Focusing Light on Silicon Beads

Comments

• promising, but... cripdyke on 11/13/2007 at 5:06 AM

  Posts: 14 Avg Rating:

  there have been quite a number of techs promising to cut the cost in half....and some of them, especially nanosolar, are already doing it. Also, this doesn't seem to be particularly conducive to combining with other techniques that are just now ready to move out of the lab into the market. Some other techs are designed in such a way that they would still benefit from others' advances. What isn't noted, however, in the text is that the costs here are the costs of manufacture. The tech described, however, is perfectly positioned to save a bundle on installation as well. So...if they can achieve their 50% production cost, and the installation costs are further reduced, the relative ease of manufacture could allow them to build plants in multiple countries and reduce shipping & tariff costs leading to a genuinely competitive product. So, I give it a 6 out of 10 compared to other techniques that have just left the lab or just hit the market (and the ones in between, such as having finished R&D but the plant isn't up to full production yet). And what's nice is that it is indigenous to Japan - the other techs that rate higher than this one aren't. With their notable barriers to foreign competition, the Japanese gov't and MITI might be a significant barrier to the economic boost that solar pv will be getting elsewhere in the world ...unless local pv costs fall based on entirely japanese IP/manufacture. Nice to see that Japan won't (really: might not) be pumping out extra CO2 just because of MITI over the next 8 to 10 years. Rate this comment: (Reply)

• 	Better Photovoltaics? ajimenez on 11/13/2007 at 10:56 AM
  Posts: 14	If the efficiency is not better and the price is not better and the durability is suspect, who's going to buy it? They better sell it at half price or stay out of the business--for everyone's sake. Rate this comment: (Reply)

• 	Whither energy GaryB on 11/13/2007 at 6:23 PM
  Posts: 42 Avg Rating:	It would be nice to see a semi-annual tracking of all these new technologies.  They all come on the scene promising various things and then most seem to just sink.  I wonder if some graph/spreadsheet could be published on all these solar (and bio-fuel) efforts.  With solar, you have many Heliovolt, First Solar, Nanosolar etc etc.  How are they doing? Where are they at? Rate this comment: (Reply)

  • Re: Whither energy cripdyke on 11/15/2007 at 6:46 PM

    Posts: 14 Avg Rating:

    nanosolar, in particular, is doing well. Their initial volume was all purchased in bulk (I believe by european customers). Thus they've been doing fine getting things rolling, but product still isn't generally available so sites haven't considered it newsworthy (they think: "We already told you they were doing it, so unless they fail or something new happens like the product hitting local retailers, why should we update?") But what I would really like to know is how things are going with combining technology/i.p. from different companies. If they can reach deals on how to share technology so 1 new product can get the benefit of both breakthroughs, prices can drop dramatically. Rate this comment: (Reply)

    • 	Re: Whither energy samlum on 12/02/2007 at 10:13 PM
      Posts: 1	Your suggestion on combining talent/inventions is simple and good, unfortunely it will never happen. If people can work together for the common good, this will be a much better world. Rate this comment: (Reply)

• The promise is in the raw materials asdar on 11/14/2007 at 9:36 AM

  Posts: 62 Avg Rating:

  CIGS and standard silicon both have some raw material problems. Right now CIGS can be produced cheaply, but how about when Galium and Selenium start to feel the crunch. Silicon shouldn't be that much of a long term problem, but if we're making a true push toward solar we're going to need a hundred times what we're using now, not even mentioning the still blooming computer usage of silicon in China and India. Demand will most likely continue to rise, and supply might be under a crunch. Plus, this is technology. Maybe it will lead to something else. Rate this comment: (Reply)

• 	Costs Spothannah on 11/14/2007 at 11:32 AM
  Posts: 1	It seems that the cost of solar cells per unit of usable electricty keeps comming down while the cost of oil (not counting the environmental or social or political costs) continues to climb. Isn't it just a matter of time before "oil" becomes obsolete as a means of producing most of our energy? Rate this comment: (Reply)

  • 	Re: Costs TimG on 11/14/2007 at 7:42 PM
    Posts: 8 Avg Rating:	Exactly.  With the storage capacity and cost-effectiveness of batteries coming down and solar cells becoming more affordable, a convergence is coming that will lead to a revolution.  Put a solar panel bank on the roof and an electric car in the garage and you can basically forget about high oil prices! Rate this comment: (Reply)

• 	Allied with the news from IBM weee on 11/15/2007 at 4:27 AM
  Posts: 31 Avg Rating:	that it has developed an effective process that enables waste silicon to be made available for solar power - http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/22504.wss The news is looking very good indeed - if the cost savings are passed through to consumers; installing solar power will pay for itself in less than 5 years in a sunny climate and 10 years in the UK. Rate this comment: (Reply)

• 	Contact Silacon and LANL.gov Silacon on 11/15/2007 at 11:18 AM
  Posts: 37 Avg Rating:	Dear clever people: Our company, Silacon, in association with Los Alamos National Laboratory invented a similar array that is useful for PV and blast absorption. Your idea should move to LANL.gov.  Rate this comment: (Reply)

• this has been around a long time anon on 11/16/2007 at 9:55 AM

  Posts: 1

  there was a Canadian company that spent $170 mn trying to make this work and failed.  All these attempts to save on silicon material costs are useless if the resultant cell is only 2% less on efficiency. cost of silicon @ $70/kg = $0.50 / Wp.  At $6/Wp installed, 1% efficiency loss equals $0.37 at an average 15% cell. Lose more than 1.3% on efficiency, and even free silicon would not make your cells competitive. Rate this comment: (Reply)

• 	assembly costs ess on 11/18/2007 at 8:47 PM
  Posts: 1	It seems that the cost of the complex reflectors, the attachment of the silicon spheres, the wiring, etc. will be an issue.  Also, is the whole assembly to be potted in a transparent sealant?  if not, the dust collection will quickly reduce efficiency and the array will be difficult to clean up. Rate this comment: (Reply)

  • 	Re: assembly costs v-man on 12/11/2007 at 12:46 PM
    Posts: 1	{CV21 started production of its cells in October; the first of its 10-kilowatt modules go on sale this month.} Wow! I guess they ship these 10kw modules on really BIG trucks? Rate this comment: (Reply)