Global Solar brings cheaper solar a step closer

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clipped from www.azbiz.com After 11 years of testing and trying - and not making money - startup Global Solar Energy says it has refined its thin-film flexible photovoltaic cell to the point it says it can produce solar panels at one-third to one-half the cost of the current industry standard. "We’re sold out for the next year at a price that ensures we’re profitable," said Mike Gering, president and CEO of Global Solar. "There’s a big difference between production and the laboratory. We’re in production. We can replicate this time after time." Global Solar is already known for its thin, flexible photovoltaic cells, used by the U.S. Army in its portable solar field battery chargers. The older portable product worked just fine, but it didn’t have the durability or efficiency needed for rooftop applications.

Solar Heating

clipped from www1.eere.energy.gov Solar heating harnesses the power of the sun to provide solar thermal energy for solar hot water, solar space heating, and solar pool heaters. A solar heating system saves energy, reduces utility costs, and produces clean energy. To help more Americans benefit from these systems, the U.S. Energy Policy Act implemented a 30% tax credit for consumers who install solar water heating systems. In this Web site you can learn more about the following topics: The different solar heating systems Solar heating in use How DOE is supporting solar heating research How consumers can use solar heating technologies such as solar water heaters and solar pool heaters How industry can apply solar heating technologies To be eligible for this tax credit, the systems must be certified by the Department of Energy's non-profit partner, the Solar Rating & Certification Corporation (SRCC). Alternatively, residents of Florida and Hawaii can use their state certification programs.

Photovoltaics

clipped from www1.eere.energy.gov The U.S. Department of Energy works to provide clean, reliable, affordable solar electricity for the nation through its research programs in photovoltaic (PV) energy systems. The following pages explain the "how's" and "why's" of PV. Whether you are a student, builder, consumer, engineer, or researcher, there is something here for you. Our goal is to ensure that photovoltaic energy systems make an important contribution to the energy needs of our nation and the world. In these pages, you will learn about DOE's R&D in photovoltaic energy systems, and much more. You will also find out— How PV works Why PV is important How and why PV is used How DOE is supporting research of solar energy How you, the consumer, can use PV and other solar energy technologies How builders can incorporate solar into their building plans How students, educators, and trainers can learn more about PV

OPEC: It's Not Our Fault!

clipped from www.forbes.com The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Counties decided to keep production on hold Wednesday, a widely-expected move that did little to dispel worries over the current record price of crude oil. OPEC repeated its mantra that the market was "well-supplied" on Wednesday, arguing that an economic slowdown in the United States and the wider financial crisis would scale back demand in 2008. The cartel's next scheduled meeting is in September, which suggests that it does not see any urgent need to change the supply-demand balance--despite the fact that oil is currently trading at $100 a barrel. "If the prices are high, they are definitely not due to a lack of crude," said Dr. Chekib Khelil, Algerian oil minister and president of OPEC The cartel accounts for some 40% of global oil production, and although its announcements do give some direction for the market, the current uncertainty has left the 15 members rather reluctant to act. (See "OPEC Could Be Powerless To Cool Crude")

Dethroning King Coal

clipped from blogs.wsj.com Another one bites the coal dust. As we noted last week, it isn’t just climate-change worries or regulatory uncertainty that is sinking Big Coal: It’s current costs. The latest project to fall by the wayside? Missouri’s Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. pulled the plug yesterday on a 660-megawatt coal-fired plant. When the project was started in early 2005, its total price tag was estimated at around $1 billion. But skyrocketing construction and engineering costs, as well as rail transport and new transmission capacity, pushed the total price to around $2 billion, AECI says. The cancellation won plaudits from environmental groups like the Sierra Club, which had been campaigning against new coal-fired capacity. But it’s economics, as much as—if not more than–environmentalism, that’s helping to shift investment away from coal. Big banks are getting colder feet when it comes to coal financing Missouri’s first three wind farms defective Suzlon turbines

Gored: Why Skeptics Need Al

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clipped from blogs.wsj.com The striking thing about the “Manhattan Declaration” that ended the Heartland Institute’s global-warming skeptics’ conference this week wasn’t its rejection of man-made global warming or the host of alternative scientific theories. No — the first recommendation the group made after days filled with scores of presentations and films was to take a shot at the Nobel prize winners: Now, therefore, we recommend: That world leaders reject the views expressed by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as well as popular, but misguided works such as “An Inconvenient Truth.” The Heartland Institute invited several prominent members of the opposite camp, including Mr. Gore and James Hansen, the NASA climate expert. But they threw down a global-warming debate challenge only to Mr. Gore; a similar challenge was issued by Lord Monckton, a former Thatcher adviser. Even Mr. Gore’s old professors come under scrutiny like Dan Quayle’s never have.

Steel forges foundation for cheaper solar power

clipped from www.physorg.com These so-called “nanostructured dye solar cells (DSCs)” are a relatively new family of photovoltaic devices. Their simple manufacturing methods are hoped to lead to lower production costs compared to conventional solar cells. Traditionally, DSCs are deposited on conductively coated glass sheets which accounts for more than 30 percent of the material costs. Preparing DSCs on flexible stainless steel sheets is one way to reduce the costs and also to enhance mass production, according to Kati Miettunen and colleagues at the Helsinki University of Technology. Uncertainties existed, however, over the performance and stability of stainless steel photovoltaics. In the new study, researchers describe construction of DSCs with stainless steel components and tests of the devices’ performance. “It was shown that relatively high efficiencies can be obtained with DSC deposited on stainless steel substrate,” Subsequent work will investigate the durability of the stainless steel components