[amor de cosmos]

Solar PV Investment Attractiveness Of Sunbelt Countries (Graph)
May 13, 2013

The solar investment attractiveness of a country is based on many factors. Some important ones are the overall investment attractiveness of a country, solar policies in the country, and the natural solar power potential of a country. Putting these figures together, below is solar PV investment attractiveness index for Sunbelt countries that was created by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) that I thought was quite interesting and worth a look. China, India, and Australia (which we report on frequently) are clear leaders. Mexico, Singapore, Chile, Malaysia, and Brazil are also up there. These countries haven’t been in the news (CleanTechnica news, that is) as much, but stories about Brazil have been picking up, and I think the others will in the coming year or two.

http://cleantechnica.com/2013/05/13/...elt-countries/

Solar panels as inexpensive as paint? It’s possible due to research at UB, elsewhere
By: Cory Nealon
Release Date: May 10, 2013

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Most Americans want the U.S. to place more emphasis on developing solar power, recent polls suggest.

A major impediment, however, is the cost to manufacture, install and maintain solar panels. Simply put, most people and businesses cannot afford to place them on their rooftops.

Fortunately, that is changing because researchers such as Qiaoqiang Gan, University at Buffalo assistant professor of electrical engineering, are helping develop a new generation of photovoltaic cells that produce more power and cost less to manufacture than what’s available today.

One of the more promising efforts, which Gan is working on, involves the use of plasmonic-enhanced organic photovoltaic materials. These devices don’t match traditional solar cells in terms of energy production but they are less expensive and - because they are made (or processed) in liquid form - can be applied to a greater variety of surfaces.

Gan detailed the progress of plasmonic-enhanced organic photovoltaic materials in the May 7 edition of the journal Advanced Materials. Co-authors include Filbert J. Bartoli, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Lehigh University, and Zakya Kafafi of the National Science Foundation.

The paper, which included an image of a plasmonic-enhanced organic photovoltaic device on the journal’s front page, is available at: http://bit.ly/11gzlQm.

Currently, solar power is produced with either thick polycrystalline silicon wafers or thin-film solar cells made up of inorganic materials such as amorphous silicon or cadmium telluride. Both are expensive to manufacture, Gan said.

His research involves thin-film solar cells, too, but unlike what’s on the market he is using organic materials such as polymers and small molecules that are carbon-based and less expensive.

“Compared with their inorganic counterparts, organic photovoltaics can be fabricated over large areas on rigid or flexible substrates potentially becoming as inexpensive as paint,” Gan said.

http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2013/05/018.html

Solar windows one step nearer commercial production
13. May 2013 | Applications & Installations, Research & Development | By: Max Hall

U.S. building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) developer New Energy Technologies Ltd has announced significant advances in its patented SolarWindow, spray-on solar power coating system.

The Columbia, Maryland-based company claims it has reduced the fabrication time of the technology – which involves spraying layers of ultra small solar cells onto transparent glass – from 'several days' down to 'a few hours', or one sixth of the previous fab time.

New Energy also says it has doubled the power conversion efficiency of the technology and improved the transparency of the glass, resulting in a tint effect.

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ion_100011264/
http://www.solarnovus.com/index.php?...rticle&id=6545