Solar Energy Tweet Sharp Develops Concentrator Solar Cell with World’s Highest Conversion Efficiency of 43.5% Achieved with Concentrator Triple-Junction Compound Solar Cell Upsolar Extends Sustainability Efforts with New Module Cleaning Solution Bay Area Photovoltaic Consortium announces $7.5 million in grants to lower the cost of large-scale solar power Innovative 3-D designs from an MIT team can more than double the solar power generated from a given area. Trees Used to Create Recyclable, Efficient Solar Cell Solar cells are just like leaves, capturing the sunlight and turning it into energy. It’s fitting that they can now be made partially from trees. Georgia Institute of Technology and Purdue University researchers have developed efficient solar cells using natural substrates derived from plants such as trees. Just as importantly, by fabricating them on cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) substrates, the solar cells can be quickly recycled in water at the end of their lifecycle. Read >> Stanford scientists build the first all-carbon solar cell Researchers have developed a solar cell made entirely of carbon, an inexpensive substitute for the pricey materials used in conventional solar panels. Read >> Stanford scientists develop new type of solar structure that cools buildings in full sunlight A Stanford team has designed an entirely new form of cooling panel that works even when the sun is shining. Such a panel could vastly improve the daylight cooling of buildings, cars and other structures by radiating sunlight back into the chilly vacuum of space. Read >> Stanford students build solar home in national competition In a competition that could help transform the homebuilding industry, a team of Stanford students is redesigning the common house by putting utilities in a common core. Read >> Engineer’s research employs semiconductors to better store, use solar energy The National Science Foundation has awarded a $400,000 Early Career Development grant to Fuqiang Liu, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering, to improve the way solar energy is captured, stored and transmitted for use. Read >> Moog Launches Upgraded Remote Power Source for Surveillance Cameras The EcoKit generates efficient solar and wind energy for physical security applications Read >> Senersun reports higher-than-expected performance in the field for its solar panels Senersun, a manufacturer of premium quality solar panels, reports that observations throughout 2012 show that Senersun panels performed better than expected in real-life conditions. Read >> New solar-cell design based on dots and wires MIT researchers improve efficiency of quantum-dot photovoltaic system by adding a forest of nanowires. Read >> Global solar photovoltaic industry is likely now a net energy producer, Stanford researchers find The construction of the photovoltaic power industry since 2000 has required an enormous amount of energy, mostly from fossil fuels. The good news is that the clean electricity from all the installed solar panels has likely just surpassed the energy going into the industry's continued growth, Stanford researchers find. Read >> Special deal on photon-to-electron conversion: Two for one! New technique developed at MIT could enable a major boost in solar-cell efficiency. Read >> New Material Promises Better Solar Cells Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology show that a recently discovered class of materials can be used to create a new kind of solar cell. Read >> UC Santa Barbara Scientists Develop A Whole New Way of Harvesting Energy from the Sun A new method of harvesting the Sun's energy is emerging, thanks to scientists at UC Santa Barbara's Departments of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and Materials. Though still in its infancy, the research promises to convert sunlight into energy using a process based on metals that are more robust than many of the semiconductors used in conventional methods. Read >> First Solar Releases 92.5-Watt Thin-Film PV Module Newest FS Series 3 Module is Latest Milestone on Cost-Efficiency Roadmap Read >> Students build mobile solar power system Unit, designed as alternative to fuel-powered generator, boasts solar panels, wind turbine and rechargeable batteries. Read >> Flexible, light solar cells could provide new opportunities MIT researchers develop a new approach using graphene sheets coated with nanowires. Read >> Honeywell Introduces New “Cool” Film That Helps Solar Panels Beat The Heat PowerShield® Cool Black helps reduce operating temperature and improve the efficiency of black solar panels Read >> Murata installed Mega Solar Systems at Home and Abroad Murata Manufacturing will continue to adopt initiatives to bring about the widespread use of renewable energy on a global scale, to save energy and to reduce the burden on the environment in order to contribute to solving problems that the global environment is facing. Read >> Newport Announces New PV Wafer Testing Capability The Technology & Applications Center’s Photovoltaic Lab now offers solar wafer testing on cells up to 156 mm x 156 mm. Read >> New Technologies Will Cut Cost of PV Metallization by up to 50% With profit margins eroding, optimization of this critical step is key to solar success, says Lux Research. Read >> New Path to More Efficient Organic Solar Cells Uncovered at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source Working at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source (ALS), a premier source of X-ray and ultraviolet light beams for research, an international team of scientists found that for highly efficient polymer/organic photovoltaic cells, size matters. Read >> Unlocking nature’s quantum engineering for efficient solar energy Quantum scale photosynthesis in biological systems which inhabit extreme environments could hold key to new designs for solar energy and nanoscale devices. Read >> COGNEX DATAMAN 302 PROVIDES COMPLETE TRACEABILITY FOR THE SOLAR INDUSTRY The DataMan 302 features integrated, bank controlled, blue illumination for reading 2-D barcodes on solar photovoltaic (PV) wafers. Read >> Honeywell Launches Third-Generation Film To Protect Solar Panels PowerShield® 3W is more durable than competitive films, allowing solar panels to reliably supply power even in the harshest environments Read >> Rice unveils super-efficient solar-energy technology ‘Solar steam’ so effective it can make steam from icy cold water Read >> Funneling the sun’s energy MIT engineers propose a new way of harnessing photons for electricity, with the potential for capturing a wider spectrum of solar energy. Read >> Solar Frontier Announces New “S” Series 140W to 160W Lineup The “S” series introduces positive sorting of -0/+5Wp, reflecting increased progress and confidence in the CIS production process at the Kunitomi plant. This allows customers to benefit from assured power ratings at or above the label value. Read >> Stanford's Global Climate and Energy Project awards $8.4 million to develop innovative energy technologies GCEP has awarded $8.4 million to researchers from Stanford to develop innovative technologies that address global climate change. Read >> FUJIFILM INSTALLS CONERGY SOLAR PANELS AT ITS NORTH KANSAS CITY FACILITY One of the First Solar Installs in the NKC Metro Area, Local Solar Integrator Brightergy Completes 50.76 kW Roof-top Project Read >> SOLAREDGE EXPANDS SMART MODULE PORTFOLIO WITH LEADING MODULE MANUFACTURERS Smart modules will be on display at Intersolar Europe Read >> Conergy Completes 1.8MW Solar Electric Installation for Aqua Pennsylvania, Inc. 1.8MW solar farm among largest in Pennsylvania. Read >> Jenoptik Shows its Advanced Laser Technology for Thin-film Photovoltaics and High-Tech Glass at the solarpeq 2012. The JENOPTIK-VOTAN® Solas Multi for structuring and the JENOPTIK-VOTAN® Solas LED for edge deletion can process efficiently small up to very large thin-film solar modules. Read >> Automated testing solution PV-LIT from InfraTec Solar cell and solar module testing during manufactoring Read >> UCLA researchers create highly transparent solar cells for windows that generate electricity UCLA researchers have developed a new transparent solar cell that is an advance toward giving windows in homes and other buildings the ability to generate electricity while still allowing people to see outside. Read >> Weizmann Institute Solar Technology to Convert Greenhouse Gas into Fuel An Israeli-Australian venture will use solar technology developed at the Weizmann Institute of Science to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of brown coal. Read >> Upsolar Partners with Solstyce to Power Heritage Buildings in France Company’s project finance capabilities help bridge development gap Read >> Suntech Introduces 255-Watt Polycrystalline Module The new 60-cell module, which utilizes optimized metallization technology to boost efficiency, is one of the most powerful in its class and can be incorporated into almost any kind of solar application. Read >> All-carbon solar cell harnesses infrared light New type of photovoltaic device harnesses heat radiation that most solar cells ignore. Read >> Bright future for solar power in space Solar power gathered in space could be set to provide the renewable energy of the future thanks to innovative research being carried out by engineers at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Read >> Jenoptik presents its laser processing equipment for the efficient solar cell processing at the SNEC 2012. To be seen in Shanghai will be the newly introduced infrared disk lasers JenLas® disk IR50E and JenLas® disk IR70E Read >> Higher Cell Efficiency with Laser Processing ROFIN releases upgrade for selective emitter processing Read >> Harnessing nature’s solar cells Photovoltaic panels made from plant material could become a cheap, easy alternative to traditional solar cells. Read >> Konica Minolta Showcases Newly Developed, Highly Durable Film Mirror for CSP at World Future Energy Summit as Reference Exhibit The performance of mirrors that directly receive and reflect sunlight is important in CSP. Read >> Stanford engineers' nanoshell whispering galleries improve thin solar panels Engineers at Stanford have created photovoltaic nanoshells that harness a peculiar physical phenomenon to better trap light. The results could dramatically improve the efficiency of thin-film solar cells while reducing their weight and cost. Read >> Philips develops solar powered LED street lighting breakthrough Best value solution per km of road lighting. Read >> Sharp Develops Solar Cell with World’s Highest Conversion Efficiency of 36.9% Achieved with Triple-Junction Compound Solar Cell Read >> GE Energy Unveils New EverGold(TM) Solar Duty Disconnects The innovative new solar duty disconnects in GE's line of EverGoldTM Solar balance of system electrical components provide minimum complexity and maximum savings with a simple and dependable alternative to stocking and installing splice boxes and oversized disconnects. Read >> Yale engineers making solar power more efficient Innovations by a team of Yale University researchers could lead to improvements in basic solar power technology that result in lower-cost, higher-efficiency photovoltaic systems. Read >> Andor Luca-R camera aids development of more efficient solar cells Rapid, contactless and non-destructive testing of solar cells should lead to higher average solar cell efficiency and improved yield as manufacturers look to optimize production process and ramp up volume Read >> Toshiba to participate in solar photovoltaic and wind power generation project in Tahara, Aichi prefecture 50MW mega solar photovoltaic plant will have largest capacity in Japan Read >> GE Plans to Build Largest US Solar Factory in Colorado Expand Solar Innovation in New York and Deliver Lighter, Larger, More Efficient Thin Film Solar Panels Read >> Work Begins to Create World’s Largest Solar Bridge at Blackfriars The new Blackfriars station - which is being built on a bridge spanning the River Thames - is on its way to becoming the world's largest solar bridge after work started today to install over 4,400 solar photovoltaic (PV) panels for a 1.103MW solar array. Read >> A major efficiency boost in photovoltaics TRUMPF lasers and HÜTTINGER generators expand solar cell production opportunities. Read >> Catching some rays — lots of them New MIT design for a metamaterial could be far more efficient at capturing sunlight than existing solar cells. Read >> Sharp Begins Solar Maintenance Business in Asia Agreement Signed with NED to Provide Maintenance Service for Large Solar Power Generation Plant Read >>