| Burlingon-IBM turn semiconductor scrap into photovoltaics |
[Nov. 4th, 2007|01:39 pm] |
...first Ben & Jerry's, then Phish, now this!
Here's another cool story out of PhysOrg, about a Vermont IBM team who have pioneered a way to turn semiconductor waste in to solar grade silicon for PV panels (well, actually, that part is not brain science, the new trick was more about erasing IBM's intellectual property before it leaves their hands and ends up on someone's roof). And this is good news, because in the semiconductor world, 250,000 silicon wafers are used a day (and 3.3% of that get scrapped on the factory floor) and so there are about 3 million silicon wafers sitting around waiting to be made useful. They would look nice on my roof :p
...speaking of computers, have you heard the one about OLPC the one laptop per child group has been looking at that run on cow power? No, seriously, and not what you might think, from some cow-poo biofuel or biogas.. but actually hooking the Mumbai cows (for example) up to pulleys and generating electricity from the cows... I dunno, sounds cool, but a little too much like the Professor from Gilligan and not enough like a gizmo from a Brice Stirling book = ( |
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| Holy Shiholy Batman! |
[Aug. 11th, 2006|07:38 pm] |
SunEdison Acquires Team Solar; Serious Legion of Superheroes Shihizzle
Wow. this is a match made in heaven. I swear. SunEd + TeamSolar TL4Eva...
Together they have installed enough solar panels to power 15,000 homes (and that's energy pig homes, not back-to-the-earth one-LED-christmas-light-is-fine-for-my-
reading-light hippy homes).
And while they come from radically different places, this is going to be a symbiotic powerforce. Nobody is talking about how much it sold for, but the Sun bought the Team! And it looks like Baltimore's brilliant SunEdison krewe is poised for even greater stature in the energy biz (and West Coast presence) now that they've bought TS... And they were already pretty amazing, known to provide competitively priced solar energy at or below local utility rates with various financing schemes (sometimes they lease big box's rooftops, put solar there and then sell the juice to the stores, other times they lease the PV to the stores, and do the the installations and maintenance...) And SunEd's CEO Jigar Shah is a solid leader, building a team with some insanely impresisve playere (it's like he raided the halls from BP S0lar --duh, they're in Maryland-- to Bechtel).
And TeamSolar is no slouch ...born under the close tutelage of Sacramento's highly evolved SMUD, Angela and Rick Lavezzo's tiny company has grown to be California's largest solar installer. No job too small or too large.
Now we know what they did with some of that twenny six point one $M they just raised with Gold Man Sachs. But this is awesome, this is grassroots California meets business2.0 east coast new green stylee. With balance and harmony for all, I expect SunEd will spred....
[source Sun Edison, LLC press release |
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| innovalight raises $7.5M venture cash |
[May. 3rd, 2006|08:57 pm] |
silicon "ink" sets to race page/brin nanosolar
Konrad Burke's Innovalight just got a big boost. The scientist/former venture capitalist who invented the innovalight system, and is now the company's CEO, just raised Seven and a half million dollars with the help of Harris & Harris Group, and the deep pockets of Apax Partners, ARCH Venture Partners, Sevin Rosen Funds and Triton Ventures. They're on a roll and it's just getting bigger, they were recently recognized as a 2006 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum, in Davos Switzerland, and for good reason. See, what Innovalight does that no one else is doing is use a nanosilicon ink to paint ultra lightweight solar panels. They can produce these at a greatly reduced price and they even weigh less to ship. (here, it's a little old, but this is the most comprehensive primer I have about them). I look forward to seeing how NanoGoogleSolar is going to take this news... |
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| Prism Solar: getting all holographic on us! |
[Apr. 25th, 2006|03:53 pm] |
something new under the sun....
Well, we all know that there is a SoG-Si shortage worldwide now.. and that's why companies as diverse as DayStar and SunBall are getting so much attention. They either use nano-noSilicon, or use silicon in a new and unique way (like lenses that multiply the amount of sun you're getting). So up in Stone Ridge NY, Rick Lewandowski and a group of people from his company, called PrismSolar, have figured out another way to increase the bang-for-buck ratio. And it's with my 2nd favorite technology; holograms! Yes! They have figured out a way to increase the amount of sun hitting the Photovoltaics, so that they can reduce the mount of silicon needed by 85%. Oh. I almost forgot to tell you, it's see through, so that means that your windows and doors and other transparent surfaces are fair game!! |
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| ...not bad for a days work... |
[Feb. 24th, 2006|06:36 pm] |
Evergreen enters $100M agreement!
 OK, you guys know that Evergreen is my favorite silicon-PV company. Well I just read over at CleanEdge that Evergreen has entered into a $100 million dollar, four-year supply contract with S.A.G. Solarstrom AG, of "Solar-Haven" Freiburg, Germany. S.A.G. builds and operates mega-huge solar power stations, and sells the generated energy to corporations and utility companies. S.A.G. plans to use Evergreen Solar's products to help satisfy the growing demand from those organizations. These products will be manufactured at Evergreen Solar's plant in Massachusetts and at EverQ's new 30- megawatt facility in Thalheim, Germany.
"This agreement with S.A.G. is in line with Evergreen Solar's plan to establish relationships with proven solar power leaders," said Richard M. Feldt, Evergreen Solar's president and CEO. "Like our EverQ partners, S.A.G. has built an outstanding reputation in the marketplace, particularly in Germany. In this environment of surging demand for solar power products, we believe this will be a strong, mutually beneficial relationship for our two companies. The agreement also provides us with an opportunity to jointly seek additional ways to lower total system costs to the end-user." Once again, Evergreen proves itself resilient and stealthy! Way to go! |
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| Second helpings for Konarka (the solar plastic guys) |
[Feb. 18th, 2006|10:43 am] |
OK, in the non-Solar-Grade-Silicon solar world, Konarka is a hottie. Not only do they make the PV for solar tents, ski jackets and other non-traditional solar applications, but they are smart. They managed to take over Siemens' organic photovoltaic research activities, as well as its renowned scientific team. They've really carved a niche for themselves with their funky solar ribbons,
and now it seems, for the second time in but a few years, they have made nice friends in the investment community. With the help of 3i, a world leading venture capital and private equity firm, and existing investors, including Draper Fisher Jurvetson, New Enterprise Associates, Good Energies, Vanguard Ventures, Partech International and Chevron Technology Ventures, they just raised $20 Million dollars. I mean it's not a huge shock, they have unique technologies, are way forward moving, and of course have already gone through about $40M, so hey, they're on a roll..... |
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| Green Power Labs, something fresh from the East |
[Feb. 17th, 2006|08:12 pm] |
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) somerled, the poet warrior of the Educational IT world sent me a link to something I find truley inspiring. It's a company out east called Green Power Labs. Boy is it great... ok, to begin with, they are a solar company. They have created some softwares that will tell you if your place is in any way a good place to set up PV power. But then they also sell turnkey solar solutions to run your whole home on PV and batteries and/or grid intertie. Sounds fairly run-of-the-mill (aside from the software) so far, but get this, they have a brilliant entry level rout for the average homeowner that I haven't seen yet before, and on top of it, they have financing for solar, which in my opinion is the one thing that has been SORELY needed in the green world. And now finally happening!!
( Read more... ) |
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| Stanley and Iris are HOT!!! (so say the analysts) |
[Feb. 16th, 2006|12:26 pm] |
Jesse Eisinger wrote in The Wall Street Journal write how President Bush's State-of-the-Union teleprompter had barely dimmed when Wall Street geared up for a festival of sun worship. and I say Woooo Hoooo! They report that Investment bank First Albany hosts a conference next Wednesday in New York on solar power. Where almost two dozen companies are scheduled to attend a Piper Jaffray Solar Market symposium on the subject while as many as seven solar companies could offer shares to the public for the first time this year. Here's what Jesse Says: " With energy prices rocketing, it was inevitable that Wall Street would latch onto companies offering technological solutions to our country's oil "addiction," so companies such as Sunpower Corp., Evergreen Solar and Energy Conversion Devices are having -- you'll have to excuse me -- their moment in the sun.
The article goes on to talk a lot about Stanley and Iris Ovshinky's company, solar pioneers Ovonics/ECD, (picutred above, they make awesome gear!). While it's got a bumpy ride, and is not directly owned by a big oil company, the analysts, they say BUY BUY BUY!! |
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| Shell goes for the copper! |
[Feb. 13th, 2006|06:19 pm] |
About a week ago I was hinting that something was happening with Shell Renewables and their Solar Division, and it looks like we're in for some fun! Shell got rid of their "old school" silicon PV and have developed a new generation of photovoltaic panel based on C.I.S. (Copper Indium Selenide) thin film deposited on glass. This panel does not incorporate silicon wafers. It has been successfully tested and offers record efficiency, especially under low illumination conditions. And they have a new partner, French glassmaker Saint Gobain.
...if competition is good for business, you know that this is HUGE news for my favorite solar company on the planet, "2005 Technology Innovation of the Year Award winner in the field of copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) pv cells," yup, you got it, John Tuttle's Daystar! Again (and maybe it's just 'cause the olympics are happening, but i say); Let The Games Begin! |
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| shakedown in corpoland... |
[Feb. 7th, 2006|07:49 am] |
what is the rumour? That SolarWorld GmbH just bought Shell Renewables entire solar division. more news to follow.... |
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| aa says da roof |
[Feb. 7th, 2006|07:07 am] |
the aa haters lose a little more ammo
see that? that's the roof of their building.... that's their solar bundle of joy arriving!
American Apparel has begun installing a 146 kW solar electric system on the roof of its downtown Los Angeles factory. The system is expected to cut the company's electric bill by at least 20%. Los Angeles-based Permacity Solar is installing the 465 Schott 315-watt ASE PV Modules and a SatCon 135 inverter on American Apparel's seven-story vintage 1935 building. Permacity has installed some of Southern California's largest solar electric arrays, including systems powering Dryer's Ice Cream, Otis Spudmeyer Cookies, and Miller's Honey. American Apparel, a vertically integrated company and one of the fastest growing consumer apparel brands in the U.S., knits, cuts, sews, photographs(well the photos that aren't in their American Apparel um, "houses"), markets, distributes, designs and sells its clothing from this 800,000 sq. ft. facility. American Apparel is the largest apparel manufacturer in the U.S., employing more than 3,000 people at its downtown Los Angeles factory at a time when pressure for textile manufacturing from abroad is stronger than ever.
"We are continuously expanding on environmental initiatives, and applying advancements in materials and processes that have a positive impact on our community, leading the way to a cleaner L.A.," said Roian Atwood, American Apparel's Director of Environmental Programs. American Apparel is one of the first companies in the U.S. to take advantage of the new 30% Federal Tax Credit for solar power, which took effect January 1, 2006. It also will benefit from a rate-payer-funded, state-mandated rebate from the Southern California Gas Company. "We are proud that American Apparel will be making solar-powered T-shirts into the 22nd century, right here in downtown LA," said Jonathan Port, Permacity's CEO. So are we all Jonahan, so are we all.
[from Renewable Energy Access>] |
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| twenty seven myths |
[Jan. 31st, 2006|01:15 am] |
Mythbusters: green special
Remember those posters in the college dorms "How to win an argument with an omni/carnivore?" Well, i think i just found the clean-energy equivalent of those... and of course, here they are for you, for the next time someone says "oh yeah solar's good, but PV is too expensive and will never compete with "the big boys" you can smile and tell them how: actually, the price of solar was $50 a peak watt back in the 80's, is at $3 now, and that works out to about $0.15 a Kw just like dirty coal... Yes it's the DOE-EERE's the myths of solar electricity, and Rocky Mountain Institue's 20 Hydrogen Myths. So, like always, enjoy the education!
[BTW that pic is from Saskatchewan's SHREC] |
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| just because there isn't enough SoG-Si, why slow down?? |
[Jan. 27th, 2006|04:31 pm] |
faster cheaper better PV Panel manufacturing!
Spire introduces its new SPI-ASSEMBLER(TM) 6000, the latest in its line of advanced equipment for manufacturing solar photovoltaic (PV) modules. The SPI-ASSEMBLER 6000 is built upon the solid foundation of the successful SPI-ASSEMBLER 5000, which is used throughout the solar module manufacturing industry. It combines tabbing and stringing into one automated production machine that interconnects solar cells by soldering flat metal leads, or tabs, to cell contacts.
The SPI-ASSEMBLER 6000 incorporates state of the art engineering features developed over their 10 years of designing and building assemblers, and includes a number of advanced features recently developed in response to industry needs, including: high-yield processing of thin film modules, and the ability to churn out those new solarPV ribbons (all you need to make them funky solar ski jackets!).
They are now available, so if you've been sitting around all day wondering if you can become a solar manufacturer, just get on the horn and give Spire a shout! |
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| BIPV in Belarus |
[Jan. 26th, 2006|09:37 am] |
hometown cheer!
I guess i really just like this report on BIPV (Building Intergrated PhotoVoltaics) because it shows me on a very personal level how far we've come. The Article itself may not be that ground-breaking if you happen to know a bit about the biz, not bad actually, about how Solar Integrated Technologies Inc. had completed 39 BIPV installations in 2005 (including Coca-Cola, Frito-Lay, Honeywell, and Wal-Mart). But not much meat on it... the reason I am into this article as you may have surmised by the picture up there, is yes, this is from Construction & Maintenance News from my great grandparents region of Minsk in Belarus. Belarus isn't exactly silicon-ukraine so not only am I pleased in a sorta this-one-is-for-you-grandpa! kind of way, but also because it shows just how deep a groove we are carving here.... This is not going to go away! |
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| worlds biggest inverter.... . |
[Jan. 23rd, 2006|11:05 am] |
OK You've got 5,000 solar panels on your roof, but no idea what to do?
....well then, your answers have been prayered! OK so most people don't have that much roofspace, let alone any need for 500KWh of electricity (seriously, those concerts down there don't even use that much!), but for commercial purposes this is a great next step. It appears that Boston's SatCon has just released the world's biggest power inverter. Able to take 500 Killowatts DC and turn them into 240 or 480 AC. This is defo the largest commercial Photovoltaic inverter available in North America ((not bad for Californians where the $2.80/Watt rebate means that this baby (and the 5,000 solar panels) will lead to a rebate of close to $1.5M (ok at a cost of $7.50/watt, installed, that means you'll be spending close to $4M but still a nice rebate...)). Sure it's commercial-- but you gotta admit, it's big! |
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| Solar Rocks..... |
[Jan. 23rd, 2006|10:40 am] |
Sustainable Wave's Solar Powered PA's achieve the most
amount of sound with the least amount of electrical power
"I am extremely impressed," says Lollapalooza founder - and longtime alt-energy advocate - Perry Farrell, "not only by the power source, but by the sound system as well. It seems that they have hand-built the cabinets and the entire sound system themselves to run without fail. They lowered the oms down to 60, so that they aren't drawing power too fast, and but let me tell you, it packs a wallop! The party never needs to end"
Of course, Mr. Farrel is talking about the soundsystems of the great Sustainable Waves. SW's Neil & Mark have created amazing concert environments with great sound and the smallest footprint possible (nothing annoys me more than being at a great outdoor party and then stumbling over the megagenerators polluting like mad! Why stumble? Never you mind!)
( keep on rockin ) |
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| Organic + Solar = $1/Watt |
[Jan. 18th, 2006|12:14 pm] |
"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.....
...Or, more roll-up solar materials for funky clothes!
..So, this company in Pittsburgh called Plexatronics just got $1Million dollars from the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority to pursue the development of their printable organic solar cells. They have this stuff called PlexCore PV which, they say, will bring the price of solar panels down to a dollar a watt!
Plexatronics has been a leader in RFID technology, printable electronics and some way-kewl light emitting polymers (with the catchy acronym, PLEDs, but hey that's nothing. who coined their Highest Orbital Molecular Orbital energy levels, really?) Anyway, the Plexicor is a (printed organic polymer) P-Type semi-conductor (gathers the positives) backed with "Bucky" Fullerene on the back which is an N-Type semi-conductor (yeah you got it, gathering the positives...)
 (bonus points for using Bucky Balls!). The grant's not huge, and the technology is in it's infancy, but seriously we're going to have recharging jackets and bags in no time!!! |
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| Quantum Silicon Dots |
[Jan. 17th, 2006|09:07 am] |
I want my infrared solar windbreaker already!!
Here's a neat story from Optic.org who were busy chatting with Conrad Burke, President of InnovaLight a (nano)solar startup based in Santa Clara CA. They say their silicon nanocrystal technology not only offers cost savings when it comes to manufacturing but some unique optical advantages as well. "We have worked diligently on developing silicon quantum dots" he says, and these silicon quantum dots will eventually lead to solar powered clothes, infrared solar panels, and a host of other solutions... not to mention when it comes to SoG-si use, they put thin-film panels to shame... personally, I have no idea how these quantum silicon dots work, and look forward to learning more about 'em, hey, maybe i ought to google it heh heh heh....
 |
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| ...another year in review |
[Jan. 13th, 2006|02:18 pm] |
Now Renewable Energy Access puts out
..their Solar Year in Review, that is. ((BTW that picture, it's the rare solar grade silicon in its natural state...))
Among notable issues that made it to the year end best-of: (and in my randome "..." style, as most of this has already been covered here) The price of silicon goes from $30/Kg to $60/Kg.... Moses Lake and Wacker in Germany..... 30% growth squished down to 5% (because no SoG-si...)
[go read it for yourself!] |
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| xSUNX gets rolling! ! ! ! ! |
[Jan. 12th, 2006|03:34 pm] |
it's a great day for Tom Djokovich! and for the planet, for that matter!
...his company, XsunX (who we love very much), is in action! Earlier today, Xsunx announced they began construction of a mass production system for the manufacture of the Company's proprietary thin film solar cell designs (so thin they're windows and solar panels!!). Apparently the company anticipates marketing efforts of this awesome system as early as this coming spring. So get ready-- we're soon gong to have our see through solar PV windows!! Wooo Hooo!
[incidentally if you want to hear a podcast interview with Mr. Djokovich, here] |
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| Solar Quickie |
[Jan. 10th, 2006|05:43 pm] |
Mr. Jack McCaffrey has been names to the position of Vice President of Manufacturing at good 'ol DayStar (who you probably know i dig so much!) He was Vice President of Manufacturing and Engineering at Evergreen Solar. As they say, his efforts helped Evergreen Solar transition from its pre-IPO origins to a successfully publicly-traded pure-play solar company, achieve production capacity growth from 250kW to 13 MW, and increase revenues from $400k to nearly $40 million in just over five years time ((not to mention that he was in charge of feedstocks while Evergreen was busy being incredible). Jack is the 43rd employee CEO Dr. John Tuttle has hired. They had 7 last year. |
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| inspiration in Scottsdale |
[Jan. 5th, 2006|08:26 am] |
E-Magazine's Hydrogen House story
((...and I'm wondering what is with all the refernces today? I'm starting to feel like the Green Readers Digest...))
Seriously great article in E-MAgazine today! It's all about Bryan Beaulieu, an engineer and inventor, and the home he built. Gorgeous home, very SouthWest stylee but with thatched green roof and many many goodies. Like his hybrid solar/hydrogen system! By day the solar panels collect the juice and fire up his in-house electrolizer. They (the whole Beaulieu family) use the hydrogen it to cook, heat water, AC, light (and they even hint, run a car).... Of course this guy's no dummy, so E explains, he also mimnimized the house's need for speed-- green roof and succulent vegitation to cool, putting the wiondows in the right direction, even being slighly underground where it's cooler... not only does the article have great links and groovy tips for any DIYers out there, but they also mention that the home is a partial-education center.. so if you happen to be in Scottsdale, it's pronounced Bo-Lee-yuh (and Beaulieu actualy means 'Beautiful Place' in french, sometimes names are really accurate...) |
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| a hybrid i can get behind! |
[Dec. 27th, 2005|10:17 am] |
finally some class and poise in Atlantic City
 
According to Renewable Energy Access the hottest new hybrid is a wind/solar system being installed in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The project is located at the Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA) wastewater treatment facility on the coast in Atlantic City, New Jersey (have you noticed a trend here? I have. Its seems like people can't get enough green energy when it comes to lighting up their wastewater treatment plants. Why is this??). Community Energy (CEI) of Pennsylvania was in charge of the wind component while the multi-array solar component was a joint venture between WorldWater & Power Corp. and New Jersey-based Alternity Power, a new division of construction contractor, the Conti Group.
The 504 kW solar electric system uses Sharp solar modules and a variety of Xantrex inverters spread out over five different arrays including two rooftop arrays, a large solar carport structure, and two ground-mounted systems. Lat week they had a dedication ceremony to represent the completion of phase one, the solar carport, featuring 936 separate modules. They also announced at the cerermony that they will be installing several GE Ecomagination wind turbines!
While the whole system will produce around 1/2 MW of electricity, they say that that's about 3-5% of what the treatment facility uses on a daily basis. Still it's impressive. Why? Because the planners knew that they could get more from hybridizing the systems then they could from any one technology! And this is a big step (sure we know that they will get more bang for their buck if they got some poo-digestors and also invested in some living machine technologies to reduce their electricity needs, but hey, first things first...) so kudos to the entire Garden State team! |
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| China Solar and the NYSE |
[Dec. 23rd, 2005|02:51 pm] |
NYC IPO Wakes up sleeping dragon!
More IPO news!!!
Shares of Chinese solar company Suntech Power jumped nearly 41 percent in the firm’s debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, reflecting continued investor interest in solar power. The shares closed up $6.20 to $21.20 after pricing at $15 per share, which was at the top of the range that the company had raised Monday. The first day pop gives the company a market cap of about $2.3 billion. The IPO raised $396 million, with about $300 million going to the company. The deal makes Suntech Power the top tech IPO so far this year. The IPO included 26.4 million American Depository Shares, with 20 million from the company and 6.4 million from existing shareholders. Suntech, the first China solar play in the U.S., is also the eighth Chinese company to launch in New York this year,(with others including search company Baidu, advertising Focus Media Holding, and China Techfaith Wireless Communication Technology).
The strength of their IPO reflects the interest that investors are increasingly showing in the alternative energy sector, specifically in solar and wind. The next largest IPOs this year included Q-Cells and Conergy, German solar manufacturers that launched IPOs in October and March, respectively (see Q-Cells Raises $288.5M). Q-Cells raised €242 million ($288.5 million) in October and its IPO was almost 40 times oversubscribed. Conergy launched its IPO at €54 ($64.87) in March, a price that has grown to €80.16 in recent trading. ErSol and SunPower also went public this year (see SunPower IPO Jumps 55%).
The company initially set the offering price range at between $11 and $13 per share, but on Monday raised the range to $13 to $15 per share. Underwriters include Credit Suisse First Boston, Morgan Stanley, CSLA Asia-Pacific Markets, and SG Cowen. In its IPO application filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Suntech reported it made $23 million in the first nine months of this year, up from $8.8 million in the same period in 2004. Suntech could see much higher profit by December, as it made $19.8 million for the full year in 2004. Sales were $137 million by September 30, compared with $47.6 million in the year-ago period. And annual revenue in 2004 was $85.3 million, way up from $13.9 million in 2003. Suntech claims its cells are 15.5 to 16.5 percent efficient—the percentage of solar energy converted into electricity. The industry average is 15 percent, according to Mr. Resch. Suntech said it is now piloting a new line yielding 18 percent and targeting 20 percent by 2008. |
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| More Chinese Solar Data |
[Dec. 20th, 2005|03:16 pm] |
So EarthToys has a nice report to day from SolarPlaza (Rotterdam NL), who just released their report on Solar Photovoltaics and China(!) What is that expression? When it rains..... There is quite a bit of info in this report. Neat trivia for the next time you are sitting at the bar of a GreenDrinks, and if you happen to be bold, there's a link for the directory of the 250 PV operations in China.
The bottom line; China is on a roll! Off the radar just a few years ago, they are now the world's 3rd largest PV manufacturer. The report goes on about SoG-Si as well, but to those in the know there really isn't as much info there, though still interesting, they found 14 companies that are preparing to manufacture 10,000 tonnes by 2007! I think it's worth it just for the directory! |
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| blame china! |
[Dec. 19th, 2005|04:12 pm] |
Analysis International says SoG-si shortage is China's problem
You know... I've been wondering this myself. Not so much with the china angle so much as just in general... Investors now got wood for solar. That's a no-brainer.. I mean if they thought on their own two feet they would have known that for a few years now.. but of course, they had to wait for FastCompany to tell them... sooo anyyyway:
It appears that a report from Analysis International called "Semiconductor -- China's Solar Energy Market Annual Report 2005-2006" has just come out, and they are saying that China's enormous shortage of poly silicon will become the bottleneck for the solar photovoltaic energy industry explosion in the coming years(as opposed to the SogSi shortage).. They also make it seem like this shortage is sudden. Which would be cool, if it werent for the fact that they predicted this to a fault almost a decade ago..... Anyway, the report waxes on: "Analysys International thinks that there is an enormous shortage of poly silicon resources in the China market, and this will become the bottleneck to hinder the rapid development of the solar PV energy industry in China (((Errrr, bud, that's happening all around the world, china notwithstanding))). Also because of the rather high capital and technical requirement of poly silicon projects, only productivity beyond one thousand tons can be economically effective and competitive ((or maybe some of the cleaner ways to make the stuff? the ones that dont cost so much for electricity and chemicals?))). Therefore, establishing skillful personnel and fast production capabilities (((! like they're going to build a SoGsi plant in less than 2 years??))) will be critically important to achieve profit in this flourishing industry.""
And what I'm thinking is heyyyy how can i get a job like that? No doubt they charged someone through the teeth for this report, and yet it is just swishing around information that anyone could glean easily. Not even top shelf kind of stuff. And the solutions suck ass. Build more 30 year old technology?? Sheesh! So, what is it, the prosaic style, a good suit? I want in on this game, at least I'll let 'em know the chlorine free method of manufacturing.... |
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| California; 3 Billion Dollars! ! ! ! |
[Dec. 14th, 2005|03:47 pm] |
move over florida--- CA is the king Sunshine State
The California Public Utilities Commission just announced a new program that will inject $3 Billion dollars into solar energy over the next decade in the form of consumer rebates and incentives! And we all say "Wooo Hooo!"
Apparently, California's move towards solar technology and other green energy sources comes after a state study found significant evidence that greenhouse gas pollution can be substantially reduced at a profit rather than a cost (and it's not like California's million and a half hippies haven't been singing that song for like, 30 years already, but anyhoo).... The study, commissioned by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, found that energy efficiency has helped the California economy grow an extra 3 percent - a $31 billion gain - compared to business as usual. And that ain't hay!
[to read more about this 3,000 MW deal, click here or here] |
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