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Nanosolar Is Leading the “Third Wave” of Solar Power Technology: the First
Nanosolar is leading the “Third Wave” of solar power technology: ▪ The First Wave started with the introduction of silicon-wafer based solar cells over three decades ago. While ground-breaking, it is visible until today that this technology came out of a market environment with little concern for cost, capital efficiency, and the product cost / performance ratio. Despite continued incremental improvements, silicon-wafer cells have a built-in disadvantage of fundamentally high materials cost and poor capital efficiency. Because silicon does not absorb light very strongly, silicon wafer cells have to be very thick. And because wafers are fragile, their intricate handling complicates processing all the way up to the panel product. ▪ The Second Wave came about a decade ago with the arrival of the first commercial "thin-film" solar cells. This established that new solar cells based on a stack of layers 100 times thinner than silicon wafers can make a solar cell that is just as good. However, the first thin-film approaches were handicapped by two issues: 1. The cell's semiconductor was deposited using slow and expensive high-vacuum based processes because it was not known how to employ much simpler and higher-yield printing processes (and how to develop the required semiconductor ink). 2. The thin films were deposited directly onto glass as a substrate, eliminating the opportunity of ▪ using a conductive substrate directly as electrode (and thus avoiding bottom-electrode deposition cost), ▪ achieving a low-cost top electrode of high performance, ▪ employing the yield and performance advantages of individual cell matching & sorting, ▪ employing high-yield continuous roll-to-roll processing, and ▪ developing high-power high-current panels with lower balance-of-system cost. -
How Founders Use External Advice to Improve Their Firm's Chance of Succeeding
The dynamics of forming a technology based start-up: How founders use external advice to improve their firm's chance of succeeding by Nick Cravalho B.S. Mechanical Engineering University of California, Berkeley, 2000 Submitted to the System Design and Management Program in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Engineering and Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology May 2007 2007 Nick Cravalho. All rights reserved The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part in any medium not known or hereafter created. Signature of Author Nick Cravalho System Design and Management Program May 2007 Certified by Diane Burton Thesis Supervisor Sloan School of Management Certified by _ Patrick Hale Director OASSACHUSETTS INS System Design and Management Program OF TECHNOLOGY FEB 0 1 2008 BARKER LIBRARIES The dynamics of forming a technology based start-up: How founders use external advice to improve their firm's chance of succeeding by Nick Cravalho Submitted to the System Design and Management Program on May 11, 2007 in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Engineering and Management Abstract External advice can be a valuable resource for founders of high technology startup companies. As with any resource, the pursuit and efficient use of the external advice resource is one of the greatest challenges for founders. This thesis examines how the founders of eleven US venture-backed high-tech companies leveraged external advice to their advantage. -
Solar Energy: a New Day Dawning?: Silicon Valley Sunrise Oliver Morton Oliver Morton Is Nature's Chief News and Features Editor
Solar energy: A new day dawning?: Silicon Valley sunrise Oliver Morton Oliver Morton is Nature's chief news and features editor. Abstract Sunlight is a ubiquitous form of energy, but not as yet an economic one. In the first of two features, Oliver Morton looks at how interest in photovoltaic research is heating up in California's Silicon Valley. In the second, Carina Dennis talks to Australian researchers hoping to harness the dawn Sun's heat. The Sun provides Earth with as much energy every hour as human civilization uses every year. If you are a solarenergy enthusiast, that says it all. No other energy supply could conceivably be as plentiful as the 120,000 terawatts the Sun provides ceaselessly and unbidden. If the tiniest fraction of that sunlight were to be captured by photovoltaic cells that turn it straight into electricity, there would be no need to emit any greenhouse gases from any power plant. Thanks to green thoughts like that, and to generous subsidies from governments in Japan and Germany, the solarcell market has been growing on average by a heady 31% a year for the past decade (see chart, below). One of the most bullish industry analysts, Michael Rogol, sees the industry increasing from about US$12 billion in 2005 to as much as $70 billion in 2010. Although not everyone predicts such impressive growth, a 20–25% annual rise is widely expected. The market for shares in solarenergy companies is correspondingly buoyant. And yet in the projections of energy supply made by policy analysts and climate wonks, solar remains so marginal as to be barely on the map at all. -
EV World Update
http://evworld.com/newsletter/update_premium2008.cfm 10/1/09 3:54 PM EDITION: 9.40 | 27 Sep 2009 Platinum Sponsors INSIDER COMMENTARY Corporate Sponsorship Info CURRENTS Canadian Healthcare and Electric Cars The Canadian healthcare system didn't happen by fiat, it had to be fought for and the man leading the fight was a Saskatchewan minister turned politician. 30 Sep 2009 The Most Expensive Car on the Block He owns Toronto Electric, manufacturers of industrial cranes and electric motors. And now, after two years development, he also owns one of the neatest little EVs this side of the Canadian-U.S. border. 28 Sep 2009 Lithium From A Canadian Perspective Canadian Lithium Corp's Kerry Knoll discusses at PHEV'09 the prospects for lithium production as the auto industry moves to introduce electric cars requiring this lightest of all metals. 28 Sep 2009 PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Yike Bike has to be one of the most innovative electric bicycles yet developed. Constructed of carbon fiber, the electric bicycle weighs just 10 Of Dysprosium, Neodymium and kg (22 lbs). Powered by lithium ferrous phosphate batteries, the Yike has a top speed Other Wrinkles of 20 km/hr and range up to 10 km. Maximum carrying capacity is 100 kg (220 lbs). More than 40 electric cars debuted in Watch the YouTube Yike Bike video here. Frankfurt, a clear indication that we're on the road towards an EV World, but bumps, potholes and potential detours still lie ahead. 27 Sep 2009 In This Edition: My Montreal Keynote FEATURED THIS WEEK AONE Surprise Are We Ready for 2012? Detroit Moves -
Take This Car and PLUG IT Eager Hybrid Owners Can’T Wait to Connect Their Cars to the Power Grid
CHARGING: Makers of the hybrid-electric cars that are on the road today call them “grid independent,” but making them chargeable from the grid could enormously boost their gasoline fuel efficiency. S Take This Car And PLUG IT Eager hybrid owners can’t wait to connect their cars to the power grid A funny thing has happened on what University, in Cambridge, Mass.— W U.S. policy makers thought was going to who have made tinkering with hybrids be the high road to a hydrogen economy. their primary extracurricular activity. Initiatives aimed at putting hydrogen Now, a derivative of hybrids that fuel cell–powered cars on the road by will improve fuel economy even more 2020—visualized by President George by maximizing the use of the electric W. Bush in his 2003 State of the Union motor is poised to make what is already address as the centerpiece of his plans an undeniably attractive concept to wean the country from fossil fuels— downright irresistible. Some of the most are taking longer than promised. At the eager owners of the Prius, the world’s time of the speech, hybrid-electric cars, most popular hybrid, have been hacking which offer higher fuel efficiency than the cars, swapping their 1.3-kilowatthour regular cars because of electric motors battery packs for bigger ones with that help drive the wheels, were seen in capacities as large as 9 kWh. E the United States as but a minor detour The modifications also include the or way station en route to a world of addition of plugs so the new, bigger hydrogen fuel cells. -
Solar PV Technology Development Report 2020
EUR 30504 EN This publication is a Technical report by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s science and knowledge service. It aims to provide evidence-based scientific support to the European policymaking process. The scientific output expressed does not imply a policy position of the European Commission. Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use that might be made of this publication. For information on the methodology and quality underlying the data used in this publication for which the source is neither Eurostat nor other Commission services, users should contact the referenced source. The designations employed and the presentation of material on the maps do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the European Union concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Contact information Name: Nigel TAYLOR Address: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy Email: [email protected] Name: Maria GETSIOU Address: European Commission DG Research and Innovation, Brussels, Belgium Email: [email protected] EU Science Hub https://ec.europa.eu/jrc JRC123157 EUR 30504 EN ISSN 2600-0466 PDF ISBN 978-92-76-27274-8 doi:10.2760/827685 ISSN 1831-9424 (online collection) ISSN 2600-0458 Print ISBN 978-92-76-27275-5 doi:10.2760/215293 ISSN 1018-5593 (print collection) Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2020 © European Union, 2020 The reuse policy of the European Commission is implemented by the Commission Decision 2011/833/EU of 12 December 2011 on the reuse of Commission documents (OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. -
GHG Emissions Control Options Opportunities for Conservation
SPECIAL REPORT 298: DRIVING AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT: THE EFFECTS OF COMPACT DEVELOPMENT ON MOTORIZED TRAVEL, ENERGY USE, AND CO2 EMISSIONS GHG Emissions Control Options Opportunities for Conservation Kara Kockelman Matthew Bomberg Melissa Thompson Charlotte Whitehead The University of Texas at Austin Paper prepared for the Committee on the Relationships Among Development Patterns, Vehicle Miles Traveled, and Energy Consumption Transportation Research Board and the Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences 2009 GHG Emissions Control Options Opportunities for Conservation KARA KOCKELMAN MATTHEW BOMBERG MELISSA THOMPSON CHARLOTTE WHITEHEAD The University of Texas at Austin his paper summarizes the magnitude of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions one can T expect from a variety of widely discussed (and often debated) policies and design strategies. These include vehicle technologies, transport modes, fuel types, appliances, home and building design, and land use patterns. Through a detailed review of existing literature, the work strives to identify the greatest opportunities for carbon savings, reflecting, to some extent, cost implications and behavioral shifts needed. Greatest near-term gains mostly emerge in relatively conventional vehicle design shifts, dietary changes, and home weathering. In the medium term, significant energy and emissions savings are likely to come from fuel economy regulations approximating those abroad, appliance upgrades, plug-in hybrid purchases, home heating and cooling practices, and power generation processes. In the longer term, building design practices, carbon capture and sequestration, and a shift towards cellulosic and other fuels appear promising. Ultimately, however, to achieve 50- to 80-percent reductions in GHG emissions, relative to current or past levels, major behavioral shifts are probably needed, motivated by significant fuel economy legislation, energy taxes, household-level carbon budgets, and cooperative behavior in the interest of the global community. -
Nanosolar & U.S. Department of Energy Solar America Initiative
Securing our Energy Independence and Sustaining our Environment March 2011 1 Our High-Speed Solar Cell and Panel Factories Can Be Built Cost Effectively Anywhere in the World We Do Not Need to Manufacture in Asia to Be Competitive: We can build in San Jose! San Jose, California, Global Headquarters & Solar Cell Production Factory, 200,000 sq ft Luckenwalde, Germany, Panel Assembly Factory, 500,000 sq ft 2 We Print Nanotechnology-enabled Ink on Rolls of Very Inexpensive Aluminum Foil Rapid processing using low cost equipment and the lowest cost metal substrate 3 Our Flexible Foil Cells Are Built in San Jose, CA . Rolls of printed foil processed and thin film layers added to complete electrical structure . Foil cut into individual, rectangular cells . Flexibility to tune cells’ power output for Utility, Commercial and Residential solar markets 4 We then Assemble these Cells into Utility-scale Panels . 84 cells welded together to form one solar panel . Cells sandwiched between two tempered glass plates . Glass plate edges sealed to protect against weather Specifically designed from the start to make Nanosolar utility-scale solar power plants competitive with fossil fuels 5 Nanosolar Power Plants Are Built in Municipal Areas Connection to Distribution Voltage Lowers Delivery Costs Nanosolar power plants can be constructed on landfills, brown fields and green fields, as well as on flat rooftops 6 Nanosolar CA Factory Expansion Can Create Thousands of Skilled Solar Jobs Each Year For every 100 MW of production: . Navigant: 1,000 downstream jobs in system integration, installation, and O&M . Deutsche Bank : 3,700 downstream jobs in system integration, installation, and O&M . -
Evolution of the Household Vehicle Fleet: Anticipating Fleet Composition, Phev Adoption and Ghg Emissions in Austin, Texas
EVOLUTION OF THE HOUSEHOLD VEHICLE FLEET: ANTICIPATING FLEET COMPOSITION, PHEV ADOPTION AND GHG EMISSIONS IN AUSTIN, TEXAS Sashank Musti Graduate Research Assistant The University of Texas at Austin – 6.508, E. Cockrell Jr. Hall Austin, TX 78712-1076 [email protected] Kara M. Kockelman (Corresponding author) Professor and William J. Murray Jr. Fellow Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering The University of Texas at Austin – 6.9 E. Cockrell Jr. Hall Austin, TX 78712-1076 [email protected] Phone: 512-471-0210 & FAX: 512-475-8744 Published in Transportation Research Part A, 45 (8):707-720, 2011. Key Words: Vehicle choice, fleet evolution, vehicle ownership, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), climate change policy, stated preference, opinion survey, microsimulation ABSTRACT In today‟s world of volatile fuel prices and climate concerns, there is little study on the relation between vehicle ownership patterns and attitudes toward potential policies and vehicle technologies. This work provides new data on ownership decisions and owner preferences under various scenarios, coupled with calibrated models to microsimulate Austin‟s personal-fleet evolution. Results suggest that most Austinites (63%, population-corrected share) support a feebate policy to favor more fuel efficient vehicles. Top purchase criteria are price, type/class, and fuel economy (with 30%, 21% and 19% of respondents placing these in their top three). Most (56%) respondents also indicated that they would consider purchasing a PHEV if it were to cost $6,000 more than its conventional, gasoline-powered counterpart. And many respond strongly to signals on the external (health and climate) costs of a vehicle‟s emissions, more strongly than they respond to information on fuel cost savings. -
Buffer Against Degradation Cheap, Efficient, and Stable Thin Photovoltaics That Use Abundant and Non-Toxic Materials Can Deliver Widespread
PUBLISHED: 27 MARCH 2017 | VOLUME: 2 | ARTICLE NUMBER: 17057 news & views THIN-FILM PHOTOVOLTAICS Buffer against degradation Cheap, efficient, and stable thin photovoltaics that use abundant and non-toxic materials can deliver widespread renewable energy. New results using Earth-abundant and potentially cheap ZnO/Sb2Se3 solar cells indicate promising levels of stability. Supratik Guha ollowing years of research and development, photovoltaic (PV) Ftechnologies today are becoming VOC increasingly competitive with conventional forms of electrical power generation. About 93% of solar cells manufactured Metal electrode layer today are silicon-based. Even though they are built on relatively expensive Absorber layer (such as Sb2Se3) silicon wafers, silicon solar cells enjoy dominance because they were able to Buer layer (such as ZnO) capitalize on the progress of established Conductive coating Transparent to sunlight silicon microelectronics technology, and (such as fluorine-doped SnO2) today they offer the best blend of cost and Glass substrate performance. However, silicon still has Sunlight limitations, chiefly the need for structurally high-quality silicon substrates and poor optical absorption requiring active device Figure 1 | Typical architecture of a thin-film solar cell. A thin-film solar cell is built around a thin-film material tens of micrometres thick. To absorber material, whose role is to efficiently absorb light and create electron–hole pairs. The absorber overcome this, there has been sustained layer is matched to a buffer layer, usually a semiconductor. This creates an electrical field that separates interest in developing micron-thick PV the electrons and holes spatially. The separated electrons and holes are then conducted away by electrical contacts, one of which is transparent to let the sunlight in. -
Solar Photovoltaic Manufacturing: Industry Trends, Global Competition, Federal Support
U.S. Solar Photovoltaic Manufacturing: Industry Trends, Global Competition, Federal Support Michaela D. Platzer Specialist in Industrial Organization and Business January 27, 2015 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R42509 U.S. Solar PV Manufacturing: Industry Trends, Global Competition, Federal Support Summary Every President since Richard Nixon has sought to increase U.S. energy supply diversity. Job creation and the development of a domestic renewable energy manufacturing base have joined national security and environmental concerns as reasons for promoting the manufacturing of solar power equipment in the United States. The federal government maintains a variety of tax credits and targeted research and development programs to encourage the solar manufacturing sector, and state-level mandates that utilities obtain specified percentages of their electricity from renewable sources have bolstered demand for large solar projects. The most widely used solar technology involves photovoltaic (PV) solar modules, which draw on semiconducting materials to convert sunlight into electricity. By year-end 2013, the total number of grid-connected PV systems nationwide reached more than 445,000. Domestic demand is met both by imports and by about 75 U.S. manufacturing facilities employing upwards of 30,000 U.S. workers in 2014. Production is clustered in a few states including California, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. Domestic PV manufacturers operate in a dynamic, volatile, and highly competitive global market now dominated by Chinese and Taiwanese companies. China alone accounted for nearly 70% of total solar module production in 2013. Some PV manufacturers have expanded their operations beyond China to places like Malaysia, the Philippines, and Mexico. -
Beyond New Plug-Ins: Fixing Gas Guzzlers
Beyond New Plug-Ins: Fixing Gas Guzzlers January 19, 2010 Felix Kramer, Founder The California Cars Initiative [email protected] For updated PDF of presentations: www.calcars.org/downloads 2008: First preview of a new industry Ali Emadi, Felix Kramer, Andy Grove, Andy Frank 1 Beyond New Plug-Ins Nonprofit Startup: CalCars’ successes & challenges • 2004: “no technical/business case for PHEVs—and no one wants to plug in.” • We always saw conversions as a strategy to build support & awareness: – Hybrid retrofits previewed validated, mass-produced PHEVs. – Education and coalitions crossed multiple constituencies and ideologies. – Open-source exchange germinated conversion company ecosystem. – Public and influencers pressured industry and government. Technology (demos) Advocacy (buyers) 2004 2006 2009 2 Beyond New Plug-Ins Conversions: line extensions: new: back to retrofits! …& from GROUND-UP Chevy Bright NEW DESIGNS: “Volt” “Idea” …Next: GAS-GUZZLER CONVERSIONS! 3 Beyond New Plug-Ins Link for info and to order at CalCars.org home page 2005-2009: 27+ books highlight PHEVs 4 Beyond New Plug-Ins 20+ carmakers interested; races to be first; first timetables (see CalCars Carmakers page summary) Volt 2010; Converj next; selling in China Ampera; blended PHEV SUV? 2011 first Karma 2010, Nina 2012 2012 sales to consumers 2005 prototypes if & when: 5 Beyond New Plug-Ins More @ CalCars Photos pages For CalCars, after seven years, a challenging new campaign Gore; Clinton Plug-in drivers with GM’s Tony Posawatz Google’s Brin+Page, HEVT’s Ali Emadi, CalCars’ Felix Kramer, Intel’s Andy Grove, Efficient Drivetrains’ Andy Frank 6 Beyond New Plug-Ins It’s about penetrating a U.S.