Solar Manufacturing Innovation

Dr. Stephen P. Shea is a process engineer and manufacturing expert with over 30 years of experience in photovoltaics. He recently joined the GreenMountain team. Below is an excerpt from some of his perspectives on the development and future outlook for the PV industry.

"What are the biggest surprises you’ve seen in the development of the PV industry?"

"Recently I've been most surprised and excited by the ability of new PV companies to develop into major players seemingly overnight.  The traditional PV technical community has been a rather small family, so I’m delighted to now see an influx of people who bring with them skills from other technical fields, skills from business and access to financing to help drive the industry's growth."

Read the full interview

Evolutionary Design

A new class of computer programs use the principles of evolution to produce and test design variations. Users guide the random variations provided by the program to arrive at novel solutions in fields. Applications include fields like failure testing for complicated systems and molecule design for biotechnology. MIT's Technology Review explores this and other topics in their online documentary series.

See Video

FDA: Mixed Outlook for Nanotechnology

In October of this year the FDA convened their first meeting on nanotechnology materials.  Among experts who came together at the meeting the outlook was mixed, both for the safety of nanotechnology and the role of the FDA in its regulation.  While the view has often been that “less is more” and the benefits from materials savings from nanotechnology outweigh the potential costs, there is as yet insufficient evidence of the potential effects of nanotechnology on health and the environment. Some expressed concern that nanotech products have been coming to market quickly without oversight or full understanding of their potential effects.  Many substances that are well-understood at the macro level have dramatically different properties at nanoscale sizes.  While the opportunity exists now to use regulations to preempt consumer distrust, there was mixed opinion on whether the FDA is prepared to take on the challenge of nanotechnology.  Read the full proceedings from the FDA.

2006 Fuel Cell Seminar
November 13-17, 2006, Honolulu, HI
The largest Fuel Cell meeting in the world, featuring over 175 exhibiting companies from 36 countries.

Future Fuels 2006
November 27-26, 2006, Washington, DC
This conference will bring together policy makers and industry professionals to consider the most viable options for increasing the use of alternative fuels in the US.

Cleantech Venture Forum XII
February 19-22, 2007, San Francisco, CA
The Cleantech Venture Forum brings together clean technology entrepreneurs and investors.

GreenMountain Engineering, LLC is the leading design engineering consultancy serving renewable energy and other cleantech companies. GreenMountain specializes in the design of new devices, products and production systems and is known for innovative approaches to new products and new manufacturing equipment. The firm’s solar power practice—with clients such as Evergreen Solar, SunPower Corporation and DayStar Technologies—encompasses the entire supply chain, from fundamental technologies and cells to modules and systems. GreenMountain Engineering offices are located in San Francisco and just outside Boston in Waltham, Massachusetts.