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SUI Ships SWIR LDV Linescan Cameras |
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Commentary & Perspective...
SolFocus Jumps On the Compound Semi Solar BandwagonAugust 16, 2006...Compound semi-based solar cells are finally making headway in the mainstream tech press, and it isn't just Emcore and Spectrolab making the solar headlines anymore. There are various new names appearing on the solar scene, with one particular newcomer, calling itself SolFocus, in the spotlight. This particular startup is teamed with a very well established name in advanced semiconductor R&D, Xerox subsidiary, PARC. The acronym PARC stands for where it resides: Palo Alto Research Center in California's Silicon Valley in the USA. For many years, the only names in the compound semi-based high efficiency, multijunction solar cell game (versus silicon-based systems) were Emcore, Tecstar, and Boeing's Spectrolab. In March of 2002, Emcore bought the remains of Tecstar for $20 million, which meant only two providers remained, Spectrolab and Emcore. That $20 million mainly went to buying up Tecstar's satellite contracts when Tecstar's competing technology to Emcore's solar proved not to be up to what the rigors of space demanded. Both Spectrolab's and Emcore's GaAs on Ge multijunction cells have long been sought after for space applications. The space market has had its ups and downs over the years, but multijunction solar cells have proven their value in terms of their impressively higher efficiency (than silicon) many times over. Only recently has the compound semi market for solar cells begun to open up for terrestrial applications. Now, various "new" names have begun to grace our pages as companies jump on board the compound semi solar bandwagon. For a litany of our coverage, just take a scan at what comes up on "article search" when you tick "high efficiency solar cells". Granted, we've included Spire in that litany, even though they're primarily involved in making the equipment that makes silicon based cells. The inclusion of Spire is due to that company's pioneering of compound semi materials technology and MOCVD. Personally I'd like to see someone like Spire provide CS cells or the equipment to make them because of their CS knowledge and experience in affordable terrestrial applications. I'm pretty sure all the others qualify as CS-based manufacturers. For sure this new company to our roster, SolFocus, does but it took a little detective work to be sure. For several reasons I hope to call our SSL industry readers' attention to this. First, I really want to encourage alternative energy sources to get up and running as fast as possible, thus weaning the world off its over-dependency on oil as rapidly as possible. I also want to encourage creative companies to combine LED technology with solar as rapidly as possible. Most importantly, adding solar power to LEDs creates clean, efficient, and ultimately more cost effective energy alternatives. It's a simple formula that will work wonders to help preserve and maintain our fragile earth. The reason SolFocus caught my attention is because of their association with PARC. Admittedly, the Feb. 16th announcement that PARC had taken startup, SolFocus, under its wing at PARC's own facilities in Palo Alto, didn't even make a blip on our radar screen at the time. That's because the compound semi angle wasn't mentioned. The headlines simply talked of "affordable energy" and were primarily focused on boasting of PARC's new initiative for "clean technology". And I might not have keyed in on it now except that IOP's Compound Semiconductor magazine sensibly picked it up as a news item. Buried down deep in SolFocus' July 25 company news release are the magic words... "high efficiency triple-junction PV cells." FYI... silicon simply can't produce "high efficiency triple-junction" photovoltaic cells. By covering Emcore, Tecstar and Spectrolab over the years, I've come to learn that the words "high efficiency" and "triple-junction" are strictly the domain of compound semi-based photovoltaics (or "concentrator cells" or whatever else you want to tag on to the end). Deep down in the SolFocus literature, there's a little GaAs on Ge mention. The mision now is to get PARC's and SolFocus' PR people and the mainstream tech press to give the compounds the respect they deserve as the heroes of next-gen solar. That way we might reach our goals of taking over terrestrial applications from the world of silicon faster. According to their July 25 news, SolFocus has just closed $25 million in equity financing, led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA). The round also included seed investors NGEN Partners and Yellowstone Capital. The funds are tagged to accelerate a large-scale reliability test series and the production ramp of CPV modules at domestic and offshore factories. Additionally the funds will help secure the long term supply of photovolaic cells. I'm not yet sure if they'll make, buy, or license the basic cell technology themselves. It could be they'll be a customer of someone like Emcore. We'll see. Our guess is that they probably are not going to get into epi/cell manufacturing at this stage by the looks of their job postings. There's also a supportive and interesting quote from SolFocus board member Scott Sandell of NEA saying, “Rapid growth in the $10 billion global market for solar power is constrained by the availability and cost of silicon. SolFocus’ unique CPV technology eliminates the silicon bottleneck and significantly reduces the cost of solar power. The product design combines leading-edge performance of high-efficiency cells with low-cost optics in a fully enclosed, highly reliable package. It is an innovative yet practical design that’s ready for large-scale field testing and subsequent deployment.” But... nowhere in the whole dang release does it say that the end product is made of compound semi materials! That's always a big disappointment to us compound semi fans. Compound semiconductors aren't even mentioned in the company description. Maybe the fault lies in the fact that the news comes out of Silicon Valley and that PARC, where SolFocus lives, has been a great pioneering entity for... silicon. We definitely have to remedy that. Partly because of the clout of PARC and SolFocus' investors, the startup is garnering excellent mainstream tech press (ref: SolFocus news page). I think I know how to make sure that they mention the compounds quickly, even though I don't yet know anyone at the company. At the end of their news releases the contact name is "Bob MacDonald". I'll simply call "cousin Bob" and set the record straight. (The spelling of my name was originally MacDonald, so he must be a cousin). We've been fighting the silicon vs. compounds set the record straight battle for years. Take the fight straight to the streets, I always say... and these particular streets, where PARC lives, cross the very heart of Silicon Valley. It's time for everyone to know that silicon is losing the battle for solar cell dominance with each "high efficiency triple junction" compound semiconductor cell that goes up in space or lands on a promising terrestrial application. Thanks to compound semi solar leaders like Emcore and Spectrolab, we've proved conclusively that this technology can outgun silicon. I bet there are even people out there who think blue spectrum LEDs for solid state lighting and the HBT power amps that are powering just about everything these days are made of silicon. Our world has worked too hard to propagate such rubbish. Any help you can provide to set the compound semi record straight will, of course, be most appreciated... especially by the thousands of compound semi materials research scientists and technologists worldwide... who did the real work. Viva la compounds! If you have news or
views to share about the compound semiconductor, LED or solid
state lighting industries |
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