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Energy News
Exotic, Highly-Efficient Solar Cells May Soon Get Cheaper
A new way to make the most efficient and powerful types of solar cells could help solar power compete with fossil fuels.
By Kevin Bullis on June 9, 2014
The world’s most efficient solar cells are twice as efficient as the ones people put on their roofs, but hardly anyone uses them because the semiconductor materials they’re made of are so expensive. That could be about to change.
Ali Javey, professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences at the University of California at Berkeley, has found a far cheaper way to manufacture these better-performing semiconductors. This advance could lower the cost of high-efficiency solar cells, potentially making them as cheap as conventional ones. Javey says the new process could be a “game changer” for solar cells.
Improving the efficiency of affordable solar cells will be essential for making solar power competitive with fossil fuels. Fewer cells would be needed, reducing costs for materials and installation, a large share of the total cost of solar power. Early tests suggest solar cells made from the materials would have an efficiency of about 25 percent, which is far better than conventional silicon solar cells, which are less than 18 percent efficient. And a preliminary analysis by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory suggests Javey’s cells could be made as cheaply as conventional ones.
The most efficient solar cells available today are made from materials called III-V semiconductors, a group that includes gallium arsenide and indium phosphide. Making solar cells from these materials normally means starting with expensive crystals of the semiconductor material, then exposing the crystals to vapors that produce the thin films need for a solar cell.
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http://www.technologyreview.com/news...n-get-cheaper/
http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-Ne...mer-Price.html
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Mississippi utility proposes three solar plants
By Lucy Woods - 11 June 2014, 12:59
In News, Power Generation
Entergy Mississippi, electricity provider to more than 400,000 across 45 counties, has filed a plan for grid upgrades including three solar projects.
The plan has been submitted to the Mississippi Public Service Commission (MPSC) includes three 500kW solar plants, providing customers the choice of green energy and incentives for businesses, or making permanent a two-year rate discount for small businesses.
The proposed plans outline Entergy’s ideas for future grid improvements for reliability and stabilising upgrades to utilise new technologies, while maintaining MPSC’s workforce and preparing for the future.
The plan is for electric demand through to 2025 and is the first time Entergy has filed such a plan in almost 12 years; the plan would also seek to improve transmission and distribution and create new regulations to attract industrial sites – creating new jobs and spurring economic development, according to Entergy.
"Under this plan, we'll spend the next decade focusing on low rates, more jobs, more choice and smart investments," said Haley Fisackerly, Entergy Mississippi president and CEO.
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http://www.pv-tech.org/news/mississi...e_solar_plants
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UK surpasses 3 GW mark in April
11. June 2014 | Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Markets & Trends | By: Edgar Meza
Fueled by the rapid growth in ground-mounted solar PV farms, Europe’s most dynamic solar market is poised to add the most solar capacity in Europe this year.
The United Kingdom has surpassed the 3 GW mark in installed photovoltaic capacity, a figure it is expected to double this year.
The country reached 3,179 MW of solar across 551,939 installations at the end of April, according to recent statistics published by the U.K. Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC). The figure represents an increase (for both capacity and installations) of 1% from the end of March.
By the end of the year, however, the U.K. is expected to overtake Spain and France to become the third largest solar market in Europe with some 6.3 GW, behind Germany (currently at 35.7 GW) and Italy (17.2 MW).
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http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ril_100015373/
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US Solar Boom Continues, Developing World Going Solar Even Faster
Posted on June 11 2014 by Scott Thill
Here’s the good news: Paris-based Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) has released its influential annual Renewables Global Status Report (PDF), and it’s mostly positive for the solar sector. The bad news? The overall globe that REN21 happens to be analyzing just can’t seem to get its renewables house in order.
In 2013, policy uncertainty in the United States and parts of Europe helped bring down global investment in solar photovoltaics 22 percent in dollar terms, the report explains. China beat the United States and Brazil beat Canada in total installed renewable power capacity. In fact, China’s renewable power capacity surpassed new fossil fuel and nuclear capacity for the first time, while Denmark, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Austria respectively led the world in per capita renewable power capacity. Suddenly, America’s solar war with China doesn’t look so cut and dried.
Judging its underwhelming 2013 performance from a global perspective, North America looks like it still has quite a long way to go, despite its solar successes and its ongoing solar boom.
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http://solarenergy.net/News/us-solar...r-even-faster/
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Two West Midlands hospitals install solar to combat escalating energy bills
By Peter Bennett | 11 June 2014, 8:14 Updated: 11 June 2014, 9:54
The Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust (HEFT) has partnered with renewable energy installer, Ecolution, to install solar PV arrays at Solihull Hospital and Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham.
Both hospitals are benefiting from the electricity generated from their two 250kWp roof-mounted arrays. HEFT identified solar as a means of saving energy, cutting costs and reducing the hospitals’ carbon footprints.
Initially, HEFT requested over 250kWp for each of the hospitals roof but due to the nature of the feed-in tariff degression bands this would have resulted in a drop in FiT levels of 35% so HEFT elected to cap the installs at 250kWp.
Ecolution chose black-framed Hyundai 250W modules, using over 2,000 panels across 28 roofs – all with varying pitch, orientation, height and covering. The installations were completed in les than six months, in time for the hospitals deadline of March 2014.
The arrays are predicted to deliver over £2 million in associated savings and feed-in tariff payments over the next 20 years.
Pete Sellars, director of estates for the NHS, said that he was delighted that the £3 million project did not result in the closure of any wards or disruption to critical services.
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http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/ne...ng_energy_3389
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