Green

July 7, 2011

Nuclear Energy Efficiency vs Fossil Fuels (Oil,Gas) in Power Load Factors,Energy Density and Waste

Nuclear Energy has come under the spotlight after the Japanese nuclear plant disaster with people focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of nuclear power.One of the most important aspects of nuclear based power is that it is highly efficient.Nuclear Energy is currently the most efficient power source in terms of the fuel required,land area needed and also the waste it produces.The reason for this is that nuclear based electricity is primarily produced from nuclear reactions while other forms of energy like natural gas,coal and oil use chemical reactions.Other such as wind energy convert mechanical energy into useful energy.Nuclear Power currently is mostly produced through nuclear fission as nuclear fusion is still in infancy and its not certain that mankind will be able to use nuclear fusion in a safe manner to generate energy.
July 7, 2011

Benefits of Nuclear Energy for World Environment – For and Against

Nuclear Energy has become a hugely contorversial topic after the Fukushima incident in Japan where a nuclear disaster took place because of the earthquake and tsunami.Both the pro and anti nuclear groups have come out with strident arguments for and against nuclear energy.However in some countries like Germany,Switzerland the anti nuclear sentiment has gained so much support that they have decided to permanently end nuclear electricity generation despite the high costs.Before this nuclear based power was gaining ascendancy leading many to call it a nuclear renaissance as countries like China and India made plans to increase their nuclear power plant capacities massively.But the nuclear accident has thrown a spanner in the works with huge protests being seen in India and China despite its authoritarianism also slowing down its nuclear expansion plans.
July 7, 2011

BYD Solar Panels (240w) Review and Comparison of Efficiency plus Specifications

BYD is China’s biggest producer of Electric Vehicles and Lithium Ion batteries.The Company was made famous when Warren Buffet bought a 10% stake in the company,one of his biggest Foreign Investments.China has become the dominant leader in Solar Manufacturing from being an nobody in a short span of 5 years.Chinese producers are going to produce about 60% of the global supply this year led by companies like Solarfun,Trina Solar,Yingli Green and Suntech.BYD too has decided to throw its hat into the ring with a big bang investment.There remain little details about the $3.3 Billion Solar Investment over 5 years for which it has already gotten the financing.The company is planning to spend 22.5 Billion Yuan on Solar Energy over the next 5 years for which it has already secured financing.The company has started a 100 MW cell plant in the Shaanxi province and plans to expand to 5000 MW by 2015.BYD signed a $300 million polysilicon supply contract with LDK Solar (another Chinese solar producer).This is a huge supply contract considering the 2 year time frame.Though wafer and polysilicon prices have recently become slightly constrained recently,there is no scope for the massive shortages seen in 2008.
July 7, 2011

Solar Panel Stocks Listed in US and Foreign Exchanges

Solar Panel Stocks have fallen off a cliff in 2011 driven by a massive oversupply in solar modules.The 2010 boom in solar energy demand led to rapid expansion by hundreds of established as well as new solar panel suppliers.This has led to a big increase in solar cell capacity.The demand in 2011 has not been enough to compensate for the massive increase in supply.Many of the higher cost companies in Western markets have already closed down operations with the news of a solar company closing down becoming a daily affair.The last time the wave of solar bankruptcies occured was during the 2008 Lehman crisis.At that time a few of the thin film companies had gone belly up as polysilicon prices had crashed.The sharp drop in solar panel stock provides a good time to enter the solar space as the valuations are at a historical low.Many of the solar panel stocks currently are being priced at a fraction of their sales and book value as the market expects almost every company to shut down.However solar demand is growing as the declining costs of solar energy is its biggest advantage.Also solar power growth is being vastly underestimated by policymakers and analysts.This short term pain is great as it provides a once in a lifetime oppurtunity to buy the solar panel leaders.
July 7, 2011

Petra Solar – Review of Company Business Model,Panels (Sunwave AC Systems),When will the Stock be Listed

Petra Solar Inc is a US Company that has an innovative marketing model to install solar panels.Like floating solar panels and solar carports,Petra Solar has taken a new unique approach to increase the penetration of solar panels.It deploys solar panels on utility poles instead of ground mounted free standing solar panels or rooftop installations.The company mainly signs deals with electric utilities instead of regular distribtution channels through solar integrators or installers who then put solar panel of the roofs of houses.This reduces the marketing costs for the company has let it carve out a niche in the super competitive solar market which has recently seen the exit of many solar companies.Petra Solar is now expanding into the Middle Eastern markets after the USA.The company recently bought Jordan-based EnergyFlow Consulting LLC
July 7, 2011

Wave Power in India – Wave Energy Plants,Potential and Costs of Wave Energy

Wave Energy is a niche renewable energy type which has been seeing slow development for the past many years.The immature nature of the technology means that most of the wave energy projects have been mostly been pilots.The same state of affairs exists in India as well with a few pilot projects being constructed.Though the government of Gujarat is constructing India's biggest tidal barrage off the coast of the Arabian sea,wave energy projects have been few and far between.Indian Wave Energy traces its history since 1984 when a Oscillating Water Column (OWC) type of device put into tuse at Vizinjham Fisheries Harbor near Trivandrum in Kerala.In 1993 the National Institute of Ocean Technology was established
July 7, 2011

Photovoltaic Inverter – 101 on PV Inverter Suppliers and Manufacturers and Prices

Photovoltaic Inverter or Solar Inverters as they are better known as have become one of the fastest growing segment in power electronics. The ~$2.1 billion market in 2009 with 7 GW of installations has increased by more than 130% to around $5 billion in 2010 as the solar panel demand globally increased to around 17 GW.Note Solar Inverter Companies have done much better as competition is much lower and the annual price declines in solar inverters has been much lower at around 10% compared to the 50% decline in solar panel in the last 2-3 years.Photovoltaic inverters are not being manufactured by hundreds of suppliers around the world though the top 5 solar inverter manufacturers control almost 75-80% of the market.The reason is that solar inverters have a high technology barrier when it comes to making highly efficient and reliable solar inverters.Till now Chinese manufacturers have not been able to significantly penetrate this solar inverter market because of this.In comparision Chinese solar module producers have captured more than 50% of the global solar market through cutthroat price and cost cutting leading Western solar panel producers like Solarworld to try and get dumping duties imposed on them.SMA Solar is the world's biggest Photovoltaic Inverter manufacturer and is closely followed by US based Power One.
July 7, 2011

Solara Solar Panels Review – Semi Flexible Marine German Centrosolar Modules in UK

Solara Solar Panels are manufactured by German Solar Company Centrosolar which sells PV Systems and Solar Panels under the Solara Brand Name.Centrosolar is one of the biggest solar installers and EPC companies in Europe.The company sells both polycrystalline and monocrystalline solar modules since 2006.Solara Solar Panels are sold in a number of countries with distributors like ARRID Power,12V shop selling it in Australia and Barden,Bright Green Energy selling the panels in UK.Solar Solar Panels are Semi Flexibile Marine Solar Modules which are specifically manufactured for use on boats, life rafts, caravans. electric cars and many other mobile applications. CentroSolar is a listed photovoltaic company on the DAX which makes mounting systems and solar panels. The company makes PV-systems, modules made of crystalline cells and thin film technology, building-integrated PV-installations, inverters, roof-mounted and roof-integrated mounting systems as well as low-iron solar glass with an anti-reflective coating.CENTROSOLAR has its own PV-module production facility in Wismar (Germany) and a solar glass production site in Furth (Germany)
July 7, 2011

Advantages and Disadvantages of Solar Thermal Energy (Power Towers,Parabolic Troughs)

Solar Thermal Energy has been losing out in the last couple of years to solar photovoltaic energy which is seeing a huge increase in demand amidst very low prices.Some of the major solar thermal energy projects in the globe have been converted into solar pv installations due to its lower costs.Some of the major solar thermal energy companies like Solar Millennium have sold their solar thermal portfolios to other companies while Stirling Power Systems has gone bankrupt.Tessera has sold its solar thermal plants which had gotten DOE Loan Guarantees in California to Solar Developers who have made these solar thermal plants into solar panel ones.However there are some companies like eSolar and Brightsource Energy which are powering ahead with their technologies and projects with backing from big industrial MNC conglomerates like GE and Areva.Their Power Tower Technologies are supposedly more efficient than the mainstream parabolic toughs that are used.
July 7, 2011

Advantages and Disadvantages of Natural Gas Energy – Pros and Cons of Gas Usage

Natural Gas has got a lot of press these days as massive discoveries of natural gas reserves in shale gas formations has meant that the prices have gone down substanitally and new power plants and infrastructure is being developed to use natural gas as fuel.Even as crude oil and coal prices have gone through the roof,natural gas prices have dived.This is due to the new technology being commercialized which is allowing huge shale gas deposits to be used.This has led to forecasts that natural gas will become a more important part of the energy mix in the coming days.The falling prices of natural gas has also led to declining electricity prices in the USA where shale gas development is the most advanced.Natural Gas prices have gone down to as low as $3.5/mmbtu from $8 in 2008 and experts predict that it may go down to $2.5/mmbtu.Shale Gas has its own critics who say that the shale gas deposits are much lower than being said and they deplete much faster.Environmental concerns are also being raised about the fact that it leads to poisoning of the water supplies with France banning shale gas mining completely.Natural Gas is a byproduct of Oil Drilling and in the earlier days it used to be looked upon as an irritant and burned off.But now it is being used to generate power,in chemical and fertilizer plants and also being used in some parts of power vehicles as well.Natural Gas is also used for Heating in most western developed countries and for Cooking as well.With increasing availability it is replacing coal and oil in power plants and transport now.
July 7, 2011

Advantages & Disadvantages of Solar Cells

Solar Cells are the basic building blocks of Soar Panels and it is unlikely that most people will have to buy them or even know about […]
July 7, 2011

Advantages and Disadvantages of Oil – Cons Disregarded by Powerful Lobbies

Oil is one of the most important commodities in the world playing an important part in some of the biggest industries like chemicals,transport,power,petrochemicals etc.The high energy density and easy availability have made mankind almost completely dependent on oil for most of his needs.Almost all of the world's cars run on petrol /gasoline which is derived from crude oil.Despite new evidence that burning oil leads to massive pollution and greenhouse warming nothing had been done to prevent its usage growth.In fact each year billions of barrels of oil are burned to power cars,ships,trains etc.Some countries use oil to power electricity as well though that has been decreasing as oil prices have increased substantially in recent years.The massive oil dependency has been decried by politicians for a long time but little has been done to reduce it.Powerful oil lobbies run by massive industrial conglomerates like Exxon,Chevron,BP etc. have managed to kill legislation which would reduce the subsidies to the fossil fuel industry.The BP Oil Spill after creating a massive hue and cry has faded from the public mind and its now business as usual for the Oil Industry.The only way Oil usage can be reduced it seems is when the world runs out of oil and the prices become too high for most people to use it.
July 7, 2011

Wave Energy Pros and Cons – Tidal and Ocean Wave Power Still Niche Technologies

Wave Energy is one of the niche renewable energy technologies which is still in its infancy stage.While other forms of alternative energy like solar,wind and biomass see hundreds of billions of dollars in investment each year,wave energy does not see even $1 billion in investment.This is because Wave Energy is still much behind in the technology curve in terms of costs and reliability.Also there are many varied approaches and technologies to harness the power of the ocean waves.However developed countries like UK are promoting this renewable energy since it has huge potential like solar and wind energy.Given the energy shortages that we are facing,we need to promote all forms of sustainable green energy and wave energy definitely has strong promise.Here we present the various pros and cons of wave energy
July 7, 2011

Photovoltaic Modules Primer on Costs and Sale Prices,Energy Output,Efficiency,Voltage,Types,How to Buy and Manufacturers(Canadian,Sharp,LG,Hyundai,Trina,BP,Sanyo,First Solar,Kyocera,REC,Sunpower)

Photovoltaic Module demand has increased by more than 50% each year in the last decade as solar panel costs have gone down sharply by almost 80% in the last 4 years alone as scale and technology have improved.Photovoltaic Modules are a combination of solar cells which generate electricity when light strikes them.Photovoltaic is the name given to this process where electrons are released when photo or light transfer its energy to the solar cells.The following article covers a large amount of literature on Photovoltaic Modules from its costs to selling prices as well as the efficiency of the Photovoltaic Module which affects the Energy Output.There are hundreds of Photovoltaic Module Manufacturers but only a few major ones.There are reviews on the major Photovoltaic Module Suppliers and Market as well.
July 7, 2011

Mitsubishi Solar Panels – Review of PV Modules Warranty,Price (Hawaii,UK,India,Japan)

Japan was the largest solar market in the world till 2004,after which it was overtaken by Germany.The huge domestic market gave rise to Japanese companies like Sharp,Mitsubishi,Kyocera,Panasonic-Sanyo become top solar panel producers in the world.Mitsubishi the Japanese conglomerate with diversified global interests has a big presence in solar and wind energy as well.The company is known for its high quality panels and has a decent presence in USA and Japan.Mitsubishi is a part of the consortium which is looking to set up huge solar power plants in Thailand as well.But now with Japan reaffirming it commitment to renewable energy and on track to kill nuclear energy,Mitsubishi is turning its focus towards the domestic market.Mitsubishi is planning to set up a number of solar power plants in the country to take advantage of the Japan solar Feed in Tariffs which will be introduced soon
July 6, 2011

Sunforce Solar Panels (CIGs 12v) and Battery Charger Kit (500012) Review of Sale Price

SunForce is a good marketer and distributor of solar and wind energy products,however it is not a manufacturer of these products.Buying Solar Panels from Sharp does not make too much sense as Sharp Solar Panels are expensive and on top of that you have to pay a margin to SunForce as well.SunForce Foldable and CIGs Thin Film 12V Solar Products also don't list a manufacturer nor do their solar inverters.SunForce does not look like the type of company who could make a technologically advanced products like a CIGs Solar Panels.You are better off buying charge controllers and solar panels directly from manufacturers rather than using SunForce.For some Solar Battery Kits SunForce might make sense as they have a good distribution.
July 6, 2011

Polysilicon Manufacturing – Process of Deposition,Industry Growth,Technology Production,Solar Use,Manufacturing Companies,Cost and Prices

Polycrystalline silicon or Polysilicon( poly-Si or "poly") is a material consisting of multiple small silicon crystals.The difference between Silicon Metal and Polysilicon is that Poly is highly pure form of silicon and is much costlier.Polycrystalline silicon can be as much as 99.9999% pure (also known as 4N pure,the 4 denotes the number of 9s after the decimal point).Polysilicon was primarily used by the semi industry till 5-6 years ago and the electronic industry used 9N pure polysilicon.The Solar Industry which has become the main user of polysilicon nowadays can do with 6N pure poly. Polysilicon is refined to single crystal polysilicon before it can be used by the semiconductor industry.However solar cells can be made even from multicrystalline polysilicon.Monocrystalline solar cells on the other hand are made of single crystal polysilicon and have higher efficiency than those made from multicrystalline polysilicon.Polycrystalline cells can be recognized by a visible grain, a “metal flake effect”. Semiconductor grade (also solar grade) polycrystalline silicon is converted to "single crystal" silicon – meaning that the randomly associated crystallites of silicon in "polycrystalline silicon" are converted to a large "single" crystal.
July 6, 2011

Nuclear Power cost in Kilowatt Hour (kwh) and Comparison Nucler Energy vs Coal Energy cost

Nuclear Power like other forms of Energy cannot be defined by a single cost as nuclear power plants differ in their technology and sources of fuel.No two power plants can have the same cost of electricity production similarly nuclear energy plants cannot have the same kilowatt hour cost.However nuclear energy is known for its very low costs of 2-3c/kilowatt hour which can only be currently be met by coal.But nuclear energy cost is based on older nuclear power plants which have already been depreciated.This cost is also controversial as the costs of nuclear waste storage is generally not included.USA and Japan which are the largest nuclear power producers have not constructed permanent nuclear waste storage sites despite accumulating thousands of tons of nuclear waste.Also these days extra safety measures are being taken due to the Fukushima disaster which means that the costs of nuclear energy is going up.
July 6, 2011

Fronius Solar Inverters – Review of Sale Price,Technology and Models

Fronius Solar Inverters are made by one of the oldest private companies in the solar inverter business.The firm is established by Günter Fronius in Pettenbach, Austria, and commences production of battery chargers and welding transformers.ronius International has production bases in Austria,Czech and Ukraine and the company generated almost 500 million euros of revenue in 2010.Fronius manufactures 3 major product lines under three divisions Battery Chargers,Welding Products and Solar Electronics.Solar Inverters come under the Solar Electronics division.Fronius has been involved in photovoltaics since 1992.In 1995 it started selling the "Sunrise" grid-connected solar inverter for generating electricity from solar energy and feeding it into the power grid.
July 6, 2011

3 Phase Solar Inverters Basics and Manufacturers in Taiwan and China

3 Phase Solar Inverters are another name for Grid Tied Solar Inverters which allow the DC Power generated by Solar Panels to be connected through the Grid.Note most of the Solar Inverters manufactured earlier used to be off grid solar inverters and did not have any grid connections.However the Feed in Tariff Laws in Germany and other European countries has made 3 phase solar inverters a massive growth industry.All major solar inverter manufacturers make 3 phase solar inverters in a wide variety of power ratings and voltages.The difference between a 3 Phase Solar Inverter and a normal Solar Inverter is that the Three Phase Solar Inverter has to match the frequency and voltage of the Grid before it supplies power.Normal Solar Inverters on the other hand are not restrained by the voltage and frequency of the power grid.The grid tie inverter must synchronize its frequency with that of the grid (e.g. 50 or 60 Hz) using a local oscillator and limit the voltage to no higher than the grid voltage.
July 6, 2011

New solar panels (Technology,That Work at Night) and How do they Differ from Old Solar Panels

New Solar Panels and New Scientific Breakthroughs in Solar Technology it seems are reported every month.But Solar Energy is still not competitive with Fossil Fuel Energy despite its obvious advantages.The costs of Solar Energy are declining quickly but they remain still some way from being on par with the dirty forms of energy like Coal.The reason for all these new exciting technologies which are reported in newspaper not being able to bring a fundamental change in the energy scenario is that the costs are too high.Bringing a new solar panel technology from the lab to the factory takes a lot of time and effort.During this time the incumbent technology like crystalline solar technology keeps advancing due to the massive global R&D dollars that are spend and the rising scale.This had made many new startups in solar technology like Solyndra ,Spectrawatt and others bite the dust.You can read about the large number of solar failures in the first wave of thin film solar bankruptcies .
July 6, 2011

Solar Panel Arrays – Definition,Design and Cost Primer

A solar array can be defined as solar panels arranged in a group to capture maximum amount of sun light to convert it into usable electricity. The idea of Solar Array came into being when it was conceived that the power produced by a solar panels singly was not sufficient for domestic or commercial purpose. Many such solar modules are linked together to form a Solar Array. Solar panels can be arranged differently to form different patterns to suit ones purpose. Depending upon what the need is, different structures can be build. Generally there are two traditional styles of solar energy panels used in residential and industrial areas -photovoltaic and photothermal energy. Most solar arrays to date have been a mixture of these two. Because it is relatively low-tech, solar arrays are a very cost effective approach for people who believe in DIY technology.
July 6, 2011

List of Top Car Companies and state of Auto Industry in India – Facing Fuel Price,Interest Rate Hurdles –

Auto Industry in India is facing the twin problems of Fuel Price Hikes and High Interest Rates which have sharply reduced the growth of the industry.The Indian car companies were riding high in 2010 as the economy grew and many people in India graduated to the middle class.Some companies were showing triple digit growth rate as India become the hottest market in the world.All global car companies were in a rush to expand their India sales and distribution network at any cost.However 2011 has brought them down to earth with almost 50% increase in petrol prices keeping buyers away.On top of that car financing companies have also increased their interest rates for auto loans by around 2-3% which makes the servicing of the EMIs of car loan very difficult.This has made most buyers sit tight and wait for a better environment.The car companies which hiked price to pass on the increasing costs of steel and other commodities are in a pickle.They are being forced to sit on high inventories and can't afford to give big discounts as well. The sautomobile industry in India happens to be the ninth largest in the world. It is the fourth largest exporter of automobiles following Japan, South Korea and Thailand. It is the world's second largest manufacturer of motorcycles, with annual sales exceeding 8.5 million in 2009. Several Indian automobile manufacturers have spread their operations globally. India manufactures over 17.5 million vehicles (including 2 wheeler and 4 wheeler) and exports about 2.33 million every year. India's passenger car and commercial vehicle manufacturing industry is the seventh largest in the world, with an annual production of more than 3.7 million units in 2010. In the commercial vehicle segment, Tata Motors is leader with a market share of about 64%, whereas Maruti Suzuki is leads the passenger vehicle segment with a market share of 46%. Hyundai Motor India and Mahindra and Mahindra are more interested in expanding their hold in the overseas market. (Source - Wikipedia).
July 6, 2011

Solar Shingles Pricing,Cost,Manufacturers (Dow Powerhouse,Sharp,Uni Solar,Sunpower),Solar Shingles vs Solar Panels

Solar Shingles are niche solar products meant for use on roofs of houses.There are not a lot of manufacturers of solar shingles as they are a new product and more difficult to install than standard silicon solar panels.Solar Shingles are manufactured by mainly American companies like Dow,Energy Conversion Devices.Their high costs and lack of easy availability has meant that solar shingles have not really caught the imagination of the customers.Also Solar Shingles do not get any added subsidy from the government vis a vis Solar Panels.Thus the higher prices of electricity generated from solar shingles means that they have become a poorer cousin of the mainstream Solar Panels.Also Solar Integrators are more accustomed to buying and installing solar panels which makes it even more difficult to push the sale of solar shingles.
July 6, 2011

Solar Trackers Guide – Types (Passive,Single Axis,Dual Axis (2 axis),Price and Uses

Solar Tracker is a Device which follows the movement of the sun as it rotates from the east to the west every day.Solar Trackers are used to keep solar collectors/solar panels oriented directly towards the sun as it moves through the sky every day.Using Solar Trackers increases the amount of solar energy which is recieved by the solar energy collector and improves the energy output of the heat/electricity which is generated.Solar Trackers can increase the output of Solar Panels by 20-30% which improves the economics of the solar panel project. Solar Trackers are mostly used in ground mounted solar farms of capacity more than 1 MW.Note it is difficult to use solar trackers on residential rooftop installations.Horizontal single axis trackers are typically used for large distributed generation projects and utility scale projects. The combination of energy improvement and lower product cost and lower installation complexity results in compelling economics in large deployments.However for solar ground plants where area is not a problem,solar trackers can be easily be used.Also commercial and utility solar projects have dedicated maintainance teams which can easily repair and monitor solar trackers.The 20-30% increase in output easily compensates for the higher costs associated with solar trackers.Note Solar Trackers are especially useful in case of places where the solar insolation is high and the efficiency of the solar panels being used are high.Sunpower which makes the highest efficiency solar panels uses Solar Trackers in most of its ground mounted plants and sells solar trackers under its own brand.These days solar trackers are becoming increasingly important and major solar panel manufacturers like First Solar and Trina Solar are selling solar trackers as well.The selection of tracker type is dependent on many factors including installation size, electric rates, government incentives, land constraints, latitude, and local weather.
July 6, 2011

Solar Frontier Module – Review of Technology(CIS),Panel Warranty,Prices(150 Watts) and Comparision

Solar Frontier is a Japanese company which was earlier known as Showa Shell Solar .The company joined the rank of major solar companies once it started the new 900MW “Kunitomi” production plant in Miyazaki.Note only is the company started big in production,it is rapidly signing deals around the globe in India,Middle East and America..The Company has recently signed Two Deals with 2 Global Heavyweights GE and IBM.It has signed a distribution deal with GE to sells its Copper Indium Selenide (CIS) Panels in USA while GE would provides the Balance of Systems components like inverters etc.It next signed a deal with IBM to jointly develop Copper Zinc Tin Sulfure Selenium (CZTS) Thin Film Technology.Note IBM is one of the biggest Technology Innovators and Solar Frontier has a long Thin Film History.
July 6, 2011

Pros and Cons of Hydroelectric Energy

Hydro Electric Energy is second largest source of electricity in the world accounting for roughly 20% of the worldwide demand of electricity with around 800 GW of capacity installed.Hydroelectricity power plants are the biggest power stations in the world dwarfing the biggest nuclear and coal power projects.The world’s biggest power plant is the Three Gorge Dam in China which at 22.5 GW is more than 50% larger than the 2nd biggest power station in the world.s.China is the by far the world leader in hydro power plant capacity with around 200 GW which it aims to double to around 400 GW by 2020The advantages of hydroelectricity energy are substantial enough to far outweigh any disadvantages.But like nuclear energy,hydro power has some tail risks which can lead to catastrophic damage.
July 6, 2011

Thin Film Solar – All about Panel Manufacturers (Amorphous Silicon,CIGs),Stocks,Material Technology,Efficiency and Costs

Solar Thin Film Technology has been growing rapidly despite falling costs of the mainstream Photovoltaic Crystalline Silicon Technology.While the current solar supply glut has resulted in some of the thin film solar film companies going out of business,big thin film suppliers continue with their growth plan.Solar Thin Film Technology is supposed to be the 2nd Generation successor to the mainstream Crystalline Silicon (c-Si) Technology which accounts for around 85% of world production.While a number of Weaker Hands in Thin Film have downed shutters,Thin Film Producers continue to grow and expand.The massive growth potential of Solar Energy makes it possible for both of these PV technologies to flourish.Thin Film Technology unlike c-Si has a number of variants.Amorphous Silicon (a-Si),Copper Indium Gallium Sulphide (CIGs) and Cadmium Tellurium (Cd-Te) are the 3 main types of Thin Film Technology.There are a number of manufacturers of all of these 3 types of Technology.CIGs Technology is said to have the most potential in improving efficiency and competing with c-Si,however Cd-Te is currently the top dog as the world’s biggest solar producer First Solar currently uses this technology.a-Si Technology is not that hot with low efficiencies however Oerlikon and Sharp are pushing ahead with developing this technology.
July 6, 2011

Kaneka Solar Hybrid Thin Film Solar Panels – Review of GSA 60 Watt Solar Moduel Sale Prices,Technology

Kaneka is a Japanese company which is present in a number of product categories like chemicals,functional and expandable plastic products, foodstuffs, life science products and synthetic fibers.However the main focus of the company is in Thin Film Solar Panels.Kaneka has been developing amorphous silicon thin film technology since 1980 and has advanced manufacturing into developing higher efficiency tandem microcrystalline silicon solar panels.The company also sells transperant see through solar panels.Note Thin Film Technology is facing existential threat from the rapid price reduction in the mainstream crystalline silicon technology which comprises about 85% of the global solar panel market.Kaneka sells its solar modules under the HYBRID brand name which refers to its hybrid tandem thin film silicon technology.Note other companies like Sanyo,Mitsubishi.Oerlikon have also developed this form of technology which gives higher efficiency solar panels as it captures a bigger part of the solar spectrum.
July 6, 2011

Solar Power in Australia – All you wanted to know about Buying Panels,Inverters Prices and Government Subsidies

Solar Power in Australia has grown massively in 2010 and 2011 driven by state feed in tariffs also known as the solar bonus scheme or solar credits.This has resulted in the capacity limits being reached and most of the state solar subsidy schemes have been withdrawn (see the current state feed-in-tariff schemes below).However the Australian federal government is still offering the Renewable Energy Credit Scheme under which solar power generated is eligible to get solar credits which can be solar in the open market for cash.This will still drive the use of solar energy as the falling prices of chinese solar panels has made solar energy near electricity price parity in a number of places.Australia which gets a lot of sunshine is ideal for solar energy which promotes climate change mitigation as well besides reducing pollution.Australia has the highest average solar radiation of any continent in the world, which means solar industry has the greatest potential.