Two Great Things A Solar Cell Can Do

                   gmanews


It has been a while since my last post but here I am again bringing you two good news that renewable energy has to offer aside from the fact that it produces power when conventional power sources and electrical grids are not available.


First is the news about winning in the Pacific-wide photo contest sponsored by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) by  Reynaldo C. Mondez, a Filipino, on a photograph relating to solar energy and how this photo according to him "gives hope to a sustainable future".


This is a very heartwarming photo because as most of us didn't know, some part of our country is not yet reach by electricity on power grid as we know it. And with the installation of this simple solar panel on most homes in the rural areas, we are also "installing" hope on people which has been long deprived by this basic things that the majority of us are enjoying for such a long time.


Second is the upgrading of Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration's (PAGASA) equipment specifically on mass installation of more than 70 automatic rain gauges across the country as part of an efforts to improve the country’s flood forecasting system.


This system is a great improvement especially in an agency that makes use of a very small government budget allocation and receives lots of bad criticisms most of the time. What make it great aside from gathering and giving fast and accurate data is the fact that it was powered by solar cells which make it operable even on remote areas where the cell sites which this gauges will be installed is located.


These things doesn't only makes you feel good but makes you excited and marvel on what could be the next thing that solar power or renewable energy sources has to offer.


source: GMA News and Manila Bulletin

Solar Powered PC Now Close To Realization

         http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/22022010

Intel has developed a Windows PC desktop powered by a solar cell the size of a postage stamp. This could be the smallest solar cell that could power a desktop and can potentially create a lot of savings in electricity at homes and offices. Intel’s demo of a desktop powered by a postage-sized solar cell reaffirms the company’s effort to reduce not only the size of microprocessors but also its power consumption.

This may be the latest version of the smallest solar cell, a renewable energy source, ever produced like this one from University of Michigan wherein they developed minuscule solar sensors able to perpetually harvest energy from its surroundings and efficiently manage the energy it gathers. Or this one from  University of South Florida wherein they have develop a solar cell so small it’s just 1/4 the size of a grain of rice. The research team says that just 20 of these cells are enough to generate 7.8 volts of electricity.

Intel’s solar cell PC may not be the smallest solar cell but it certainly will be the smallest to be use on a desktop and probably other gadget manufacturers will follow ( hope more of them), like integrating it on laptops, tablets and mobile phones. This way not all electricity consumption of all new gadgets out there would be charge to electricity produce from power plants.

A breathe of additional fresh air in the future.

The Philippines Should Learn from This Project

           http://www.flickr.com/photos/senatormarkudall

The Philippines should have project like this one or close to it, to answer the shortage of power in a cleaner way. A report from ens-newswire.com says that;

"The Asian Development Bank has approved a US$100 million loan to the state of Gujarat in western India to accelerate the rollout of one the world's largest solar power facilities.
 The funding for the Gujarat Solar Power Transmission Project will support the 500 megawatt Patan Solar Park, Asia's largest such project, located at Charanka village about 60 km (40 miles) from India's border with Pakistan...
 ... "By putting in reliable power transmission facilities in the solar park, Asian Development Bank will help draw in private sector developers, while providing a model which can be replicated to scale up solar power in a significant manner in India," said Naoki Sakai, senior climate change specialist with the bank.
 Japanese multi-national corporations Sharp, Panasonic, Mitsui and the Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems Corp., the Swiss corporation Oerlikon and Germany's Schott Solar have "evinced interest" in setting up units in the park, according to the Office of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi...
 ... The U.S.-based Clinton Foundation, headed by former President Bill Clinton, is partnering with the Gujarat government on the solar park. The Clinton Climate Initiative helped to select the site."

The Philippines is a country with vast resources specially the ever free sunlight and other renewable energy sources but always experience a power shortage. We need to change it. Lets start now.

What Every Solar Company Should Know

        http://www.flickr.com/photos/27889738@N07/3625411004


This past days as you may have notice, all of my posts were all related to solar energy. It's because it is developing at a faster rate compared to other renewable energy sources.


Solar energy for me is the most convenient and the easiest way to install and operate compared to say wind energy and hydro-energy . Because of this, several companies manufacturing solar panels and solar cells emerged in the past few years. Others (electronics and semiconductor manufacturing companies) as of the moment were also catching up and starting to build there own solar cell and solar cell related products.


This scenario has resulted to very tight and fierce competition on who could deliver the most efficient and cheaper products.


Then came the Chinese manufacturer which could manufacture the same product at a lower price compared to any competitor out there. This is the reason why one of the great American companies, Evergreen Solar Inc., once a darling of the U.S. solar industry, according to Wall Street Journal,  filed for bankruptcy protection this week, saying it couldn't compete with Chinese competitors without a reorganization—a sign of the difficulty in creating "green" U.S. manufacturing jobs amid bruising competition across the globe.


The market for solar panels is expanding world-wide. But the key thing driving demand is increasingly lower prices, which is forcing U.S. firms into a cutthroat cost-cutting war with rivals in China and elsewhere.


In all of this competition, it couldn't be denied that China is on the rise in terms of economy and to be specific - its manufacturing power which could deliver solar products at a lower price that holds the reasons why many companies resorted to stiff cost cutting measures just to survive. However, solar companies should not forget that it is the consumers that would ultimately define and dictate their future survival.

The World's Top Ten Most Important Solar Companies

        http://www.flickr.com/photos/pnnl/4296222988/


I'm dreaming that someday the Philippines could have its own solar company or should I say solar companies. Those that would manufacture our own solar photo-voltaic cells which can be use by Filipinos, with a much lower cost than the current solar cell, particularly by people living on far flung areas. Maybe that would take a long time from now, less than thirty years I hope.


We'll its just a dream of mine but for now I just want to share the top 10 publicly listed solar companies based on market capitalization.


Market capitalization (often called market cap) is a measurement of the size of a business enterprise (corporation) equal to the share price times the number of shares that have been authorized, issued, and purchased by investors (shares outstanding) of a publicly traded company.

	Company name	Market capitalization
1	First Solar Inc.	$10,786,926,395.00
2	GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd.	$8,384,340,527.22
3	SMA Solar Technology AG	$3,366,597,470.00
4	Renewable Energy Corporation (REC)	$2,018,125,961.28
5	Motech Industries Inc.	$1,942,051,560.00
6	GT Solar International Inc.	$1,911,070,920.00
7	Trina Solar Ltd.	$1,503,836,000.00
8	Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd.	$1,343,904,080.00
9	SolarWorld AG	$1,328,764,164.00
10	SunPower Corp.	$1,282,664,820.00

Market capitalization of this companies shows that solar energy and renewable energy as a whole are on the rise and will replace most of the conventional energy sources that we are utilizing today sooner than we think. 




source: solarplaza.com

Increasing Numbers of Solar Energy Companies, What It Can Do for You. Part 2

                  http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsbarrie/228210466


Continuation of the list of companies (you can read the first part here) that jumped into solar cell manufacturing. 


INDIA
1. Moser Baer
2. Solar Semiconductor
3. IndoSolar
4. Topsun Solar
5. Titan Energy
6. PLG Power
7. Maharishi Solar
8. Kotak Urja
9. Photon Energy Systems
10. Lanco Solar
11 BHEL
12.BEL


CHINA
1. Suntech
2. Yingli Green Energy
3. Trina Solar
4. Hanwha Solar One
5. LDK Solar
6. Renesola
7. Jinko Solar
8. Trony Solar
9. GCL Poly 
10. Egwing
11. Singyes Solar
12. Linuo
13. Hanglong
14. Shunda
15. Asia Silicon
16. BYD Solar


TAIWAN
1. Gintech
2. Neo Solar
3. Del Solar
4. E-Ton
5. SolarTech 
6. Motech
7. TSMC
8. AUO
9. Green Energy Technology
10. SAS - Sino American Silicon
11. Taiwan Polysilcon (TPSI) 
12. Delta Electronics
13. Giga Solar Materials
14. Mosel Viteltic
15. Big Sun
16. Tainergy
17. Sunrise
18. Sun-Q
19. Top Cell
20. TGE
21. Ever Energy
22. Danen Technology
23. Eversol
24. Wafer Works
25. PCM
26. Eaton
27. Alberex
28. Motech


JAPAN
1. Sharp
2. Sanyo-Panasonic
3. Kyocera
4. Mitsubishi
5. Mitsui
6. Toshiba
7. Honda 
8. Solar Frontier
9. Tokuyama



I'm asking myself, why this so many (110 companies all in all)? Well the answer maybe lie on the fact that people are becoming more aware of the importance of renewable energy and the positive impact that it brings on the environment.


Another thing is that more than the environment protection awareness of the people, there are other factors that drives the increase of companies venturing into solar energy field. Market for this product steadily increase as petroleum price also continue to increase. The convenience of solar panels to be installed even in the remotest areas makes it more appealing. Environmental hazard that other conventional energy brought to the community has resulted to the maturing of the market where we choose those things that brings the result that we wanted but does not undermined our existence.

Four Audacious and Creative Solar Cells Innovation Ideas

          http://www.flickr.com/photos/aplumb/119962075

You think solar cells are somewhat boring like its black and the only place in your house that you can install it is on your roof? Well think again, as renewable energy development goes hand and hand with other gadgets like tablet and cellphone, solar cells are also evolving overtime.

Just like this four companies which are developing see-through solar window film which you can coat on your glass window cover and still leaving the glass window transparent.

1. New Energy Technologies

New Energy Technologies is refining its technology for retrofitting conventional glass windows with a flexible plastic film. Scientists at the company have successfully sprayed electricity generating coatings onto lightweight polyethylene terephthalate plastics in its laboratory.

A proprietary process that the company calls SolarWindow was used to create the plastic solar films - at room temperature and at low pressure. It says its surface preparation effectively eliminates manufacturing hurdles that have prevented similar technologies from entering the marketplace.

Windows retrofitted with the film would generate energy from the sun’s visible light as well as artificial illumination, such as the fluorescent lighting.

2. Chin Hua

Chin Hua solar window is a small, slightly foggy pane that delivers 2W of light. The glass can apparently be manufactured with more or less haze, delivering greater or lesser solar power efficiency. This means you could install the most efficient windows on the side of your house facing your nosy neighbors, making you feel better about the environment and better about not bothering to put on pants in the morning.

3. Pythagoras Solar

What do you get when you cross a solar panel, a window and a set of venetian blinds?Pythagoras Solar’s idea for a window that simultaneously generates power and cuts air-conditioning needs.

 Its photovoltaic cells have the dual responsibility of shading rooms from incoming light and then putting that blocked light to work producing electricity. Sandwiched horizontally between two panes of glass, the silicon PV cells’ power generation comes in at 13 watts per square foot.

4. EnSol AS

EnSol AS and University of Leicester are developing a thin-film-solar coating that might allow windows (and other building facades) to generate solar power. Their metal nano-particles will sit in a clear composite matrix, which is then applied to window glass.

The developers are aiming for the films to have an active sun ray capturing area of more than 16 square centimeters. The hope is the photovoltaic cells could reach 20 percent efficiency.

source: smartplanet.com

The Tale of Two Solar Cell Company

        http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms/4007754192


Back in 2004, it used to be that the only company that manufactures solar cell in the country was Sunpower. But I was delighted to know (just last week... my information was outdated lol) that on 2008 another company started manufacturing  silicon PV modules in Laguna, Philippines.


It is Solaria, a privately held company. Solaria, according to their website, markets to solar project developers and electric utilities in the decentralized commercial market.


While Sunpower partnered with  Lopez Group's First Philippine Solar for wafer cutting from silicon ingots, Solaria operates locally through contract manufacturer Ionics EMS.


According to Dennis Posadas in one of his 2008 articles on BusinessWeek, he stated that "Having companies like SunPower and Solaria here (Philippines) is one thing; leveraging their presence to jump-start a local solar industry is another. A key opportunity for the Philippines is the fact that a lot of the costs are now in the system integration and installation side of the equation. The costs from the technology, design, and manufacturing of solar panels will eventually be surmounted by competing technologies, but what will lower it further is wide-scale adoption. Here is where the Philippines can play a part."


I agree.




With this renewable energy companies doing business here in our country, it's not a far fetch thing that more renewable energy related business activities will spring up benefiting every Filipinos.