Great News!!! Solar Power Breakthrough! Much Cheaper! Great Efficency!!!

[masmdu]

"In a scientific breakthrough that has stunned the world, a team of South African scientists has developed a revolutionary new, highly efficient solar power technology that will enable homes to obtain all their electricity from the sun.

The unique South African-developed solar panels will make it possible for houses to become completely self-sufficient for energy supplies.

The panels are able to generate enough energy to run stoves, geysers, lights, TVs, fridges, computers - in short all the mod-cons of the modern house."

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=143&art_id=vn20060211110132138C184427

--------------------



****This is GREAT NEWS!!!!!!**** (just look at how many *s and !s I used!)

I am thrilled to hear this news considering the implications as it relates to energy consumption and associated enviromental and global political problems.

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. So, what country has a good relationship with South Africa?

I'm just wondering who's going to steal this idea from them.

[tsuki]

20. Germany, as I understand, will help with construction and license

technology from them.

[The Backlash Cometh]

23. That makes sense.

Germany had the best solar technology out there, at least from what I could tell. I was looking for solar operated garden "toys" and all my searches kept leading me to Germany.

[flygal]

39. Germany already working with Australians on this

In Leipzig. I met some of them. It's a big project.

[Greyhound]

2. Saw this a few days ago, same article. I've been trying to get more

but have not had any luck. You?
I'm reserving judgment until some other (independent) source/study comes along. I'm not falling for another "cold fusion" scam like 6 - 8 years ago. :smoke:

[NewJeffCT]

3. I agree

Until I see this in at least 1 or 2 other places, I won't get too excited.

[stop the bleeding]

5. Yep - this would be great if it can be verified. n/t

[FormerDittoHead]

9. It was patented...

Doesn't something have to be otherwise working if a patent is to be issued?

I know that "perpetual motion generators" have been refused patents because they were otherwise impossible.

[The Backlash Cometh]

13. Wasn't there another scandal regarding our patent system?

I think we outsourced the research part of the patent office.

Just throwing in a tangent.

[immoderate]

27. In short, no.

It doesn't have to work. There are free energy machines that have patents. Check the Randi archives. www.randi.org

--IMM

[Nothing Without Hope]

79. No, being patented is no guarantee that it works. n/t

[Jose Diablo]

4. Sounds good

I'd like to see more about it though, before I become sold on the new type solar panels.

More information on cost, efficiency, fabrication and installation for example. I remember when amorphous silicon first made the scene and it was the 'best thing since sliced bread'. But unfortunately it had the bad habit of catching on fire and didn't last as long as single/multi crystal silicon.

However, it's good that research is continuing. Eventually something will prove-in. Maybe this is the one.

[Junkdrawer]

6. More Info Here:

...

Work done over the last two years indicates that panels can be produced in commercial volumes at a cost of about R 500 (about $82 US - Junkdrawer) for a 50 Watt panel. This is much cheaper than existing solar panels available on the market. CIGS is a remarkably stable material and conversion efficiencies should be sustainable for 15-20 years in any given panel.

RAU physicists are currently collaborating with physicists from the University of Port Elizabeth and the University of Pretoria to make 20 Watt CIGS panels, thanks to an award by the Innovation Fund in the national Department of Science and Technology during 2003. The award, in the amount of R 13,2 million, has been used to construct a pilot assembly facility on the RAU campus (with more than R 2 million of top-up funds added by RAU management).

The two main components of the facility are a state-of-the-art sputtering instrument and a state-of-the-art diffusion oven. The former was designed by Leybold Optics of Dresden, Germany, and the latter by Wilro Technologies in the Netherlands. Both these instruments were designed according to Prof Alberts' unique and novel specifications and are, at the moment, the only examples of their kind in the world. They also constitute the best combination of instruments of this kind in the world at present.

...

http://www.scienceinafrica.co.za/2004/november/energy.htm

[Greyhound]

14. it is looking better. Here's to hope...

:toast: :beer:

[Jose Diablo]

50. About a buck and a half per watt

That works in so far pay back time. I wonder if they will sell a license to build them here. And what it would take as far as production equipment to build in volume.

[misternormal]

54. Considering "trickle down"...

... I wonder what a finished panel will end up costing the average consumer, or is this just going to be another thing with a zillion % mark-up that only the wealthy can afford???

I realize that the ultimate savings will be long term, but start up can be cost prohibitive.

[itchyvet]

104. Solar stuff.

Work done over the last two years indicates that panels can be produced in commercial volumes at a cost of about R 500 (about $82 US - Junkdrawer) for a 50 Watt panel.?????? WTF.

Excuse me folks, but I've just bought a 60 watt solar panel for my camper trailer and Lo and Behold it cost $600 bucks Aust.

Please, where can I get one of them for $82 U.S.?????

[Rex_Goodheart]

7. That would be the news of the new century..

Here's hoping it's true.

[ewagner]

8. I've been looking for more info

for two days....no luck on either the normal news outlets or the financial news...most particularly looking for company to buy stock from...

results?

none.

I hope this turns out to be true.

[Junkdrawer]

12. I Googled this up:

Re: High Efficiency Solar Cell breakthrough (Score: 1)
by calin on Monday, February 20, 2006 @ 15:42:17 PST
(User Info | Send a Message)
Doesn't look like German company, IFE Solar Systems, is public company. Here is their contact info:

IFE Solar Systeme GmbH
Rosenstraße 41
26122 Oldenburg
http://www.ife-net.de


http://www.zpenergy.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1749

[ewagner]

46. Thank you!

I must have missed something or googled wrong..

too bad it's not a publicly traded company....i'd be in it in a flash!

[Junkdrawer]

48. I see an opportunity...See post #29...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=523072&mesg_id=523469

If this really is an order-of-magnitude cheaper way of producing high-efficiency solar panels, the easiest way of getting a return on investment would be to setup companies that build medium sized solar farms, say, in the US south. California???

[OneTwentyoNine]

10. US Oil and Energy companies will buy exclusive rights in America

Of course under different corporation names so most of the sheep won't know.


They will have ALL rights to sell,distribute and install said systems. Yup..you can have one on the back of your house for only $10 or $20,000. Unless you live in a mega-mansion then its not cost effective even though your powering your house most of the time for free.

Watch and see

[FormerDittoHead]

15. You broke the 'code'...

Of course, ANY American distribution company motivated by profit will price it not by cost but by:

Cost of current electricity over 15 years - 10%.

And you have your $20,000.

Add the "I have more money than I know what to do with and isn't this gee-whiz" market and for the next 5-10 years it will be EQUAL to the cost of electricity, but the sales appeal to those "early adopters" is they will not be subject to price increases of electricity.

Doesn't do much for the rest of us, however.

[gizmo1979]

18. They will never let it hit the

market.I would like nothing better than put them out of business but money is power and we know who has the most.

[Junkdrawer]

22. Well, the American/British energy interests would want to kill it, BUT..

it's a big world and if Germany doesn't, China might well go forward with it.

I've long thought that the biggest irony in the world would be for the U.S. and Britain to spend themselves poor cornering the last cheap oil - only to have energy breakthroughs render that hegemony worthless...

[buddysmellgood]

37. China is investing bigtime in solar. They won't pay attention to patents

[glitch]

41. I love your sense of irony.

It would be typical of a failing empire to do just that.

[Junkdrawer]

42. Kinda like cornering the Rubber Tree market..only to have synthetic latex.

put you out of business. :evilgrin:

[glitch]

43. lol nt

[mitchtv]

58. BP is a major installer of Solar Panels here in Socal desert

Not smothering anything, but even with the incentives it still costs about $30k. Incentives add up to almost 50%

[Junkdrawer]

60. Let's see how they react to this new technology...

This new manufacturing method promises to make high-efficiency solar panels affordable.

Call me a cynic, but I've considered Big Oil's efforts in the solar arena to-date largely PR.

[jpak]

61. Shell has sold its EU silicon PV business and is pursuing CIS Big Time

http://www.solarbuzz.com/News/NewsEUCO229.htm

So are several Japanese companies...

http://www.solarbuzz.com/News/NewsASMA59.htm

The South Africans are one of many groups jumping into this technology....

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

40. Or they purchase the rights to distribute it, and then just sit on it,,,,,

[zalinda]

11. Not going to do me much good unless I move

Syracuse is not known for it's sunny days.

zalinda

[BeFree]

31. Consider this, zalinda

The air pollution from coal burning power plants that would be eliminated will give you cleaner air, resulting in a reduction of greehouse gasses leading to the earth -as we know it- being survivable for many more generations.

[trof]

16. more info:

http://www.scienceinafrica.co.za/2004/november/energy.htm

1 So. African Rand = 0.1634 U.S. dollars
or
1 Rand = a little over 16 cents.

The 50 watt panel mentioned would cost about $81.50.

[berni_mccoy]

92. That's about 3 times cheaper than they are today.

[texanshatingbush]

17. This and cold fusion would make a hell of a combination

for powering my Hummer. And I'm selling my Exxon stock before oil prices collapse. I don't think so.

[Junkdrawer]

19. So far, the science is checking out...

Copper Indium Diselenide (CIS)

Copper indium diselenide (CuInSe2 or "CIS") has an extremely high absorptivity, which means that 99% of the light shining on CIS will be absorbed in the first micrometer of the material. Cells made from CIS are usually heterojunction structures—structures in which the junction is formed between semiconductors having different bandgaps. The most common material for the top or window layer in CIS devices is cadmium sulfide (CdS), although zinc is sometimes added to improve transparency. Adding small amounts of gallium to the lower absorbing CIS layer boosts its bandgap from its normal 1.0 electron-volts (eV), which improves the voltage and therefore the efficiency of the device. This particular variation is commonly called a copper indium gallium diselenide or "CIGS" PV cell.


This 12-kilowatt array of copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film modules is one of several systems sold by Siemens Solar Industries.


The "breakthrough" being claimed is, as far as I can see, is a new manufacturing process...


http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/tf_polycrystalline.html

[Mr_Spock]

26. You have a Hummer and Exxon stock?

:rofl:

[DemoTex]

21. " ..stoves, geysers, lights, TVs, fridges, computers .." Geysers?

Would a geyser be a water heater?

[Junkdrawer]

24. LOL - I think you've got it...

Burst geyser may blow your insurance cover

If you use an unqualified plumber to install your geyser and it bursts, not only will you have put your life and the lives of others at risk, but you can also expect to have your insurance claim repudiated.

Over the past three years, 23 people have been killed in South Africa as a result of burst geysers and other accidents caused by poor plumbing installations. This is according to Colin Isaacs, who works closely with the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) setting benchmarks for geyser manufacturing and codes of practice for installation.

Geysers burst for a number of reasons, most often because of human error – that is, poor installation, the use of the incorrect valves, or the absence or plugging of safety and pressure-reducing valves, Isaacs says.

Unqualified plumbers, or “cowboys”, as he calls them, are largely to blame for these faults.

....



http://www.persfin.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=594&fArticleId=3056219

[IronLionZion]

55. Yes, the former British colonies call them geysers

but they are what we call water heaters.

[DemExpat]

69. Lol....we have 4 gas geysers in our house to heat our water...

http://www.kelkoo.nl/b/a/ssc_144801_geiser.html

DemEx

[Junkdrawer]

25. Company Website (in German and with Google translation)

German:
http://www.ife-net.de/

Goggle Translation:

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ife-net.de%2F&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools

[Junkdrawer]

29. Looks like they're looking for investors for solar energy stations:

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ife-net.de%2F&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools

(Click Current Offers)

The economics of this could be interesting in the Southern US....

[IDemo]

28. Cost per watt = $1.30

They are claiming (June 2005) a potential production cost/watt of 8 South African Rand, about $1.30 US. Depending on how that translates to a retail price, they may make a 3-5kW home installation reasonable.

[Jackpine Radical]

32. That would be something on the order of say 40-50 amps.

I used to live in a residence with 50 amp service, (it was a cabin in the northwoods that I heated with wood) which is OK if you don't do too much with electricity. No heating the house or running a water heater with electricity for example. I had a refrigerator & electric lights, but not a lot more. Sometimes ran a few power tools. The lights would dim when the refrigerator turned on.

Most reasonably modern houses have 100-200 amp service.

[Junkdrawer]

34. If you check the companies' website, they seem to be more interested...

in building commercial substations (solar farms) than in selling home installations.

I'm fairly sure German laws are subsidizing solar and wind investments.

[Leopolds Ghost]

80. Of course, that's where the money is -- re-selling electricity

That was generated for next to nothing, back to the hapless consumer.

An artificially scarce resource, like bottled spring water.

And I bet Germany doesn't have laws allowing you to sell power back to the electric grid.

[IDemo]

38. That may be, if you're planning on being totally 'off-grid'

WHAT'S NOT SMART TO DO WITH SOLAR….

There are definitely electrical loads that are NOT at all cost-effective to power with solar electricity . These include: making heat in any way (space heating, water heating, clothes drying, cooking) and other large loads (air conditioning, refrigeration). It is generally MUCH more cost-effective to power these loads with wood, propane, or natural gas.

[RandiFan1290]

30. That is great news!

Here is another great item from last year:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/01/0114_050114_solarplastic.html

Stefan Lovgren
for National Geographic News
January 14, 2005

Scientists have invented a plastic solar cell that can turn the sun's power into electrical energy, even on a cloudy day.

The plastic material uses nanotechnology and contains the first solar cells able to harness the sun's invisible, infrared rays. The breakthrough has led theorists to predict that plastic solar cells could one day become five times more efficient than current solar cell technology.

Like paint, the composite can be sprayed onto other materials and used as portable electricity. A sweater coated in the material could power a cell phone or other wireless devices. A hydrogen-powered car painted with the film could potentially convert enough energy into electricity to continually recharge the car's battery.

The researchers envision that one day "solar farms" consisting of the plastic material could be rolled across deserts to generate enough clean energy to supply the entire planet's power needs.

[oneold1-4u]

33. If this is for real

They will need production facilities in the US immediately. 1000 units a day from only one or two factories will not help quickly enough, and the oil industry could buy it up and toss it on the heap before it is ever used. It does open up a major think tank though and they can't buy every mind!
Somewhere in a Book, I once read that mankind's needs were here in abundance, and what is more abundant than sun, except all the fast growing weeds, brush, and grasses? The petroleum industry grosses billions every day on the attempted riddance of these last three possible sources of energy!
I'm thankful that we do still have some Einsteins and Edisons somewhere in this world!

[trof]

35. You also get a tax break.

The recently signed 1724-page Federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 provides for a 30% income tax credit for residential solar hot water or PhotoVoltaic electric systems for the next two years (p. 1373). The up to $2,000 / year credit (not deduction) on your 2006 and 2007 taxes greatly accelerates system payback. The full text of the Act's conference report can be downloaded here in pdf format.

For example, a $5,000 installed residential solar HW system will qualify for a $1,500 income tax credit. That is on top of the energy savings from the system itself The sooner you put in your system, the sooner you start saving on energy costs. Energy prices are going up while you wait!

The 2006-2007 federal business solar investment tax credit has been increased from 10% to 30% (p. 1389). Substantial energy conservation tax deduction incentives of up to $1.80 / sq ft for commercial buildings are also created (p. 1332). Solar investments can account for $0.60 of that deduction.

An excellent summary of the residential and commercial provisions of the EPAct2005 can be found at the Florida Solar Energy Center's website.
http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/EPAct-05.htm#solar

[sam sarrha]

36. The USA developed a new vacuum tube parabolic collector that runs around

1000*F and 4 units 10 miles square across the South West could provide over 70% of the day time energy and the new crystal LED light bulb will cut lighting costs by 39% in 6 years..

however Bu$h canceled the solar project the first week he was in office.

[RebelOne]

44. When I was a kid, I lived in a solar-powered house

in South Florida. Great, except when it rains and then you are shit out of luck. And it rains a lot in South Florida. I took many cold showers. Same with the satellite TV that I have. Works great until it rains and then I lose reception for a couple of hours or longer.

[Junkdrawer]

45. Solar as a single-home off-the-grid solution is dumb, BUT...

Solar as a way to greatly reduce the consumption of energy on the grid make a whole lot of sense.

If you check the referenced company's site (see my posts above) you'll see their mainline business is selling large solar and wind generating sites.

[eppur_se_muova]

68. Dumb? Check this out.

http://utnews.utoledo.edu/publish/article_2341.shtml

Bills down to $3/month in northern Ohio. Charges the car off the PV's too.

[Junkdrawer]

84. The reference you cite makes my point. I was reacting to someone...

who used the "Solar is unreliable because what will you do when the sun doesn't shine" argument. Using solar as a way to augment power from the grid is what I suggested.

[eppur_se_muova]

97. Gotcha. You mean "off-the-grid" literally, completely.

I think the notion of a grid as buffer is essential to any alternative power scheme. It keeps you from overbuilding to meet peak demand -- only average demand needs to be met. Exclusively local generation for exclusively local use is too inflexible; the ideal should be mostly local generation for mostly local consumption. (The opposite extreme is exclusively central generation, which is what we are locked into now. As Freeman Dyson pointed out, these tend to suffer from false assumptions about economy of scale.)

Buckminister Fuller once proposed a worldwide power grid for just this reason, with all balances and shortfalls between consumers & producers negotiated in energy units as currency. If it was too visionary then, it is certainly so now, as we have only gone backwards of late.

[Leopolds Ghost]

81. If they are failing to account for transmission losses...

Then they are dumb enough to assume that the solar equivalent of a few extra conventional power plants here and there will make the difference in society.

(You can't concentrate generation sites on one portion of a nationwide electrical grid as some have suggested, which is why no one's blanketed the desert with enough nuclear / wind farms to power the entire country.)

If they are counting on hydrogen fuel cells to solve that portion of the problem, then they need to figure out what to do with all that natural gas generated on a ratio of 10-1 from latent hydrogen extraction processes. Not to mention all the energy lost in electrolysis.

[kestrel91316]

51. It sounds like you had solar water heating, which is

completely different from solar (photovoltaic) electrical generation. PV is getting so efficient, IIRC, that there is almost nowhere on the planet that wouldn't benefit from its use. You need a grid-intertie setup, so the PV generation just lowers youe electric bills and helps support the grid, and best to also have a grid emergency disconnect with battery bank for emergency home power when the grid itself goes down.

Solar water heat was used some in the 70s - was those ugly rooftop piping setups just for heating water, nothing else. And it only is ok for decreasing the workload of a water heater, rather than providing ALL water heating.

[RebelOne]

86. Yes, it was solar water heating, but this was not in the 70s.

It was in the 50s. And the rooftop setup was not ugly because you hardly knew it was there.

[skids]

47. Good news, but overhyped.

The tech is not new. Shell Solar has a small (< 10MWp/year) production facility for panels in this family of technology. They kept that plant when they sold the rest of their solar business, and plan to increase production. Honda plans to open a plant producing these cells this year or early next. In the U.S. the companies DayStar, HelioVolt, and Miasole all make these cells in small quantities, and all plan to scale up as soon as they get the capital.

Se my dkos diary. http://skids.dailykos.com

[Junkdrawer]

49. CIGS is well-established tech. What's new seems to be in manufacturing...

Cost-saving CIGS solar panels

Prof Vivian Alberts of the Department of Physics at the Rand Afrikaans University in South Africa and team have developed and patented a novel manufacturing technique that finally makes it possible to construct CIGS solar panels at a very low cost. The method is easily upscalable to industrial output levels, while remaining much cheaper to produce than conventional silicon solar panels.

Work done over the last two years indicates that panels can be produced in commercial volumes at a cost of about R 500 for a 50 Watt panel. This is much cheaper than existing solar panels available on the market. CIGS is a remarkably stable material and conversion efficiencies should be sustainable for 15-20 years in any given panel.

RAU physicists are currently collaborating with physicists from the University of Port Elizabeth and the University of Pretoria to make 20 Watt CIGS panels, thanks to an award by the Innovation Fund in the national Department of Science and Technology during 2003. The award, in the amount of R 13,2 million, has been used to construct a pilot assembly facility on the RAU campus (with more than R 2 million of top-up funds added by RAU management).

The two main components of the facility are a state-of-the-art sputtering instrument and a state-of-the-art diffusion oven. The former was designed by Leybold Optics of Dresden, Germany, and the latter by Wilro Technologies in the Netherlands. Both these instruments were designed according to Prof Alberts' unique and novel specifications and are, at the moment, the only examples of their kind in the world. They also constitute the best combination of instruments of this kind in the world at present.


http://www.scienceinafrica.co.za/2004/november/energy.htm

[skids]

62. It's not new, that's the thing.

Same general stuff DayStar is working on -- using sputtering developed in the hard drive industry along with roll-to-roll printing technology.

All CIGS companies project that scale-up will help their manufacturing costs go below the $2/Wp point. That's why they are in the business (and why more investment is needed.)

[eppur_se_muova]

67. DayStar?? Used to sell CPU upgrades as DayStar Digital??

I tried linking to daystar.com and got a totally blank white page.

[skids]

77. daystartech.com n/t

[eppur_se_muova]

98. Thanks. I wonder if they sold their brand name, or what ? nt

[Leopolds Ghost]

78. Sputtering?! Bu - But - Please explain what you are talking about n/t

[skids]

83. Not sure if that was merely a pun.

You card. :-)

Sputtering, I guess, is most simply described as high precision spraypainting.

[Tesha]

88. That's essentially correct, but spraypainting at the atomic level.

> Sputtering, I guess, is most simply described as high precision spraypainting.

That's essentially correct, but spraypainting at the atomic level.

In sputtering, you put the cobject to be coated into a vacuum chamber
along with a target made of the material to be sputtered.

You then blast the target with a high energy beam of electrons or
ions. Each impinging ion knocks off ("sputters off") an atom (or
molecule) or two of the target material which then float off in
the vacuum chamber. If you put the right electrostatic charges
on things, these atoms of the material from the taget will be
drawn to the object to be coated. They land and bond into place
on the object to be coated.

The end result is that the object to be coated *IS* coated with
an extremely pure, extremely precise layer of atoms that came
from the target.

The process is used extensively in semiconductor ("chip")
manufacturing and other industrial applications (so it's very
well understood and characterized).

Tesha

[karlrschneider]

101. Basically the same technology we use to put antireflective coatings on

lenses. I built a prototype back in 1968 using a mechanical pump and a diffusion pump, and low-voltage heated little 'crucibles' to contain various compounds to be sputtered onto the glass.

[roguevalley]

52. I want one. I will be a test case for an arctic application

of this technology. Seriously. How do I get in touch with them?

[Junkdrawer]

57. Do you speak German?

IFE Solar Systeme GmbH
Rosenstraße 41
26122 Oldenburg
http://www.ife-net.de

[roguevalley]

73. no. but I can find someone who does. Thank you so much.

[skids]

65. These are the same technology:

http://www.solarenergyalliance.com/flexible_solar_modules_and_folding_solar_packs.htm

...still costly as manufacturing has yet to scale. That and since they are flexible enough to
be grafted onto vehicle skins, the limited supply for specialty applications is keeping the
price high for now. How fast it drops I guess is dependent on to whom Honda plans to sell once
their factory is up.

[IDemo]

53. Concentrated solar (solar-thermal) is still more efficient:

For larger projects anyway -

-- "slightly more expensive than wind power, but less than photovoltaic (PV) power, more commonly used in small rooftop projects on homes or businesses. Other sources close to the project put this price at somewhere between 9-13 cents per kWh. As more are built, however, and they're scaled up even bigger, Cohen says a target of seven cents per kWh will not be difficult to reach in the near future."

http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=43336

[skids]

64. In a year or two the two techs will be neck and neck.

Small concentrators for PV are scheduled for market availability this year. (Actually there's an Aussie product selling now called SunBall, but a more by-the-book design by Energy Innovations is due out as well.)

At that point, with both PV and thermal using concentrators, it's all a battle for the cheapest receiver. Stirling engines and thermoacoustic stirling engines are the current efficiency kings, with 30%+ efficiency, but multi-junction mono-si tech has lab results that are right up there, and near-IR thermophotovoltaics do as well. That means it comes down to the cost of the receiver (including maintenance,) and it's looking like PV/TPV will eventually win out in that area over heat engines.

Once that happens I think we'll see more serious attention payed to collapsing the concentrators back down into panel-like form, e.g. DayStar's ConcentratTIR product, as PV has more flexibility as to the layout of the receiver and can thus take play the cost of the receiver material against the cost of the concentrator -- heat engines really require a much more focused hot spot to drive up a high delta-T and lack much of that flexibility.

Not that heat engines aren't really cool. :-)

Anyway, the technologies compliment each other. Most people don't seem to realize this but your average solar cell that is sold for 1 sun worth of light can usually handle many times that without any modification -- you just have to keep it cool is all.

[Gold Metal Flake]

100. The Sun Ball and other fresnel lense concentrator configs...

have an efficiency in the high 30s when used with space-type GaAs cells. Nothing else so far can touch that. Also, as multi-junction GaAs designs evolve and become more efficient, the improvements will be applied to concentrators. While the space cells are costly when in the style of those used on the Mars Rovers fer instance, the concentrator cells are tiny (about 1cm square) and so the cost per cell plummits. When used in an arrangement such as the Sun Ball and other, flatter configs, heat is not an issue because the targeted area is so small (even under 500 suns!).

The Sun Ball is just so dam cute, I can see them becoming popular here once they start shipping. The company is looking for US manufacturing partners, and has posted it's MOU online. Who wants to go into business building them?

http://www.greenandgoldenergy.com.au/

[Emit]

56. Bush* alluded to something like this in that speech he gave recently

The one where he discussed "The new technological breakthrough(s)..."

And finally, solar and wind technologies. We are -- we're also going to talk about that. NREL is doing a lot of important work on solar and wind technology. The vision for solar is one day each home becomes a little power unit unto itself, that photovoltaic processes will enable you to become a little power generator, and that if you generate more power than you use, you can feed it back into the grid.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/02/20060221.html

[this_side_up]

59. A couple of years ago, one of the

republicans' ME friends stated that the entire world
will have to pay a percentage to them from ALL
alternative energy devices sold worldwide.

They have nothing to do with the manufacture or
sale of any device yet feel free to demand a cut.

[dysfunctional press]

63. that's probably another reason they want nukes so bad-

if you combine global warming and workable alternative energy, petroleum becomes a less and less attractive product(although there's still a lot of use for petroleum-based plastics/resins).
If the world stops fueling their transport with dino-goo, what's the middle east got to offer?
how will they get respect for their lame-brain idea of taxing alternative energy on their behalf without nukes...?

and fuck them anyway- they had no problem laying down an embargo in the 70's that ushered ronnie raygun into office, destroying the future hopes and plans of many in my generation and those since.

[stickdog]

66. Kick (nt)

[Maru Kitteh]

70. Cool. Where do I buy these?

I want them yesterday.

[mom cat]

71. Me too. I have been wanting to go solar, but the cost was too much.

This sounds wonderful.

[corporate_mike]

72. I'd buy them tomorrow if they were available at Home Depot

[johnaries]

74. So, how are Bush & Cheney going to keep them out of the US?

Obviously, this breakthrough doesn't fit into their Energy Plans.

[Poiuyt]

75. That's fine for South Africa, what about those of us who live in the North

It's pretty cloudy here in Wisconsin this time of the year.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

82. Move South?

[berni_mccoy]

89. They discussed this in the article... Cape Town has winters too

A bit milder than a New England Winter, but they do only average between 20 and 30% sunshine during the Winter months. For more information on Cape Town's winters see: http://www.wunderground.com/NORMS/DisplayIntlNORMS.asp?CityCode=68816&Units=both

[BigBearJohn]

76. This made my YEAR --- THANKS!!

[LeftHander]

85. Solar Powered Old Faithful!!

Good thing geysers can be powered by the sun now...

[LeftHander]

87. this IS awesome...

Now if some forward thinking government and entrepenuer would license the technology and start manufacturing the panels in the states...we could start to panel new construction and retro fit older homes. Particulalry in the northern states where it sounds this type of panel would do well.

[goclark]

90. How I wish Gore would be our President during this time

Great news!

[Junkdrawer]

91. Clinton and Gore have both told us that America's future...

lies in creating the earth-friendly technologies of tomorrow.

Instead, South Africa, Germany and Japan are working on advanced solar panels while we send our armies to gain hegemony on yesterday's energy source.

I swear Bush and Blair are having a race "Last one to make it to the dustbin of history is a rotten egg..."

[OxQQme]

95. Possible/probable ramifications

of solar tech are the theme of Callenbach's "Ecotopia" and "Ecotopia Emerging".
Can you say 'secession'. Written in 1975. Recomended reading.

[goclark]

99. You are so right ~ the left is lost

in the 50's and the other countries will be way ahead of us.

[dorkulon]

93. This just in...

Several South African scientists, recently credited with a major breakthrough in solar power, have disappeared "without a trace," along with all evidence of their work, according to local authorities.

The scientists "vanished" yesterday in a handful of apparently unrelated incidents. One colleague, apparently depressed, died today in a hotel room after shooting himself in the head 3 times, police said.

"This is a terrible tragedy, and those responsible must be found," said Exxon-Mobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson in a prepared statement this morning. "And to anybody who says we had anything to do with it: watch your fucking back."

President Bush remarked on the situation in a rare Q&A session: "Solar power is from the sun, and that is what we mean when we say solar. So these deaths are a shame, because the solar scientists, they produce ways to make more things solar. I have a solar calculator, came free when I switched banks. But it doesn't work too good. Maybe these African guys could have fixed it for me. That's a shame."

[Junkdrawer]

94. LOL...Actually, there are more subtle ways....

:rofl:

There's the "Buy the patent and sit on it" method...

There's the "We're going to come in with big investment, so don't even THINK about raising capital" method...

There's the "Get your friends in Congress to write anti-eyesore laws" method...

Lots of way...

[Junkdrawer]

96. PS: The last time around they used the John D. Rockefeller method...

"Wait until massive investments are made, then drop the price of oil to $10/bbl for a few years".

[mdmc]

102. w. did say that we would see vast breakthroughs...

:kick:

[itchyvet]

103. Solar Power Break thru.

Whilst THIS particular item IS nwelcome news to me, we also have another recent break through in Australia.
A company there developed a SPRAY ON product that produces electricity when exposed to the sun, cheap to produce and easy as well as cheap to apply.
The stock exchange quieriedtheir shares as they jumped up unexplainedly, and they're still shooting up.