AUO solar panels, an old product in new package,  is now re-branded as BenQ Solar,  a division of AU Optronics Crop.

With its growing reputation, BenQ has become a brand name after its huge success in the installation of massive solar power plants in Asia, Africa and Europe. The company said that the name change by AUO is to actively increase its presence in the global solar market.

K.Y. Lee, Chairman of BenQ Group said, “With the support of BenQ’s well-established brand equity and global sales and service platform, BenQ Solar will rapidly expand its business and earn customer trust.” He also added that BenQ Solar’s world-class high-efficiency solar products and global operation will provide customers with local-made products and in-time services, making it the most trustworthy solar brand.

Because of ongoing achievements, AUO/BenQ is in solar industry headlines. Above all the company includes the successful launch of the AC Union – an AC (Alternating Current) Solar panel.

Most of the standard solar panels generate Direct Current (DC), which doesn’t function well unless they are converted to Alternating Current (AC) that runs on a solar inverter – a separate component.

The AC Unison produces DC, where  installed panel is mounted with a micro-inverter that converts the DC to AC. According to the reports, as far as working is concerned, it provides simple and safer installation as well as improved electricity conversion efficiency.

The EcoDuo and Green Triplex solar panels are other two varieties of AUO/BenQ. These panels have a unique photocatalyst treatments that crumble surface contamination and increase performance of the panels over long-term.

The Pennsylvania School District, a 9 MW solar farm will be the next project of AU Optronics that will include 37,500 AUO (BenQ Solar) modules with a capacity to generate 10.88 million kilowatt-hours of electricity each year. The project is a giant step to avoid 6,669 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

Image Credit: Creativecommons/M.O. Stevens

The UCLA has stepped on the threshold of the Big Green industry with the invention of cheap, bendy solar panels. These panels can charge your phone or car. Yang Yang a researcher with university’s School of engineering is working on an innovative method to collect sun’s energy and use it to charge devices.

The signature brand of these cheap, bendy solar cells have set the world efficiency record by converting 10.6 % of sunlight into solar energy. Yang aims to increase the efficiency to 15% -16% within the coming five years. This will make possible powering of everyday machines like phones and cars.

Instead of traditional silicon the cells are crafted out of organic polymer. These makes the cells more flexible than traditionally brittle solar panels. If  these cells are embedded into a sheet, the possibilities for their uses is unlimited. These sheets could be hung on windows, covered on car rooftops like stickers or even on the back of cell phones. These solar cells could be rolled up as a sheet of plastic and even used as laminates.

Initially, the flexi-solar cells converted only 8.6 % of sunlight into power. This efficiency was however increased when Yang added a special Sumitomo layer to his cells in collaboration with the Japanese company Sumitomo Chemical. This layer made it possible for the cells to pick up more of the infrared spectrum. The tandem structure allows the solar cell sheets to be stacked upon one another. These cells can be soon available on the market as it is a very low cost production and is compatible with the technology available today.

A solar powered vehicle or SPV designed by London designer Omer Sagiv is a futuristic, concept car made out of aluminum with flexible thin-film modules attached to it.  Ideal for riding on open lands where the sun amply blesses its harsh rays, this SPV creates enough energy for long distances. Moreover, a shaft in the center of the SPV functions as an in-built cooling system to protect the driver from outside heat. The car not only operates as a vehicle but also generates electricity to power homes with its many, multifunctional solar panels.

The aerodynamic design of the car created by the inside shaft allows it to move fast in open areas. Though its thin solar film modules harvest maximum sun’s energy, the car is also designed to be charged from home power outlets. Omer Sagiv’s concept car may actually become a reality in near future since recent times are witnessing escalating fuel prices and environmental concerns.

Image Credit: http://www.omersagiv.com/

An odd, bright yellow tulip shaped tower rises above the dry strip mountains of Andalucia in Southern Spain.  Surrounded by a sea of solar panels reflecting the sun’s light, this tower is a gas-turbine solar thermal station launched by Israeli company, AORA Solar in the Platforma Solara de Almeria solar research and development park.

AORA Solar, a developer of applied ultra-high-temperature concentrated solar power (CSP) opened its first plant at Kibbutz Samar in the Arava near Eilat in June 2009. Its next plant is located about 35 kilometers from the waterfront city of Almeria in the town of Tabernas. The new technology developed by the company encompasses of 52 heliostat solar panels that move along with the sun, reflecting the sunlight to be collected by a solar receiver. In front of the group of solar panels, is a 35 meter tulip shaped tower with a solar receiver and a gas turbine that captures the incoming sunlight transmitted by the panels. The folded petal designs heats the air to 1000°C using the sunlight to power the turbine.

In a single hour, each flower tower is able to generate 100 kilowatts of electricity and 170 kilowatts of heat energy as a byproduct. The heat energy can be used to for other purposes like desalination and cooling.

Furthermore, the tulip tower is supported by a small diesel fuel tank which serves as a backup during cloudy weather and nighttime, enabling it to work round the clock even in unpredictable weather.

AORA chief technology officer Pinchas Doron said that soon there would be many more “power flower” facility towers throughout Spain and around the world. The company will continue to strive to increase the heat output by adding an absorption chiller to the system, which will convert the hot air to cool air.

Image Credit: AORA Solar Ltd.

It’s  big news for everybody that solar cells can be created from agriculture wastes such as cut grass and dead leaves, which have been proved by Andreas Mershin, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He added that it will be possible to mix some grass clippings into a bag of cheap chemicals, and utilise the mixture to paint your roof, which will produce electricity.

Recalling high school biology classes, he said that you must remember a process know as photosynthesis, where plants use to turn sunlight into energy. Mershin has discovered a process that extracts the photosynthesizing molecules, called Photosystem I, from plant matter. Photosystem I  contains chlorophyll that is the protein responsible for converting photons to a flow of electrons.

The plant’s molecules are spread on a glass substrate that is covered in a forest of zinc oxide nanowires and titanium dioxide “sponges”, after striking by sunlight the panels both the titanium dioxide and the new material absorb light and turn it into electricity, and the nanowires carry the electricity away.

Basic difference between the conventional photovoltaic cells and these green photovoltaic cells are that the layer of silicon has been replaced by suspension of photosynthesizing molecules, which appear like an electric nanoforest.

The electricity produced by such a process has a very low efficiency of 0.1%, which has the capacity to light a single LED light. In order to illuminate the entire house, the efficiency of 1 or 2% is needed. Mershin said that the team will concentrate on increasing the efficiency of such cells.

Such a useful invention will pave a new way for power generation, especially in low-density areas that are off the grid and developing nations.

As a result of strong government support for budding domestic PV clean energy and growing green awareness, Europe has emerged as a centre of attraction for all solar product manufacturers across the world.

There is no confusion to agree with the statement that the European Union is one of the leading markets as well stepping on the path of progress. With a broad prospective of growth, JA Solar Holdings Co Ltd is ready to open its wings in Germany, where the technology is spread in the atmosphere.

Earlier Chinese companies had to send photovoltaic products to a third party testing organisation to obtain certification because of EU regulations. To cut time-consuming and costly affairs of selling products in Europe, On December 2011, JA Solar has signed a deal with the Munich-based technical service provider, TV SD Group for technology testing and certification. Also it has established partnerships with German companies and organizations in 2011.

JA Solar, the first Chinese PV producer, is all set to establish a TV SD certified TMP (Testing at Manufacturers’ Premises) laboratory, which will enable it to do much faster and more reasonable product certifications. It has sign a deal with the Bund Deutscher Radfather (BDR)/ the Germany Cycling Union to hold its work as a corporate sponsor for the next three years. With this agreement, JA Solar enlists its name as ‘the first Chinese PV company to translate its support of low carbon movement into action,’ as well the BDR denotes its presence for the first time by establishing a long-term sponsorship with a Chinese enterprise.

Fang Peng, CEO of JA Solar said that the company has invested in cycling sports for significant reasons. He mentioned: “Cycling is a sport of zero carbon emissions, which is in line with a concept supported by JA,” as well as “Cycling emphasizes endurance and skills. JA remains competitive with continuous product innovations to maintain a leading position in the sector.”

With the advent of JA Solar in Germany, it sprawls its wings by becoming the exclusive PV module supplier for Solarhybrid AG’s Allstedt I project. According to the agreement, the company has to provide 19 megawatts of PV modules for one of Solarhybrid’s solar power plants in the city of Halle in eastern Germany.

Image Credit/ GbbIT

With increasing interference of Chinese  manufacturers, the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM) has issued an evaluation of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection data that depicts “Chinese manufacturers more than doubled imports  of crystalline solar cells and panels into the country in the latter half of 2011”.

According to the CASM, this step is an attempt to avoid a possible increase of tariffs on solar components by the United States. It also appealed to the U.S. Department of Commerce to apply retro-active duties to the imports on Chinese solar products.

The publicly-available data from the Customs and Border Protection’s Port Import Export Reporting Service by the Coalition’s investigation puts  light on evidence of malfeasance by many Chinese manufacturers. The  CASM added that their research contains examples of companies stockpiling “dumped and illegally subsidized” Chinese solar imports.

Gordon Brinser, a spokesman of the CASM and president of SolarWorld Industries said that the ITC and Dept. of Commerce must take some actions as well as protect the right of the U.S. Solar manufacturers.

He pointed out: “This most recent surge of Chinese solar imports gives the U.S. Department of Commerce the evidence it needs not only to make a preliminary determination in our favour, but also to apply a critical-circumstances finding to address this last-minute import surge.”

The Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy (CASE) has strongly boycotted CASM’s claims. It added that the protectionism will raise the price of solar electricity as well left a negative impact on more than 5,000 American solar companies and over 100,000 American jobs.

The CASE stated that “the potential counteraction from countries being targeted, such as China, against American solar exports would also hurt America’s global leadership in selling solar equipment and raw materials to countries around the world.” It explained that the CASM’s activities are largely focused on Chinese solar companies, although the SolarWorld is a German company.

Image Credit: Creativecommons/ Rama

With a massive development going in the field of solar power production, it’s great news that IKEA has planned to install the solar energy system on top of its Cincinnati-area store.

According to the report, the 128,000-square-foot photo-voltaic array composed of 4,186 panels comprises a 1,026-kilowatt system. The array, which is installed on the world’s leading home furnishing retailer’s West Chester Township store, has the capacity to produce about 1.3 million kilowatt hours of electricity yearly.

The generation of electricity by such a reformative way is a huge step, which is estimated to cut down 1,014 tons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as well the capacity to power 115 homes once a year.

The installation of solar energy system will add a new script in IKEA’s history as well as the West Chester location will become its 14th completed project in the United States. There are more than 23 locations in progress.

Heather Spatz, IKEA West Chester store manager: “Our mission is to create a better everyday life for many people, and at IKEA West Chester, we just added to this effort.” He added, “A solar energy system will help reduce our store’s carbon footprint and represents another investment toward our future in this community.”

California-based REC Solar is an active participant in such a wonderful footstep by developing, designing and installing the solar power system at many IKEA locations. Since 2008, IKEA has opened a new corridor by installing 344,000-square-foot store at the corner of Allen and Muhlhauser roads.

Image Credit:  Creative commons/Al McDougall

In Spain, Andalusia, near Seville, a high 100 metres tower is surrounded by gargantuan mirrors, that run about the tower in concentric circles. These rippling mirrors are able to track sunlight throughout the day and reflect it on to the tower where it is converted into solar energy. The energy created at the plant is sufficient enough to power 6000 homes. The name of the site is PS10.

There are few such CSP (Concentrated Solar Power)  sites in the world. The Proponents of CSP state that the technology has the potential to generate energy for the entire United States. However, land and large quantities of sunlight are necessary for its application.

A CSP plant that makes use of less land and is able to concentrate more sunlight has been designed by MIT in collaboration with RWTH Aachen University in Germany. This design reduces the carbon footprint of a solar plant by 20% and also increases its energy producing potential. It also allows for a more compact layout and lowers the heliostat shading and blocking from neighbouring mirrors. The researchers of the project have already filed for a patent. However, the concentric circles around the mirror result in higher shading thus reducing the amount of sunlight reflected to the tower.

The research team tried to overcome this obstacle by looking for alternative designs for the arrangement of mirrors. The heliostat layout was played with. Mirrors were placed close together which resulted in a more compact design without compromising on the ability of the mirrors to reflect sunlight towards the tower. The new design echoes the pattern of a sunflower. The florets in a sunflower are laid out in a spiraling pattern which is known as a Fermat spiral. The florets are placed at a golden angle of 137 degrees with respect to its neighboring floret. This design reduces the land requirement by 20% and also minimizes shading and blocking. The innovative design would also result in huge cost savings.

On 17th of January 2012, the First Solar Inc. announced that it has set a new world record by using cadmium-telluride (CdTe) photovoltaic solar module, which has achieved the record breaking 14.4% total area efficiency.

The world record has been confirmed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab, which has measured the prior record of 13.4%. It’s great to know that the company is able to break its own record. Hence, it has paved a way for others that are associated with the production of solar panels.

Just after six months duration setting the world record for CdTe solar cell efficiency with a mark of 17.3 percent, Dave Eaglesham, chief technology officer of the First Solar at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi announced the company record beating performance.

It’s a grand time for more than 1000 workers that constructed the cell and module record setters with the help of commercial scale manufacturing equipment and materials at the company’s production unit in Perrysburg.

Image Credit: Creativecommons/ Isofoton.es