3M and NREL to Research Moisture Barrier for Thin-Film Photovoltaics and Reflectors for Solar Concentrator and Solar Photovoltaic Plants
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 17, 2010...The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory and 3M, of St. Paul, Minnesota, have jointly undertaken research and development projects in three key areas of clean energy: thin-film photovoltaics, concentrating solar power, and biofuels. 3M and NREL will work to develop and test new moisture barrier films and flexible packaging for thin film solar cells made of semiconducting layers of copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS). NREL researchers previously reported that CIGS cells have achieved a record efficiency of 19.9 percent. However, commercial viability for the cells requires high efficiency, low cost, and extreme durability.
The solar cells are expected to work effectively for 20 years. Therefore, they will need to be encapsulated in a flexible material that is transparent to light, but also provides durable protection without adding significant costs. NREL Principal Investigator Mike Kempe will test 3M technologies designed to protect solar cells from moisture and other contaminants during their 20-year lifetimes. Kempe and other NREL researchers will conduct accelerated stress tests, including temperature, humidity and irradiance tests, to establish failure barriers on as many as three types of 3M CIGS designs. NREL and 3M will jointly interpret the results to help establish module standards for a 20-year lifetime.
The company will also be working with the NREL on developing and improving effectiveness, and robustness of mirror films for concentrated solar power and concentrated photovoltaics.
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Ascent Solar Starts Initial CIGS Production at FAB 2 Production Plant
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 17, 2010...Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc., reports that has successfully begun initial production of monolithically integrated flexible CIGS modules from its high volume FAB 2 production plant in Thornton, Colorado.
Simultaneous with today’s announcement the company issued a video virtual tour of its FAB 2 production plant.
Farhad Moghadam President and CEO of Ascent Solar stated, “Ascent Solar is the first company to commence regular production of monolithically integrated lightweight thin-film CIGS modules using a plastic substrate. This milestone marks the initiation of our regular production capability and our factory ramp up based on market demand. Initial production from FAB 2 is producing 10.5% efficient modules with peak module aperture efficiency as high as 11.9%, which gives Ascent a very competitive product across our target market opportunities.”
May 17, 2010...It was 50 years ago on May 16, at the Hughes Research lab in Malibu, California when Theodore Maimen demonstrated the first laser that flashed a bright red spot onto a photo-detector. Hughes Lab later went on to become the defense and military research company, Raytheon. The word LASER is an acronym for "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation." Lasers use optical or electrical energy to excite a material which can then amplify light.
In another advance that occurred some two years after the first laser was demonstrated, GE Scientist Robert Hall invented the first semiconductor (diode) laser in 1962.
Diode lasers are the most ubiquitous kind. A diode laser is a laser in which the gain medium is a semiconductor material. such as gallium arsenide, gallium nitride, or indium phosphide . Most of the lasers in our daily lives from TV remote controls, CD players, and price code scanners in stores to laser printers, are laser diodes.
Lasers also enable the Internet which uses them to transmit data through fiber optic cables to computers.
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M/A-COM Technology Solutions and Mimix Broadband to Merge
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 10, 2010...Mimix Broadband, an RF, microwave, and millimeter wave component company has agreed to be acquired by M/A-COM Technology. The company's jointly announced that their respective corporate parents have signed a definitive merger agreement that will add Mimix and its subsidiaries to the M/A-COM Tech family of companies.
Mimix is a fabless supplier of gallium arsenide (GaAs) semiconductors for DC to 50 GHz RF, microwave, and millimeter-wave applications. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Mimix Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries will join M/A-COM Tech as subsidiaries of M/A-COM Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is currently expected to close in late May 2010. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The company's anticipate that the acquisition will: add breadth to M/A-COM Tech’s portfolio of high performance semiconductors and provide significant opportunities for margin expansion and cross-selling; Increase penetration of high-growth, profitable markets, including point-to-point radio and MoCA applications; strengthen M/A-COM Tech’s block diagram solution selling approach; deepen both companies’ relationships with key global customers; augment M/A-COM Tech’s hybrid fab business model.
“This strategic merger with Mimix enables us to expand our product offering of high performance, multi-function MMIC solutions, which Mimix has deep expertise in developing,” stated Joe Thomas, CEO, M/A-COM Tech. Shrink Solar LLC Unveils 5th Generation Solar Concentrator Technology in Solar-Window Prototype
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 10, 2010...Shrink Nanotechnologies of Carlsbad, California USA, announced that its wholly-own subsidiary Shrink Solar LLC has unveiled the fifth generation of its solar concentrator technology. The technology is reportedly based on the company's proprietary NanoShrink material and its photovoltaic quantum dots.
Shrink Solar says its patent-pending nano-based technology filters out wavelengths currently not absorbed by silicon and re-emits them into a device by concentrating light. Unlike other solar concentrator technologies, the company says it functions without needing a tracking device, mirror or lens.
Additional structures and circuit design also bolster efficiency.
The company expects that as the technology evolves and becomes more optimized, it will be form fit into existing silicon PV systems for windows, roofing, consumer products, and other solar applications.
"Our fifth generation solar window prototype delivers the necessary proof-of-concept to attract larger, international players in the solar energy sector and ultimately provide the resources to continue to optimize this technology for commercial applications. Because our solar concentrator technologies are easily upgradable and can be designed to be integrated into existing solar installations, existing silicon PV manufacturers as well as window manufacturers are key potential commercial partners. We hope to begin to announce small scale development partnerships in the near future," said Mark L. Baum, CEO of Shrink Nanotechnologies, Inc. CIGS Material from Global Solar Energy Powers PV Rooftop Installation in Italy
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 10, 2010...Global Solar of Tucson, Arizona USA reports that its copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) solar material is powering the rooftop system currently producing 820 kW of solar energy for a plastics manufacturer in Orgiano, Italy. The systemwas made possible by Yohkon Energía SL, a Spanish producer of solar modules and applied solutions, and CDM Italy, a photovoltaic (PV) specialist and Italian branch for Espacasa SL Spain and Global Solar Energy.
Yohkon Energía, a strategic partner of Global Solar, manufactures modules based on Global Solar’s CIGS material. Global Solar's CIGS material can be encapsulated in either traditional glass modules or in a flexible laminate.
“The recently completed rooftop system in Italy is a milestone for the CIGS market as much as it is for Global Solar,” said Dr. Jeff Britt, chief executive officer, Global Solar Energy. “Given that Global Solar is producing CIGS solar cells with efficiency well above 11 percent, we recognize that the Yokhon Energía and CDM Italy system is merely the first in a new chapter of solar technology adoption. We look forward to working with these organizations as Global Solar’s technology in both glass modules and BIPV continues to be applied in systems around the world.” Australian Government to Award AUS$1.5 Billion for 400 MW of Solar Projects
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 10, 2010...The government of Australia has pledged AUS$1.5 billion for its Solar Flagship program. The program will pick entrants from 52 applicants to produce to solar projects totaling 400 MW. One of the projects will be solar thermal (using heat to create power), and he other will be solar photovoltaic. The two power station projects are expected to be running by 2015, according to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald.
The solar photovoltaic project is expected to be comprised of multiple photovoltaic technologies. There is no word yet on whether or not it will include thin-film solar or solar concentrator photovoltaic technology.
According to the article, one possibility that has gained some traction among the the proposals is to use an integrated approach in which either more than one technology, or a solar technology and other renewable energy technologies, or even solar and fossil fuel to overcome solar's inherent down-time when the sun goes down. Our news features are reported
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