U.S. Senate votes to extend solar, R&D tax credits; SEIA applauds move - 23 September 2008
Solar module price erosion to cause industry fall-out, says Lux Research - 02 October 2008
Moser Baer raises funds for silicon solar and thin film production expansion - 23 September 2008
U.S. House recesses, fails to pass tax bill, leaving solar, R&D credits in doubt - 29 September 2008
REC sold out of wafers for 2010 with $450 million order from Neo Solar Power - 30 September 2008
Timminco updates solar-grade silicon operations, sees production of 1200-1500 metric tons in 2008 - 06 October 2008
Hague signs letter of intent to buy assets of quantum-dot PV cell company Solterra - 06 October 2008
Ogilvy PR lands SunPower global account - 06 October 2008
Xcel’s North Shore Headquarters Selects Hoku Solar - 06 October 2008
Solar cells use old material in new way - 06 October 2008
A new material may change this however. Spanish researchers have used titanium and vanadium to utilise the infrared band and get more from, as Poirot puts it, "the little grey cells.""The new material provides a "stepping-stone" for electrons to move from one energy level to another as they absorb photons, allowing more photons of different energy levels and thus different parts of the light spectrum) to be utilized. So while some efficiency research goes into breaking down what is absorbed into specific wavelengths or trapping light for greater absorption, this technology basically casts a really wide net in order to increase how much light can be captured and turned into energy."
The new material hasn't yet been tested, but the researchers have stated a maximum efficiency of 63 per cent. Traditional solar cells have a maximum of 40pc with a realistic 30 per cent conversion rate. So, hopefully, this should be a lot better.
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