All About Solar | Green Energy News

June 25, 2006 – Vol.11 No.14

ALL ABOUT SOLAR.

This week’s news.

Nanotechnologies - technologies dealing with the construction of materials and devices at the molecular scale - may hold the key to the next generation of solar power. With a new partnership, that key may eventually open a door to a new way to make highly-efficient, silicon solar cells.

BP and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have formed an alliance to delve into making solar cells using silicon nanorods - cylinders of silicon 100 times smaller in diameter than a human hair. The nanorods would be tightly packed in an array like the bristles in a brush. Light would strike the nanorods along their entire length, dramatically increasing the effective surface area of the cell thus increasing the cell’s solar-electric output.

Two research groups will be formed at Caltech for the five-year project. One group will focus on using nanotechnology to create solar cell materials, the other group will focus on using those materials in the construction of solar cells themselves. Visit BP at http://www.bp.com/

The roof of a frozen and refrigerated food storage warehouse of Tony’s Fine Foods in Sacramento, California now sports a one-megawatt solar electric system.

The solar system, which covers an area equivalent to three football fields, was built by Solar Development of Roseville, California using 5782 solar modules from Sharp Solar.

Tony’s Fine Foods will receive a $3.5 million rebate from Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) to cover half the cost of the $7 million project, which includes new efficient lighting as well as new roofing material. Tony’s expects a savings of $22,000 per month. The rebate program from PG&E allows the utility to resell excess electricity from grid connected solar systems like Tony’s.

Visit Solar Development at http://www.solardevelop.com/

Farm ACW, a Fallbrook, California avocado grower, will soon have a nearly one-megawatt solar system. The $7.8 million project will be funded with the help of a rebate from California’s Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP). The initiative provides financial incentives for business and residential customers who install up to 5.0 MW of clean, distributed generation equipment onsite.

For WorldWater and Power it’s their largest project to date. Visit them at http://www.worldwater.com/