Frost & Sullivan is reporting that polysilicon shortages that have slowed the solar PV industry will end in 2008. The expectation is the 4 top polysilicon producers will add 17,000 tons of capacity this year, a jump of almost 50% in production. Compare that with the total demand of 26,000 tons in 2004. Shows how much this industry is booming….in fact, the expectation is solar will eat up almost 50% of the output of high purity silicon by 2009.
That’s an important step for the solar industry gaining more political and economic power…a great sign for the industry’s growth.
The Presentation (Flash is required)
To move to the next slide, click on the right side of the current slide. Click on the left side to go back.
Videos from the Solar Power event are up on the website. As always, you can watch snippets of the video on YouTube as well.
In addition, check out Sunpower’s Solar savings calculator to see how much you could potentially save with a solar installation. Only takes about 5 minutes.
A question came up at the solar talk on Tuesday…there is confusion on standard power conversions. What does it mean when a power plant is 15 MW? How about my PG&E bill that rates everything in kw h?
In science class, energy is generally labeled in Joules (sometime kilojoules - KJ or megajoules - MJ). Energy is time independent…it’s just energy.
But we never hear about Joules in normal life. We always hear about Watts (sometimes kW - kilowatt, MW - megawatt).
1 Watts = 1 Joule/second.
So when you hear about a 100 W bulb, that means it ’s using 100 Joules of energy per second. A 15 MW plant (that number represents peak output) can produce 15 million joules per second.
Now to your electric bill. You get billed on a kw*h (kilowatt hour) basis.
Solar Thermal Through
Thermal troughs use mirrors to concentrate the sun’s heat to cook tubes of oil up to 400 C. That oil is then passed through water, heating it to steam which drives a turbine.
Presently, a couple “plants” supply power. These plants exist out in the desert and typically provide 100-300 megawatts of power (30K-120K homes).
Thin Film Solar
It’s the same concept as standard PV solar, but the material uses polymer substrates to create a flexible material. The resultant material is much faster to install while providing similar energy output as PV. In addition, much less silicon is used, possibly lowering the cost down the road.
The technology is still in a demonstration phase (not much manufacturing capacity), but shows a good deal of promise.
Here is a video on a thin film startup in the Bay Area (c/o KQED QUEST)
Solar Paint
Still in development, the idea is a special set of ingredients (aluminized mylar and indium tin oxide) are mixed in with paint. When sunlight hits the paint, electrons are knocked loose straight into wires that connect directly to your home’s power. The potential is monumental…cheap, easy to apply, little to no installation.
These are just a few examples….an extraordinary amount of money is being poured into solar research in the last few years. We do have a lot to look forward to when it comes to solar, the question seems to be transitioning from research into strategy for implementation…a huge issue for any new energy source.
PBS NOVA ran a program recently called “Saved by the Sun”, detailing solar technologies and commentary on whether its time to switch over to solar nationally.
In one of their interactive pieces, they describe the inner workings of a Solar PV cell, the kind that most people have installed on their roofs (as will be described in our upcoming cafe). Flash is required to view the below explanation.
Monday, July 21st, 2008 7-9 PM Where:Atlas Cafe What:The Toxicology of Everyday Products Who: Dr. Paul Blanc, UCSF The Deets:There are hidden health dangers in many of the seemingly innocent products we encounter every day - a tube of glue in a kitchen drawer, a bottle of bleach in the laundry room, a rayon scarf on a closet shelf, a brass knob on the front door, a wood plank on an outdoor deck. This is not a matter of one exceptional or corrupt industry, but rather of how run-of-the-mill manufacturing processes and consumer marketing expose workers and the general public alike to toxic hazards. More troubling still, even when such hazards are recognized, calls for their control are routinely ignored.
Monday, August 18th, 2008 7-9 PM Where:Atlas Cafe What: Power to the People: Robots and Representational Democracy Who: Dr. Ken Goldberg, UC Berkeley The Deets: Is there decision-making strength in numbers? Professor Goldberg and his students are looking into questions raised by robots and social networks -- and working on a new class of interfaces and games based on networked robots and cameras that quantify a measure of "leadership" to bring about group discovery and decision-making based on the power of crowds.
Ken will report on experiments and questions raised by robots and social networks, ranging from Ouija boards to human "tele-actors,"and tell a true story about how invasions of privacy led him and his students to study how robots can assist in monitoring the natural environment. Ken will describe a robotic system they've deployed to assist the search for the Ivory Billed Woodpecker, a bird of extreme interest to birdwatchers, ornithologists, and conservationists whose last confirmed sighting was in 1944. Ken will also describe the Berkeley Center for New Media, a highly cross-disciplinary center with over 110 affiliated faculty from 30 Cal Departments.
Science in Action Events Science in Action is a series of tours, trips, and hikes intended to put you in the middle of active science in the Bay Area.
If you're interested in attending, send me an email.
The SF Recycling Tour is now full...Please email if you'd like to be added to the wait list
Saturday, July 19th 10 AM - 12 Noon
Details:
During the tour we will spend 45 minutes in the classroom watching a video, talking about recycling and environmental topics and the Artist in Residence Program. Then we will go to the studio to meet the current artist, then visit the Hazardous Waste Facility, the Transfer Station, the Sculpture Garden and finally walk through the Public Disposal Area. This part of the tour takes about one hour.