Concentrating Solar Photovoltaics Shine On

Over the last year concentrating PV technologies have been a popular topic at conferences, in the media and for investors. We interviewed Joe Lichy, President and Founder of NuEdison, to get his perspective on the prospects for funding, technical challenges and continued viability of the sector.

Q. What types of funding will be most instrumental for supporting the continued development of CPV over the next several years?

"The funding for manufacturing improvement is going to be private. The people who will find the CPV proposition most attractive are today’s cell manufacturers . . . In order for them to expand it costs a certain amount to build a factory.  What CPV allows them to do is to get twice as many watts out of the same size cell plant.  So they see an immediate impact on their capital expenses, their fixed costs and how quickly they can ramp up.  These are huge benefits for them, even though the end product is only 35 to 40% cheaper.  In a year they can increase their production by twice as much as they could otherwise.  I think that we will see funding coming from cell manufacturers - though what form it’s in, whether it’s strategic investments or outright acquisition, I don’t know."

Full interview

Polymer Light Emitting Diodes (PLEDs)

Polymer LEDs, an emissive lighting technology closely related to Organic LEDs, have been around for over 10 years but have recently made moves towards wider introduction into products.   PLEDs emit light when an electric charge is passed across a polymer film.  As an emissive light source, this technology has the potential to be an energy efficient replacement for LCDs, in applications ranging from portable electronics to televisions, or even to replace larger scale light sources.  First invented in 1989, PLEDs are being developed and commercialized primarily by British company Cambridge Display Technologies.  Currently available in a small number of products, this technology may soon be introduced on a wider scale as it can provide long life to consumer electronics when paired with advanced batteries or other energy sources such as fuel cells.

More about Cambridge Display Technologies

Wind Turbines for Developing Countries

The Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group, an international nonprofit, is incubating a micro-manufacturing facility in Guatemala as one approach to combating poverty in the area. The Guatemalan facility, called Xela Telco, fabricates, installs and repairs low-cost environmentally sound infrastructure for the local area.  In conjunction with AIDG, the San Francisco Professionals Chapter of Engineers Without Borders has been designing and developing a small scale wind turbine that will be manufactured and distributed by Xela Telco.  The final design will overcome several challenges to provide a system that is simple to manufacture and install as well as appropriately sized for the villages where it will be introduced.

For more information visit AIDG or EWB-SFP

Photovoltaics Summit 2007
June 18-20
This conference will bring together experts in Long Beach, CA to address and explore the current trends in emerging markets and advancements in solar technology.

Energy Innovation
August 22-24
The first Energy Innovation conference, presented by O'Reilly in San Francisco, will focus on emerging technologies in energy generation, distribution and implementation.

22nd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition
September 3-7
This year's EUPVSEC, the largest Solar PV conference, will take place the first week of September in Milan, Italy.

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