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Category: Research

Possible increase in solar energy use at 25-30% per year

October 4th, 2009 | Posted in Solar

solar panel At the opening of the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC), one of the topics discussed was the possibility that annual growth for solar could increase by 25-30% per year, according to European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) President – Wilfrid Hoffman.

This growth in solar can only be achieved if the solar industry works hard on increasing volumes, according to Hoffman.

But if the solar industry wants to see penetration of over 6%, their efforts alone will not be enough. Large amounts of solar can only become viable if Europe implements smart grids and energy storage. The feed-in tariffs also play an important role.

Hoffman said that it is very had to define and "it's not a specific number," when he was asked about when solar would reach grid-parity. It all depends on the regions looked at and whether or not peak or off peak power prices are being looked at. In fact, in several places the solar industry has reached grid parity, suggested Hoffman. However, he feels that it is not the time to cut off feed-in tariffs and that they will need to remain in place for some time.

Relying on the German market alone should be avoided, added Joachim Nick-Lepin at the German Federal Environmental Ministry – France, Italy and Greece are also taking positive steps in the solar power industry.

[Via: RenewableEnergyFocus]

Global biofuels growth to double by 2015

October 4th, 2009 | Posted in Biomass

Global use of biofuels is excepted to more than double from 2009 to 2015, according to a new global analysis released by Hart's Global Biofuels Center. Leading the expansion is the United States with a growth of total biofuels use of more than 35%. Brazil will also grow domestically (30%), and more than double export volume. Indonesia and Malaysia will more than double production of palm oil biodiesel, while Germany will remain the largest producer of biofuels in Europe.

Major new contributors to the growth of global biofuels between now and 2015 will include countries like Indonesia, France, China, India, Thailand, Colombia, Malaysia, Philippines and Argentina. First generation ethanol, palm oil biodiesel and rapeseed biodiesel from Europe continue to be the dominant biofuels produced. Hart argues that out of the approximately 170 next-generation biofuels projects around the world that are in some stage of development (operational, under construction or proposed), only 30% of those are actually expected to be operating during the study timeframe.

Frost & Sullivan: Biofuels markets in Sub-Saharan African are set for rapid growth

October 3rd, 2009 | Posted in Biomass

The sub-Saharan African biofuels market should experience rapid growth in the next five years, despite serious challenges to its development. The high targets set by the EU and US for the inclusion of biofuels in their fuel supply are a key driver for biofuels projects in the region, along with the intensified government support.

According to the new analysis from Frost & Sullivan titled "Sub-Saharan African Biofuels Market," this market will earn revenues of $26.9 million in 2009 and is projected to reach $229.9 million in 2017.

It's obvious that many countries in the region have suitable climates and available land to grow feedstock. However, delays in formulating and implementing the regulatory framework for biofuels production have been a major restraint for the development of the market. Add bad infrastructure to the mix, and you get the complete picture why it's challenging for biofuels manufacturers to make some serious money.

However, many foreign organisations and local commercial farmers have invested in land or have made agreements with out-growers for growing energy crops and setting up pilot production facilities, ensuring that production can begin once the regulations are in place…

Additional details are available from Frost & Sullivan's website.

New Zealand going deep to reach geothermal resources

September 29th, 2009 | Posted in Geothermal

Efforts are being made by scientists in New Zealand to reach deep for pockets of energy they speculate are buried somewhere between 5 and 7 km below the Earth's surface. There may be enough hot water locked in underground reservoirs to power more than half the country's households. The only problem is finding these pockets and tapping the stored heat energy.

A four-year project is under way to install "plumbing" in the country's most attractive geothermal region, the Taupo Volcanic Zone, in the central North Island, according to this article. The depths involved are about twice the existing geothermal drillings at the moment. According to project leader, Greg Bignall (GNS Science), there could be potential for production of as much as 10 GW of electricity annually, for the next 100 years. New Zealand is aiming for "20% renewable energy sources", but if the new study proves the scientists right, they could be able to reach quite a bit more.

Scenery from the Taupo Volcanic Zone. (Image: geysergazing.com)

So far, New Zealand is generating about 10% of the country's electricity needs from geothermal sources, drilled to depths of up to 3.5 kilometers. Drilling to depths double that is very expensive, so everyone wants to be sure there is enough potential to be tapped, before spending tens of millions of dollars.

GNS Science is working on a 3D computer model of the deep layers in the area, in collaboration with scientists at Industrial Research and Auckland and Victoria Universities. If findings are positive, the scientists hope that will give geothermal development companies the confidence to start deeper drilling and reach the hidden potential down there.

[via: Think Geoenergy]

Mechanically-stacked multijunction solar cell revealed

September 29th, 2009 | Posted in Solar

IMEC's mechanically stacked GaAs/Ge cell. (Image from IMEC)

IMEC presented a new mechanically stacked GaAs/Ge multijunction solar cell at the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference in Hamburg, Germany. With the aim to have efficiencies above 40%, this is the first promising demonstrator of IMEC's novel technology to produce mechanically stacked, high-efficiency multijunction solar cells.

A one-side contact GaAs top cell is found at the top of the stack and is transparent, allowing infrared light through. It is 23.4% efficient, close to the efficiency of standard GaAs cells. IMEC has successfully managed to transfer this GaAs top cell in to a bottom Ge cell, thereby creating a mechanical stack. The Ge bottom cell is contacted separately in that stack, and it has a 3-3.5% potential efficiency. This is higher than the Ge bottom cells in the state-of-the-art monolithically stack InGaP/(In)GaAs/Ge cells. By the beginning of 2010, there are high hopes to show the first working triple-junction cell, according to Giovanni Flamand, team manager at IMEC.

"Mechanical stacks are more complex to handle and interconnect. But they definitely offer a way to increase the conversion efficiency and energy yield of high-efficiency solar cells. And they also enable an efficient way to try and use new combinations of materials. For this technology, we profit from IMEC's expertise in 3D stacking, growing III-V layers, and solar cell processing," said Dr. Jef Poortmans, IMEC's Photovoltaics Program Director.

[Via: ScienceDaily]

Duke Energy and ENN Group sign agreement for development of low-carbon and clean energy technologies

September 24th, 2009 | Posted in General

Duke Energy and the ENN Group (China) announced an agreement to increase efforts in the development of low-carbon and clean energy technologies.

The agreement includes potential for the development of commercial solar power projects, as well as joint effots on coal-based clean energy, biofuels, natural gas, smart grid, energy efficiency and carbon-capturing algae.

A series of meetings have been launched with the purpose of sharing information between companies, but also for technology demonstrations and development of "best practice" models. Furthermore, a partnership for developing utility-scale commercial solar PV projects in the US is also being planned.

Duke Energy has recently signed an MoU with China Huaneng Group, involving high-level discussions and information sharing on several renewable energy fronts.

Suntech improves on its own record for multi-crystalline module conversion eficiency by 1%

September 24th, 2009 | Posted in Solar

Suntech Power announced it has again set a multi-crystalline solar module efficiency record, this time achieving 16.53%, an improvement of 1% over the previous record of 15.6% announced in August. The record pertains to the aperture area only, and was measured and certified by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE.

The measured module was powered by Suntech's Pluto PV cells, utilizing solar grade silicon. Each PV cell has a higher efficiency ratio by itself, of more than 17%. The company is very pleased to have proven that low cost manufacturing and first class R&D can produce an economically viable production model.

Suntech has this way raised the bar for multi-crystalline module efficiency once more, even if it's only by relatively small margin.

Frost & Sullivan: The fall in wind turbine orders in 2009 to affect revenues in 2010

September 23rd, 2009 | Posted in Wind

Wind turbine manufacturers won't have any problems this year, as they are still working on last year's orders. However, the fall in orders this year will show its ugly face (in terms of revenues) in 2010. In that sense, it is essential for companies to adopt new strategies to sustain and accelerate growth in a tough environment.

Here's what Frost & Sullivan's analyst Gouri Kumar has to say on the matter:

"Certainly the consequence of the recent slowdown of activity has been a fall in lead times and order backlogs, prices of turbines, freight costs and raw-materials leading to renegotiation of contracts by wind turbine manufacturers with sub-suppliers and in turn sub-suppliers with raw material producers. To keep their margins intact for next year, it is essential for companies to revisit their priorities and strategies. Some of them have already started working on this and it is interesting to see what they have been doing to keep afloat, grow or adapt strategically to the tough environment."

As a result, we've seen a number of M&A and JV transactions, whereas some other companies focused on improving value proposition internally. Moreover, it is expected that companies start shutting down factories or cutting down on shifts in terms of working hours of labour, especially in regions where new orders are expected to fall below boom levels. Finally, there are companies like Gamesa that are taking the situation as an opportunity to diversify and re-define their priorities.

More information about Frost & Sullivan's report on wind electricity market is available from their website.

E.ON calls universities and institutions worldwide to submit proposals for concentrated solar power heat storage research

September 23rd, 2009 | Posted in Solar

eon

E.ON announced an official call to universities and institutions worldwide to submit proposals for innovative research projects having to do with concentrated solar power heat storage.

Heat storage is used in concentrated solar power (CSP) systems to allow the power generators to produce electricty during low sunlight conditions, or during dark hours od the day. Heat harvested from concentrated sunlight is usually stored in a fluid, usually oil or water, and used to transfer heat onto a working fluid which powers turbines. This technology is being used worldwide in CSP projects, but is also the basis of the DESERTEC project which is to harness sun's energy from locations such as the North African Saharan region, stretching east across the Middle East. Innovative heat storage devices that may arise from research in this area will be used in commercial CSP systems later on.

Up to ten projects are to be chosen and funded under E.ON's initiative. The total funding budget will be about EUR 6 million. Applications have to be submitted by the beginning of 2010, while E.ON Research Awards will be given in Autumn 2010.

E.ON has already spend about EUR 60 million for funding research projects since 2007. The goal is to contribute towards solving key problems in energy supply. The focus of 2007 research funding was energy storage, while the in 2008 it was the application of nanotechnology in energy. All research finding are property of researchers, and are not developed solely for the E.ON.

Total, GDF Suez and Photovoltech join IMEC solar research program for next-gen silicon cells

September 23rd, 2009 | Posted in Solar

imec (1)

According to the announcement, Total, GDF Suez, and their jointly operated subsidiary for manufacturing solar cells, Photovoltech, have joined the IMEC industrial affiliation program (IIAP) to work on research on next generation crystalline silicon solar cells. This R&D program is concentrating on drastically reducing the use of silicon (which makes the solar cells expensive), while at the same time achieving a solar cell efficiency increase. Both improvements would drastically reduce the cost of solar energy, making it far more competitive with other power generation technologies.

The three companies will dedicate researchers to the IMEC program, working in various fields such as solar cell manufacturing, materials and equipment. Research will be done in collaboration with IMEC's solar experts.

According to IMEC, by 2025, about 10% of generated power will come from solar energy, but in order for this to happen, efforts have to be put into research and development of cheaper solar power generating technologies. The research partnership with Total GDF Suez and Photovoltech is part of that effort.