Coast markets this autumn, with a nationwide rollout planned for spring 2010.

SRS Energy says that the Solé tiles, made from a high-performance polymer often used in car bumpers, are lightweight, unbreakable and recyclable. Flexible solar technology by United Solar Ovonic is embedded inside each tile, allowing them to function independently of each other. Meanwhile, the performance of the system as a whole is monitored remotely by SRS Energy and US Tile. The director of engineering at SRS Energy is J.D. Albert, who also developed the electronic ink technology used in Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader.

What’s so attractive about the Solé Power Tile system he and his team have produced is that it makes it easy for consumers to make a green choice, without having to settle for a product they find unappealing. With more tile styles and colours in the pipeline, SRS Energy could soon be enjoying a big chunk of eco-bounty, as will any other company that can remove the disincentives from sustainable technology.

Website: www.srsenergy.com

Buildings, Energy, Solar

As part of our new technology series, this post looks at use of nano particles to improve solar energy performance. This report comes via Technology Review.

Inexpensive thin-film solar cells aren’t as efficient as conventional solar cells, but a new coating that incorporates nanoscale metallic particles could help close the gap. Broadband Solar, a startup spun out of Stanford University late last year, is developing coatings that increase the amount of light these solar cells absorb.

Solar antenna: The square at the center is an array of test solar cells being used to evaluate a coating that contains metallic nanoantennas tuned to the solar spectrum. Credit: Brongersma lab, Stanford

Based on computer models and initial experiments, an amorphous silicon cell could jump from converting about 8 percent of the energy in light into electricity to converting around 12 percent. That would make such cells competitive with the leading thin-film solar cells produced today, such as those made by First Solar, headquartered in Tempe, AZ, says Cyrus Wadia, codirector of the Cleantech to Market Program in the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. Amorphous silicon has the advantage of being much more abundant than the materials used by First Solar. The coatings could also be applied to other types of thin-film solar cells, including First Solar’s, to increase their efficiency.

Broadband believes its coatings won’t increase the cost of these solar cells because they perform the same function as the transparent conductors used on all thin-film cells and could be deposited using the same equipment.

Broadband’s nanoscale metallic particles take incoming light and redirect it along the plane of the solar cell, says Mark Brongersma, professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford and scientific advisor to the company. As a result, each photon takes a longer path through the material, increasing its chances of dislodging an electron before it can reflect back out of the cell. The nanoparticles also increase light absorption by creating strong local electric fields.

Energy, Innovation, Solar, research

Associate Press of Pakistan reports that the Japanese government has agreed to provide a grant of Yen 480,000,000 (US $5.4 million) to Pakistan for “Introduction of Clean Energy by Solar Electricity Generation System” programme. An agreement to this effect was signed here on Thursday by Secretary, Economic Affairs Division, Sibtain Fazal Halim and Ambassador of Japan in Pakistan, Chihiro Atsumi on behalf of their respective governments.

Among others, Head of Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), also witnessed the signing ceremony. Under the Clean Energy Initiative, two on-grid solar power generation systems (100 KW each) will be installed under grant-aid through JICA, one at Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) and other at roof of Planning Commission’s building.

The project will promote clean energy utilisation and will help achieve emission reduction by installing the new system that would be connected to the national grid. The system is expected to reduce the gas emission, by replacing the part of electric power generated by fossil fuel and contribute to the climate change policy of Pakistan.

This project is first of its kind in the country, which would set precedent as a role model of defining procedures and strategy at the level for on-grid solar power generation. It is expected to become an effective measure to overcome the energy shortage and a motive for utilising solar power, for which there is big scope with relatively less investment.

On the occasion Chihiro Atsumi said that Japan was concerned about the challenges caused by the climate change in Pakistan which has been resulting in receding glaciers and lack of rain fall. During the Copenhagen conference held last month, Japan has committed to reduce the carbon emission, and Pakistan and Japan would try to utilise the solar energy to achieve this goal.

On the occasion, Secretary EAD said that Government of Japan has deep and diversified relations with Pakistan adding that Japan was the biggest donor partner of Pakistan and continued its support in education, health, energy, environment and disaster management.

Japan has also helped in capacity building and institution building in Pakistan, the Secretary added. Speaking on the occasion, Pakistan Engineering Council, Chairperson Rukhsana Zuberi expressed the hope that the launch of this project and the awareness created through media could lead to the solutions of energy problems. This system is economically viable and will also help in income generation, she added.

Clean Technology, Consumers, Energy, Investment, Solar Japan, JICA, Pakistan Engineering Council

Technology Review reports that in a few years, the United States is likely to be the world’s largest market for solar power, eclipsing Germany, which has taken the lead as a result of strong government incentives in spite of the relative paucity of sunlight in that country. A number of factors could make growth possible in the United States–especially changes in legislation that give utilities incentives to create large solar farms.

Last year, the U.S. solar industry got off to a slow start, but sales rebounded in the second half of the year, largely because of a drop in the prices of solar panels of up to 40 percent, partly caused by an oversupply due to the recession. Revenues for many solar companies were likely flat, but the megawatts of solar installed in the United States overall grew by 25 to 40 percent last year, says Roger Efird, the chairman of the Solar Energy Industry Association and the managing director of Suntech America, a branch of Suntech Power, the largest maker of crystalline silicon solar panels in the world.

This year, Efird says, solar installations could double, reaching a gigawatt of capacity. “That’s a big number,” he says. “If you are in the solar business, you were talking watts 15 years ago, you were talking kilowatts 10 years ago, and you have trouble even talking megawatts today.”

Energy, Solar

Vodafone Qatar and Alcatel-Lucent announced the deployment of the first hybrid powered Base Station in Qatar, using an integration of solar and wind energy. Vodafone and other companies intend to learn from these trial sites and plans to apply these techniques all over the world.

The wind turbine at the Qatar site has been mounted at the top of the existing mast to leverage higher winds. The energy controller brings intelligent control to simultaneously draw power from both the photovoltaic panels and wind turbine, based on solar intensity and wind speed, making the most – at every second – of the two sources’ fluctuating availability. The system also carefully monitors battery charging cycles and diesel generator maintenance runs so as to maximize their lifespan. A full monitoring system enables real-time tracking of all weather and energy parameters; a key component to enabling large scale deployments.

Conservation, Energy, Environment, Green, Infrastructure, Solar alcatel, telecom, vodafone

Picture of the month for January 2010 – solar power panels on the roof of a building used by Google, the Internet giant.

Buildings, Solar

The energy crisis in Pakistan is changing the way telecom industry consumes and manages power. In a welcome move, Universal Service Fund has made it mandatory for the telecom operators in rural areas, where USF is providing subsidy, to power their infrastructure through renewable energy sources. This not only makes sense financially but also from an environmental perspective. Telenor and Warid had already taken some initiatives along these lines. Here’s the statement from USF.

It has been observed that commercial power has not reached most of the areas where USF is running rural telecom projects, which proves to be a barrier to provide smooth uninterrupted telecom service. Even where commercial power infrastructure is available, the availability of power is extremely limited. As a result, the telecom operators have to rely on diesel generators. But not only there is the cost of diesel, the re-fueling at these sites is also a big and expensive hassle. At the same time, there is also a great need for cross-cutting operational expenses for maintenance of remote and hard-to-reach remote sites. Therefore, it was decided in the meeting that operators will bid for all future infrastructure in unserved areas with renewable energy solutions.

This decision will play an important role in reducing the energy costs and is also a small contribution towards dealing with the energy crisis in Pakistan. Moreover, this initiative will also help reduce carbon content in the atmosphere.

Wind, solar and other forms of non-fossil fuel energy, such as hydro and geothermal can contribute in this effort. Thus hundreds of renewable energy solutions will get deployed which will not only reduce Green House Gasses (mainly CO2) emissions in the atmosphere, it will also help bring down prices of solar and wind power solutions in the country.

Clean Technology, Energy, Green, IT, Solar, Wind