| Burlingon-IBM turn semiconductor scrap into photovoltaics |
[Nov. 4th, 2007|01:39 pm] |
...first Ben & Jerry's, then Phish, now this!
Here's another cool story out of PhysOrg, about a Vermont IBM team who have pioneered a way to turn semiconductor waste in to solar grade silicon for PV panels (well, actually, that part is not brain science, the new trick was more about erasing IBM's intellectual property before it leaves their hands and ends up on someone's roof). And this is good news, because in the semiconductor world, 250,000 silicon wafers are used a day (and 3.3% of that get scrapped on the factory floor) and so there are about 3 million silicon wafers sitting around waiting to be made useful. They would look nice on my roof :p
...speaking of computers, have you heard the one about OLPC the one laptop per child group has been looking at that run on cow power? No, seriously, and not what you might think, from some cow-poo biofuel or biogas.. but actually hooking the Mumbai cows (for example) up to pulleys and generating electricity from the cows... I dunno, sounds cool, but a little too much like the Professor from Gilligan and not enough like a gizmo from a Brice Stirling book = ( |
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| the Daystar plan... |
[May. 22nd, 2006|08:53 am] |
CEO John Tuttle points the way forward
Wow. Two of my favorite companies in the news back to back = ) yay.
"We strongly believe that the global demand for non-fossil fuel energy solutions, the continued shortage of Silicon solar cells, the progress and experience we have achieved to date, and the support and encouragement from our stakeholders have converged to create a window of opportunity that has driven us to accelerate the deployment of our manufacturing capabilities. To accomplish this we have developed an execution plan that includes a number of near term achievable milestones. The purpose of releasing this plan to our Stakeholders is to provide a framework for monitoring our progress in the coming months and years." And the plan has been working out for them, as they are one of the newest shining stars of the solar world. So click and read up on the plan for the next phase of DayStar taking over! |
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| daily plug... |
[Apr. 28th, 2006|06:28 am] |
OK It's an article about Troy New York and their new Tech Valley. But who are the two examples of the turnaround and rebirth?? None other than DayStar and Plug Power! ...and if you've been reading this for anytime now, you know just how much i love these two companies!! So you can imagine how happy I was to read an article in the Troy Record, talking about both of these companies! Hmmm will there be a daystar solar powered electolyzer on the horizon? That would just be too kewl. |
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| Prism Solar: getting all holographic on us! |
[Apr. 25th, 2006|03:53 pm] |
something new under the sun....
Well, we all know that there is a SoG-Si shortage worldwide now.. and that's why companies as diverse as DayStar and SunBall are getting so much attention. They either use nano-noSilicon, or use silicon in a new and unique way (like lenses that multiply the amount of sun you're getting). So up in Stone Ridge NY, Rick Lewandowski and a group of people from his company, called PrismSolar, have figured out another way to increase the bang-for-buck ratio. And it's with my 2nd favorite technology; holograms! Yes! They have figured out a way to increase the amount of sun hitting the Photovoltaics, so that they can reduce the mount of silicon needed by 85%. Oh. I almost forgot to tell you, it's see through, so that means that your windows and doors and other transparent surfaces are fair game!! |
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| July 8-13: join the mile-high sun club! |
[Apr. 7th, 2006|05:58 pm] |
...more PV than you can shake a stick at!
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| get the skinny on SoG-Si from the horses mouth.... |
[Jan. 24th, 2006|08:41 am] |
book your flight now!!
you wanna RULE in the Soalr-Grade Silicon world? Well then, get out your calendar and mark off these dates, April 9-15, oh and get a plane ticket! The “PV Business Tour China 2006” is currently being organized. The purpose of the tour is to provide participants with an opportunity to assess and explore business opportunities with Chinese companies and in the Chinese market. The programme is fully organised with room for informal meetings and includes stays in 4-star hotels and all travel arrangements. Business owners, entrepreneurs and executives interested in developing partnership networks and to discover collaboration and market opportunities are very welcome to join the trade mission. SolarPlaza is responsible for the organisation. Thanks to the contributions made by different organisations, they have been able to set the all-inclusive fee for the tour at € 3,750. All persons interested in experiencing and exploring China and its solar business opportunities can register. The details of the complete programme of this unique international trade mission and a registration form are available on the SolarPlaza website |
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| Quantum Silicon Dots |
[Jan. 17th, 2006|09:07 am] |
I want my infrared solar windbreaker already!!
Here's a neat story from Optic.org who were busy chatting with Conrad Burke, President of InnovaLight a (nano)solar startup based in Santa Clara CA. They say their silicon nanocrystal technology not only offers cost savings when it comes to manufacturing but some unique optical advantages as well. "We have worked diligently on developing silicon quantum dots" he says, and these silicon quantum dots will eventually lead to solar powered clothes, infrared solar panels, and a host of other solutions... not to mention when it comes to SoG-si use, they put thin-film panels to shame... personally, I have no idea how these quantum silicon dots work, and look forward to learning more about 'em, hey, maybe i ought to google it heh heh heh....
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| ...another year in review |
[Jan. 13th, 2006|02:18 pm] |
Now Renewable Energy Access puts out
..their Solar Year in Review, that is. ((BTW that picture, it's the rare solar grade silicon in its natural state...))
Among notable issues that made it to the year end best-of: (and in my randome "..." style, as most of this has already been covered here) The price of silicon goes from $30/Kg to $60/Kg.... Moses Lake and Wacker in Germany..... 30% growth squished down to 5% (because no SoG-si...)
[go read it for yourself!] |
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| Solar Quickie |
[Jan. 10th, 2006|05:43 pm] |
Mr. Jack McCaffrey has been names to the position of Vice President of Manufacturing at good 'ol DayStar (who you probably know i dig so much!) He was Vice President of Manufacturing and Engineering at Evergreen Solar. As they say, his efforts helped Evergreen Solar transition from its pre-IPO origins to a successfully publicly-traded pure-play solar company, achieve production capacity growth from 250kW to 13 MW, and increase revenues from $400k to nearly $40 million in just over five years time ((not to mention that he was in charge of feedstocks while Evergreen was busy being incredible). Jack is the 43rd employee CEO Dr. John Tuttle has hired. They had 7 last year. |
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| New Kids on the SoG-Si Block |
[Dec. 28th, 2005|08:05 pm] |
ok now this one is just a hunch... and I will be following it up over the next few weeks-- though I warn you, it won't be easy....
So for about two months now, I've been looking for clues as to what happened to that chlorine-free way to manufacture Solar Grade Silicon. I know that it was developed with the NREL and Sandia but for some reason the tech fell into the hands of Intersolar, a Russian solar research company (and let me tell you-- bugging them and sending multiple emails will do nothing!) It seems like such a great technological fix-- using 1/3 of the electricity and considerably less toxic (oh and cheaper, too). Now a reminder, this is just a hunch. But those guys up there....
See, I just got an email PR release from Kazinform, the leading Kazakh business information portal. It says that Satpayev Kazakh Scientific and Technical University led by Rector Dosym Suleyev, Metallurgy and Enrichment Institute, Physics and Technology Institute, and a number of other research institutions and higher educational establishments of the Education and Science Ministry of Kazakhstan participated in drafting a plan that the governemnt accepted. And the plan is to begin full cycle manufacturing of Solar Grade Silicon.
Apparently, Kazakhstan possesses the richest high grade raw materials stocks, 65M tons of fine quality crystalline silica and 267M tons of silica stone suited for silicon production. And they are psyched to get into the game...
Then the report goes on to say that: The scientists of our institute have worked out semiconducting silicon extraction technology regarded as the most promising in this field. There is no alternative to it not only in Russia but also in the former-USSR. And thats when I said HEY!!! Hold the phone! And sure, like i said this is just a hunch, but I have been trying to get info from Intersolar.ru (to no avail) and now seeing this, I just couldn't help but wonder: Is it possible that the Kazakhs got ahold of this technology? What other process is out there that can boast "no alternatives" and "most promising?" And maybe its my overactive imagination, but really I will be sticking to this story like glue, because tbh, I could care less where it coimes from, all I want is some chlorine-free solar grade silicon! So bring it on Kazh, bring it on! |
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| blame china! |
[Dec. 19th, 2005|04:12 pm] |
Analysis International says SoG-si shortage is China's problem
You know... I've been wondering this myself. Not so much with the china angle so much as just in general... Investors now got wood for solar. That's a no-brainer.. I mean if they thought on their own two feet they would have known that for a few years now.. but of course, they had to wait for FastCompany to tell them... sooo anyyyway:
It appears that a report from Analysis International called "Semiconductor -- China's Solar Energy Market Annual Report 2005-2006" has just come out, and they are saying that China's enormous shortage of poly silicon will become the bottleneck for the solar photovoltaic energy industry explosion in the coming years(as opposed to the SogSi shortage).. They also make it seem like this shortage is sudden. Which would be cool, if it werent for the fact that they predicted this to a fault almost a decade ago..... Anyway, the report waxes on: "Analysys International thinks that there is an enormous shortage of poly silicon resources in the China market, and this will become the bottleneck to hinder the rapid development of the solar PV energy industry in China (((Errrr, bud, that's happening all around the world, china notwithstanding))). Also because of the rather high capital and technical requirement of poly silicon projects, only productivity beyond one thousand tons can be economically effective and competitive ((or maybe some of the cleaner ways to make the stuff? the ones that dont cost so much for electricity and chemicals?))). Therefore, establishing skillful personnel and fast production capabilities (((! like they're going to build a SoGsi plant in less than 2 years??))) will be critically important to achieve profit in this flourishing industry.""
And what I'm thinking is heyyyy how can i get a job like that? No doubt they charged someone through the teeth for this report, and yet it is just swishing around information that anyone could glean easily. Not even top shelf kind of stuff. And the solutions suck ass. Build more 30 year old technology?? Sheesh! So, what is it, the prosaic style, a good suit? I want in on this game, at least I'll let 'em know the chlorine free method of manufacturing.... |
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| ..remeber we were talking about that SoG-Si thing?? |
[Nov. 26th, 2005|06:27 pm] |
i just read that Q-Cells AG, a German maker of solar cells that went public last month, said Norway's Renewable Energy Corp. AS will become the third partner in its EverQ joint venture with Evergreen Solar Inc. Renewable Energy will deliver 250 tons of solar-grade silicon per year to EverQ GmbH, which produces solar modules, Q-Cells said (REC will hold a 15 percent stake in the joint venture, Q-Cells a 21 percent stake, and Marlborough-based Evergreen a 64 percent stake, according to the companies)....
I love it!! another 250 tons, looks like we may end up with enough solar grade silicon to go around after all.... |
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