Alternative Energy / Solar Energy

• The Top 10 Markets for Solar PV Installations

  Global solar PV installations are expected to reach 24 GW this year, up from 19 GW in 2010, according to a new report from IMS Research. Trends in Europe have shifted and American and Asian markets are booming. Despite a relatively slow start, installations have seen an overall rise of 24 percent in the last year around the world. Although installations have recently surged, the demand for PV components is down due to a high level of inventory. “Despite installations in the second half of the year being almost double those in the first half, most suppliers didn’t see any…

• US Solar Panel Producers Calling for Tariffs Against Chinese Manufacturers

  You may believe it was inevitable. Sooner or later, production of what is essentially a commodity item like photovoltaic solar panels would prove uncompetitive in Western markets as low-cost emerging markets reached critical mass and, in something of a downturn, flooded the market at prices Western producers could not match. Just about everyone commenting on the sector has been predicting the industry will only take off when panel prices drop to a level where electricity generation is economically viable without subsidy. I should say we are not there yet; solar panels still require subsidy. In parts of Europe, they benefit…

• Energy of the Future: Spaced Based Solar Stations

  A solar power station in space measuring several kilometres in length may sound like something from a science fiction film, but the reality is that this idea could well be operational and supplying much of the worlds energy requirements within less than 20 years. Space based solar power stations are not a new idea, in fact they have been researched since the 1970’s. Back in 2009 the Californian state regulators granted approval to the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and Solaren Corp. to start creating a solar based power plant in space. Solaren, founded by veterans of Hughes Aircraft, Boeing…

• Why Solyndra’s Death Could be Good for the Solar Industry

  I believe that the loss of industry players Solyndra, Evergreen, and SpectraWatt opens the market for more innovative solar companies to succeed with smarter tactics and mainstream products that fit into existing manufacturing models. Remember when the dot.com bubble burst in 2000 and, seemingly overnight, some companies ceased making millions hand-over-fist?  Flash forward to 2011, when nearly everyone is online, Internet technology has become more accessible and fortunes continue to be made. Real innovation always finds its pot of gold. We’ve seen a considerable reduction in solar panel costs, but that is exactly why there is reason to be optimistic.…

• Unconventional Approaches to Solar Energy Capture

  The Earth is deluged with vast amounts of energy from the sun on a constant basis. Humans have utilised solar energy from their earliest days, living on the proceeds of photosynthesis either directly or indirectly. As humans discovered fire, they cleverly enlarged their utilisation of solar energy to keeping warm on cold winter nights. Modern humans have set their sights on powering a large part of their commercial and industrial infrastructure with solar energy, and have become extremely ingenious toward that end. Pictured below are several unconventional approaches to solar energy, which go beyond the simple silicon photovoltaic approach:Plasmonic Photovoltaics…

• Nigeria Moves Towards Indigenous Solar Panel Production

  Quick – who is Africa’s largest oil exporter, who is also interested in solar power? Nigeria. According to Nigerian National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure Director-General Olusegun Adewoye, about 40 rural information technology centers established by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NASEI), will be powered by photovoltaic solar panels manufactured in Nigeria, a first for Africa. Towards that end, Nigeria’s NASEI has established a 7.5 megawatt joint venture solar panel manufacturing plant in Karshi, Abuja. Adewoye told reporters, "The National Information Technology Development Agency is setting up internet centers all over the country and we are expecting in…

• Major Solar Cell Breakthrough About to Rock the Photovoltaic Industry

  Too often, when talking about research and innovation on clean energy technologies, policymakers, pundits, and the media tend to assume that the biggest breakthrough will come from a completely novel technology. The discovery of some new and sexy clean energy technology will suddenly change the game and make clean energy abundant and affordable overnight. In practice that rarely happens. A more likely scenario is that humble, behind-the-scenes “process innovations” will continue to increase the efficiency and drive down the costs of manufacturing the technologies we already know work. The Department of Energy has recently completed testing on just such a…

• South African Rural Schools to Receive Solar Powered Internet

  Electrification remains one of Africa's largest economic challenges, as overall less than 25 percent of the continent’s rural areas receive electricity, leaving communities isolated, with limited access to the benefits education receives from Internet connectivity.In South Africa that is about to change, as Samsung Africa recently launched its Solar Powered Internet School model at the Samsung Engineering Academy in Boksburg, Gauteng. A model marriage of cutting edge technology and progressive social policies, the Samsung Engineering Academy’s prototype Solar Powered Internet School classroom, built inside a 12-meter-long shipping container incorporates laptops and electronic blackboard and is completely solar-powered, mobile, designed to…

• Even Israel’s High-Tech Sector Struggles to Make Solar Power Cost Effective

  In any country, at the end of the proverbial day, both energy utilities and consumers are finally interested in the technologies that generate a kilowatt of electricity most inexpensively, all other considerations aside. Accordingly, all countries involved in solar energy are optimists, but nascent industrial efforts to generate power on a commercial scale from the sun are without exception dependent upon current government subsidies to enter the market, which is littered with optimism, the failure of U.S. federally subsidized company Solyndra being Exhibit A. But countries worldwide are seeking government support to shield their embryonic solar industries from market realities…

• Falling Silicon Prices Making Solar Panels Competitive with Fossil Fuels

  Thanks to recent advances in technology and a growing demand for renewable energy, solar power is starting to become a mainstream, commercial reality. According to the Associated Press (AP), solar power is expected to double this year in addition to doubling last year. While more solar energy projects are planned over the next year than any other power source, the industry remains relatively small. Held back by high upfront costs associated with solar panel installations, the new drop in the cost of equipment is about to change the game. The AP reports that solar panel prices have plunged by two-thirds…