Solar energy is becoming cheaper, which is great news in an economic downturn. The past year brought a number of breakthroughs in solar energy technologies which will help put make solar energy use wide-spread.
Sempra Generation, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy based in San Diego, recently flicked
the switch on its 10 megawatt solar farm in Nevada that produces electricity at 7.5 cents per kilowatt hour, as opposed to the typical nine cents. The PV panels are anchored to the ground, 167,000 in total, and use cadmium telluride as a semiconductor, which is cheaper to manufacture than silicon. The company recently announced plans to build a 500 megawatt plant near Phoenix, Arizona.
"We now have an alternative-energy source that can actually deliver cost-competitive electricity with no subsidies," said Portland, Oregon based Pacific Crest Securities senior equity analyst, Mark Bachman.
"Our contract is the least expensive solar power ever delivered in the world at scale, " said Michael Allman, chief executive of Sempra Generation.
Polymer based solar cells
In a November 26 edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science described a new polymer that can be used in solar cells which better absorbs and converts sunlight than other polymer. Science Daily describes polymers as "are lightweight, low-cost plastics used in packaging materials and inexpensive products like insulators, pipes, household products and toys."
Polymers-based solar cells are cheaper to produce than silicon based solar cells. Previously the efficiency of polymers was low, but the UCLA team reached 5.1 percent efficiency in the published study, and now has reached 5.6.
One of the UCLA researchers, Yang Yang, professor of materials science and engineering, said, "We hope that our newly synthesized polymer can eventually be used on solar cells far beyond their current rooftop applications."
Other solar cells created
Chinese and Swiss researchers reported in November that they created photovoltaic (PV) cells made of less expensive titanium dioxide and "powerful light-harvesting dyes" which can be made into "flexible sheets or coatings." The PV cells are touted as the "highest efficiency ever for a promising new genre of solar cells which many scientists think offer the best hope for making the sun a mainstay source of energy in the future."
Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd. and IBM are working together to produce Copper-Indium-Gallium-Selenide (CIGS) solar cell modules. CIGS is a thin material that has the potential to reduce the cost of solar energy. The goal is to create "more efficient photovoltaic structures that would reduce the cost" of solar energy production, Dr. Tze-Chiang Chen, IBM Vice President of Science and Technology, IBM Research said.
A British team of scientists led by Durham University experts began research last April on creating "film light absorbing cells" for solar panels from "sustainable and affordable materials." The four year project will focus on reducing solar cells thickness in order to cut costs of production. Current solar cells, which are used to convert light energy into electricity, are made from metal indium which costs about $660 per kilogram.
"With the rapid increase in fossil fuel prices and the recent Government announcement about investment in nuclear power it is even more important that we look at long-term future energy generation from solar power," said chief investigator Ken Durose of Durham's Department of Physics.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory designed PV cells with 30 percent efficiency. Previously only 10-20 percent was achieved. The PV cells were made of "thin layers of semiconductors applied to a low-cost backing, such as glass or plastic." A major supplier of PV cells for space power was given the technology and four satellites in orbit are now using it.
A better storage process
MIT researchers announced last August that they developed a process to make storing solar energy easier and inexpensive. What the researchers created is a process that allows the sun's energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, which will be combined again inside a fuel cell to create energy.
"Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon," said Daniel Nocera MIT's Henry Dreyfuss Professor Energy.
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My Adventures In Renewable Energy
We are pouring billions into bail outs of iffy situations. We need to pour at least a few of those billion in investing in America becoming more energy independent and the utilization of alternative energy sources. Nothing would benefit our society in the long run more than investing in it's energy independence. We need to utilize everything in out power to reduce our dependence on foreign oil including using our own natural resources.OPEC will continue to cut production until they achieve their desired 80-100. per barrel. The high cost of fuel this past year seriously damaged our economy and society. Oil is finite. We are using oil globally at the rate of 2X faster than new oil is being discovered. China and India will put an estimated additional 3 million vehicles on their highways by 2010 further depleting the supply. We need to take some of these billions in bail out bucks and bail ourselves out of our dependence on foreign oil.Create cheap clean energy, new badly needed green jobs and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. It would cost the equivalent of 60 cents a gallon to charge and drive an electric car. The electricity to charge the car could come from solar or wind generated electricity. If all gasoline cars, trucks, and SUV's instead had plug-in electric drive trains, the amount of electricity needed to replace gasoline is about equal to the estimated wind energy potential of the state of North Dakota Jeff Wilson has a really good new book out called The Manhattan Project of 2009 Energy Independence Now. He explores our uses of oil besides gasoline, our depletion, out reserves and stores as well as viable options to replace oil.Oil is finite, it will run out in the not too distant future. WE need to take some of these billions in bail out bucks and bail America out of it's dependence on foreign oil. The historic high price of gas this past year did serious damage to our economy and society. WE should never allow others to have that much power over our economy again. I wish every member of congress would read this book too.
www.themanhattanprojectof2009.com
Written in January 2009