Solar breakthrough?

Abq Richard · 08-17-2006, 01:10 AM

Apologies if this is old news, but first I've heard.

Solar Cells Change Electricity Distribution
By Dave Freeman and Jim Harding
The Seattle Post Intelligencer

Thursday 10 August 2006

In separate announcements over the past few months, researchers at the University of Johannesburg and at Nanosolar, a private company in Palo Alto, have announced major breakthroughs in reducing the cost of solar electric cells. While trade journals are abuzz with the news, analysis of the potential implications has been sparse.

We approach this news as current and former public electric utility executives, sympathetic with consumer and environmental concerns. South Africa and California technologies rely on the same alloy - called CIGS (for copper-indium-gallium-selenide) - deposited in an extremely thin layer on a flexible surface. Both companies claim that the technology reduces solar cell production costs by a factor of 4-5. That would bring the cost to or below that of delivered electricity in a large fraction of the world.

The California team is backed by a powerful team of private investors, including Google's two founders and the insurance giant Swiss Re, among others. It has announced plans to build a $100 million production facility in the San Francisco Bay area that is slated to be operational at 215 megawatts next year, and soon thereafter capable of producing 430 megawatts of cells annually.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/081406EC.shtml

MikeSF · 08-17-2006, 01:22 PM

I saw this on the news a little while back, it is exciting news and I eagerly anticipate the results out on the marketplace. I'm curious as to what their cells are though, they didn't show much in the news piece (trade secrets and the like) but it didn't look like a typical silicon solar cell that they make. Who knows.

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08-17-2006, 01:10 AM	#1
Abq Richard Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Albuquerque, N.M. Posts: 54 My Car: 2006 Prius Package: #3 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	Apologies if this is old news, but first I've heard. Solar Cells Change Electricity Distribution By Dave Freeman and Jim Harding The Seattle Post Intelligencer Thursday 10 August 2006 In separate announcements over the past few months, researchers at the University of Johannesburg and at Nanosolar, a private company in Palo Alto, have announced major breakthroughs in reducing the cost of solar electric cells. While trade journals are abuzz with the news, analysis of the potential implications has been sparse. We approach this news as current and former public electric utility executives, sympathetic with consumer and environmental concerns. South Africa and California technologies rely on the same alloy - called CIGS (for copper-indium-gallium-selenide) - deposited in an extremely thin layer on a flexible surface. Both companies claim that the technology reduces solar cell production costs by a factor of 4-5. That would bring the cost to or below that of delivered electricity in a large fraction of the world. The California team is backed by a powerful team of private investors, including Google's two founders and the insurance giant Swiss Re, among others. It has announced plans to build a $100 million production facility in the San Francisco Bay area that is slated to be operational at 215 megawatts next year, and soon thereafter capable of producing 430 megawatts of cells annually. http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/081406EC.shtml

08-17-2006, 01:22 PM	#2
MikeSF Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: San Francisco Posts: 344 My Car: 2006 Prius Package: #2 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	I saw this on the news a little while back, it is exciting news and I eagerly anticipate the results out on the marketplace. I'm curious as to what their cells are though, they didn't show much in the news piece (trade secrets and the like) but it didn't look like a typical silicon solar cell that they make. Who knows.