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Editorial: The Rundown on Solar Technology in the Compound Semi World
... In the first part of a series on compound semi-based photovoltaics in the McDonald Report, our news editor Scott McMahan will discuss the variety of PV technologies making news today. Photovoltaic cells (also known as solar cells) that convert light energy directly into electricity come in a wide...
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Global Solar Energy's CIGS Modules Earn IEC Certification
CompoundSemi News StaffOctober 15, 2008...The International Electrochemical Commission (IEC) certifies Global Solar Energy’s CIGS solar modules. The San Diego, California company, Global Solar Energy, Inc., reported that the IEC has awarded the company certification of its solar modules utilizing copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS). The Arizona State University Photovoltaic Testing Laboratory (ASU-PTL) delivered the IEC 61646 certification. Global Solar says that the certification confirms its modules adhere to the commission’s stringent requirements for functional and mechanical capabilities for long-term operation and open-air environments.
The IEC sets international standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies. IEC 61646 “Thin-film terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) modules – Design qualification and type approval” is a worldwide solar industry test standard used to verify that new solar modules meet a minimum set of functional and mechanical requirements. The standard proves confidence for claims of long-term (+20 year) module performance integrity. Global Solar Energy currently produces PowerFlex Solar Strings, which provide a pre-connected format to its CIGS cells. The bendable substrates and pre-connected format of the modules allow easier customization for product designers.
“The company’s CIGS solar modules have been subjected to the IEC battery of tests and passed the first time. This gives further testament to CIGS as a leading technology in the thin-film photovoltaic market. At our request, the ASU-PTL subjected Global Solar’s CIGS modules to these tests, which are designed to emulate the real lifetime environment of a solar module,” said Dr. Jeff Britt, CTO of Global Solar Energy. Global Solar News Release
NTNC Selects Infinera for Optical Network
CompoundSemi News StaffOctober 15, 2008...Infinera of Sunnyvale, California USA, reported that the Northern Tier Network Consortium (NTNC) has selected it for a regional optical network linking 9 states. The network will connect universities from Washington to Illinois. According to Infinera, the new network will offer the speed, flexibility, and intelligence of Infinera's Digital Optical Networks to the 27 member universities. The network has endpoints in Seattle, Washington and Chicago, Illinois, and it links the states of Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois. The company says it will be used to provide multi-wavelength networking resources to researchers at member institutions. Additionally it will provide connectivity to the nationwide Internet2 network.
Infinera says that the NTNC Consortium members chose it for the system’s flexibility and its ease of service delivery. The company boasts that its photonic integrated circuits (PICs), which integrate 60 optical devices on a pair of chips each less than 5 mm wide, provide 100 Gigabits/second of capacity on every line card. Also, Infinera’s touts its the quick and easy installation of its GMPLS-powered network operating system. Infinera notes that the wide range of services its network supports, the ease of adding new services to the platform, and the responsiveness of Infinera’s customer support team also impressed the members of the NTNC.
“Members of the Northern Tier Network Consortium went through a very rigorous selection process and Infinera came out on top,” said Bonnie Neas, Vice President for Information Technology at North Dakota State University. Infinera News Release
Nujira Opens RF Design Center in Bath
CompoundSemi News StaffOctober 15, 2008...Nujira of Cambridge, England, announced the opening of an RF transmitter design center near Bath. The goal of the center, known as a Centre of Excellence, is to develop RF transmitter designs in cellular and broadcast applications based on the company's Coolteq modules. Simon Whittle, who has more than 25 years experience of base station and high performance transmitter development, will lead the center. A team of specialist engineers offering RF systems, RF power amplifier, DSP and FPGA design skills will support him. Nujira says its CoolTeq power modulator modules can halve the power consumption of Class AB RF amplifiers in systems with high peak average ratio signals. The modules use High Accuracy Tracking (HAT), a technology for improving the efficiency of RF power amplifiers.
“Improving the efficiency of RF transmission is seen as critical by mobile networks and broadcasters alike, as they seek to manage their operating costs going forward as well as to achieve their Corporate Social Responsibility goals,” said Tim Haynes, CEO, Nujira. “Simon Whittle and his team are available to work with customers on a consultancy basis to address project-specific design challenges. There is a pool of RF systems, digital pre distortion and Digital/Analog IC design expertise in the Bristol area, and our new office harnesses this to help our customers bring to market the most efficient possible RF transmitter design achievable within their project parameters.” Company News Release Opnext Introduces Red Laser Diode for Entry into Miniature Display Market
CompoundSemi News StaffOctober 15, 2008...Opnext, Inc. of Tokyo, a developer of laser technology, announced the availability of the HL6387TG laser diode for use in miniature display applications. The company says that the new laser diode can be built into miniature display systems, including those in personal computers, mobile phones, and other mobile devices. Opnext notes that its laser diode makes it possible to get an image of information anytime, anywhere. The 3.8mm packaged diode with single longitudinal mode reportedly allows for 60mW continuous operation in a 640nm wavelength band. According to the company, the HL6387TG incorporates a smaller ?3.8mm package while still retaining the reliability of the product. Opnext notes that the output power of the laser diode remains constant despite the 50 percent decrease in the ratio of the stem area. The wavelength band of the red area is 642nm. This is optimal for red light display.
Tadayuki Kanno, senior vice president Device Business Unit, Opnext stated, “With this new product, we are truly improving the consumer experience by providing better color reproducibility on a cell phone or other portable device, and helping our customers to meet consumer demand for new applications in the miniature display market.” Company News Release Thermo-photovoltaic Devices Set Record for Conversion Efficiency
CompoundSemi News StaffOctober 13, 2008...CIP Technologies (CIP) of Ipswich, UK, reported a new record for thermo-photovoltaic (TPV) cells. CIP collaborated with the University of Oxford, and Wafer Technology on a three-year project called EPSRC that delivered first generation single-junction cells with conversion efficiencies up to 12 percent. Part of the funding for the project came from the UK Technology Strategy Board and EPSRC. Existing, commercially available devices have delivered up to 9 percent conversion efficiency. TPVs are similar to solar cells, but instead of operating in the visible spectrum, they operate at infrared wavelengths, generating electricity directly from heat. Accordin to CIP, they have applications in waste heat recovery from industrial plant such as blast furnaces, combined heat and power (CHP) generation, domestic boilers, and silent mobile power generation.
The consortium created the cells based on indium phosphide (InP) materials, rather than the more traditional gallium antimonide. CIP says that InP allows higher efficiency, low cost growth and fabrication using industry-standard processes. Additionally CIP says that InP allows the creation of more highly integrated and complex cells.The consortium is now working on second-generation cell designs that will further improve infrared capture to achieve conversion efficiencies of up to 15 percent.
CIP’s Commercial and Contracts Manager, Andrew Bridges, stated, “The advanced technology that has emerged from this project complements solar photovoltaic cells and significant efficiency gains from the second generation product are expected. CIP is leading the commercial exploitation and volume manufacture of this technology and is actively seeking partners and end users to develop its full market potential.” CIP Technologies News Release Rubicon Technology, Inc. Reports Delivery Changes and No New Orders from Peregrine Semiconductor
CompoundSemi News StaffOctober 13, 2008...Rubicon Technology of Franklin Park, Illinois, a leading provider of sapphire substrates and products reported that a Peregrine Semiconductor will not take any new shipments of its sapphire products until further notice due to declining demand.
Peregrine Semiconductor is reportedly a silicon-on-sapphire (SoS) RFIC customer.
Rubicon and Peregrine reportedly executed a revised contract last month, which shifted the delivery of a portion of contracted volumes from 2008 to 2009 to accommodate Peregrine’s inventory situation. Peregrine took further action. Previously $2 million of the $7 million current contract was to be delivered in the fourth quarter of this year and the remaining $5 million in the first half of 2009.
Raja Parvez, CEO of Rubicon Technology said, “This unexpected news from Peregrine will affect our production planning for the rest of this fiscal year and into next year. We are in the process of evaluating all options related to the customer’s contract obligations and we are examining the potential impact to our operations. This contract issue, along with the uncertainty of the global markets, makes it premature for us to provide a meaningful update to earnings guidance at this time.”
Rubicon Technology News Release
Fujitsu Boasts First Gallium-Nitride HEMT That Can Cut Power in Standby Mode and Achieve High OutputOctober 13, 2008...Fujitsu Limited of Tokyo and Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. of Kawasaki, Japan announced the development of a gallium nitride (GaN)-based high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) that enables power to be cut when the transistor is in standby mode. According to the company, this technological advance will contribute to higher output and lower power consumption in microwave and millimeter-wave transmission amplifiers for high-speed wireless communications. Details of the new technology were presented at the International Symposium on Compound Semiconductors (ISCS) in Rust, Germany from September 21 - 24. Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications sponsored certain aspects of research for this new technology that was conducted as part of the Research and Development Project for Expansion of Radio Spectrum Resources.
Fujitsu points out that the millimeter wave frequency range above 30 GHz has a large amount of available bandwidth. However, the available bandwidth is in a higher frequency than conventional wireless. Fujitsu says it has so far been difficult to develop compact, economic, and practical amplifiers in the millimeter band. Only compound semiconductors (not silicon) such as gallium nitride (GaN) can achieve the high frequencies and high power output necessary to enable microwave and millimeter-wave transmissions for high-speed wireless communications. In addition to several other innovations, the gate electrode was formed after removing the AlN layer. According to Fujitsu, this decreases the density of carrier electrons around the region below the gate electrode and prevents current from flowing even in the absence of a negative voltage. Fujitsu News Release
TriQuint Releases GPS Front-End Module that Combines Two Filters
CompoundSemi News StaffOctober 13, 2008...TriQuint of Hillsboro, Oregon USA, has released a new GPS (global positioning satellite) front-end module. The company boasts that it is the smallest, most integrated, and the first to combine two filters. According to TriQuint, the LNA in small form factor package is ideal for handset, PND, and automotive applications. TriQuint says that the device expands its already extensive GPS portfolio including surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters now used by a majority of the world’s leading personal navigation device (PND) makers. It says it shipped more than 130 million filters to global GPS manufacturers including three of the top four PND vendors as determined by Canalys estimates in 2007. TriQuint boasts that according to GPS SAW filter shipment records, it supplied the world’s leading PND manufacturers with 66% of the total SAW filters used across the globe last year.
The TQM640002 includes TriQuint’s smallest two-in-one SAW filter and can operate with either 1.8 or 2.8 supply voltages. The company contends that the module’s filters provide superior rejection compared to other market solutions. “Better rejection preserves the signal you want while filtering out the rest,” Mr. Raha said. “This is particularly important in the hostile RF environment seen in handset applications where noise or spurious signals interfere with functions like simultaneous voice and GPS usage. The out-of-band cellular signals can compress the GPS LNA, rendering the entire GPS chain unusable. The rejection our new module provides effectively protects that chain, enabling simultaneous GPS and voice communication on a cell phone.” Company News Release Solyndra Introduces Cylindrical Panel PV System; Announces $1.2 Billion in Multi-year Orders
CompoundSemi News StaffOctober 8, 2008...Solyndra, a company based in Fremont, California USA, that produces copper indium gallium diselenide solar cells, announced a new photovoltaic system for the commercial rooftop market. The company also announced that it currently has over $1.2 billion in multi-year customer contracts in Europe and the United States
The company’s new rooftop system uses uniquely designed cylindrical modules
that capture sunlight across a 360-degree photovoltaic. The company uses the curved surface to converting direct, diffuse and reflected sunlight into electricity without the need for costly mounting on sun tracking platforms. The company says that despite mounting on tilting platforms to improve the capture of direct light, conventional solar cell arrangements on platforms offer poor collection of diffuse light and fail to collect reflected light from rooftops or other installation surfaces. Solyndra says its panels perform optimally when mounted horizontally and packed closely together. The company contends that this allows its system of tubes to cover significantly more of the available roof area and produce more electricity per rooftop on an annual basis than a conventional panel installations. Additionally the design eliminates the need for costly roof anchoring mounts and wind ballasts.
Manfred Bachler, Chief Technical Officer at Phoenix Solar AG, one of the largest solar power integrators in Europe and a Solyndra customer said, "For commercial rooftops, PV module installation time can now be measured in days, not weeks. For flat commercial rooftops this is game-changing technology." Company News Release Our news features are reported
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The
McDonald Report
Commentary & Perspective...
The Rundown on Solar Technology in the Compound Semi World
Scott McMahan, News EditorOctober 9, 2008...In the first part of a series on compound semi-based photovoltaics in the
McDonald Report, our news editor Scott McMahan will discuss the variety of PV
technologies making news today.
Photovoltaic cells (also known as solar cells) that convert light energy directly
into electricity come in a wide variety of designs. To date, the most commonly
used solar cells are silicon based. However, a wide range of compound semiconductor-based
alternatives have arisen over several decades. These primarily include thin
film solar cells such as cadmium telluride (CdTe), copper indium gallium diselenide
(CIGS) and copper indium selenide (CIS). Thin film solar technology is a more
recent introduction, headlined by cadmium telluride and several varieties of
thin film cells make the second generation of solar cell technology. First Solar
is an example of the cadmium telluride solar providers. (Ref: Coverage).
Copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS), copper indium selenium (CIS), amorphous
silicon, and micromorphous silicon can be applied in thin layers to a supporting
substrate such as silicon, glass, or ceramics. Amorphous silicon, and micromorphous
silicon are not based on compound semiconductors, and typically aren't covered
here in the CS News. CIGS solar cells are generally not as efficient as crystal
silicon which has reached 24.7 percent conversion efficiency, but they are expected
to be cheaper to produce. So far the jury is still out on that. Wurth Solar
began commercializing CIS solar cells in 2007, and many companies in recent
years have sprung up in this field with the rising price of oil. Global Solar
sells flexible portable solar chargers with thin-film CIGS material. Startups
including Heliovolt, Nanosolar, Solopower, Solyndra, Miasole, Amelio Solar,
and Solibro have also joined the CIGS bandwagon.
Of particular interest here at CompoundSemi are the multi-junction gallium
arsenide on germanium solar cells, the third generation of which, the triple
junction variety made with GaAs on germanium wafers, are proving to be the most
efficient photovoltaic technology to date. Emcore and Spectrolab produce the
vast majority of triple junction solar cells. Two start-ups, SolFocus and Solar
Systems also procure triple junction solar cells from Emcore and Spectrolab to sell as part of their own systems. Triple-junction cells are
the most expensive to produce, but when used along with solar concentrating
modules they have attained conversion efficiencies as high as 40.7 percent,
according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Ref: Coverage)
and make up the third generation of solar cells. Concentrator cells use a combination
of optics such as lenses and mirrors in addition to triple-junction solar cells
to make the most electricity in the least amount of space. Triple junction solar
cells have been used largely in space-based applications such as satellites
because of the high cost of production. With improvements in MOCVD and MVPE,
and the use of concentrating technology the cost per kilowatt hour ($/kWhr)
may one day be the lowest of all solar cells.
Another form of solar cell technology uses quantum dots (electron-confined
nanoparticles) embedded in a supporting matrix. These use both organic and inorganic
molecules to form the photovoltaic cell and are also known as hybrid organic
photovoltaics. They use materials such as titanium oxide (TiO2) and
while they hold some promise, few companies so far have the expertise to delve
into this area. One such company that has stepped out in the effort to produce
quantum dot based solar cells is Cyrium Technologies. (Ref: Coverage)
In addition to the inorganic technologies, there are also molecular-organic
photovoltaics that are made out of the successive layers of electron and hole
transporting materials under vacuum. Common materials for these, according to
Wikipedia, include PTCBI, PTCDA, Me-PTCDI, Pe-PTCDI, H2Pc, MPc where M stands
for (Zn, Cu), TPyP, TPD, CBP, C60, and PCBM. There are also polymer-organic
photovoltaics with the most common materials for these being PPV - Poly(p-phenylene
vinylene), polyfluorenes, or polythiophenes. Another type of solar cells use
light absorbing dyes. These are called dye-sensitized solar cells. They use
mesoporous layer of nanoparticulate titanium dioxide to amplify the surface
area compared to single-crystal TiO2. These have the problem of degradation
from heat and UV light. Additionally, the cell casings are difficult to seal
because of the solvents used in the assembly, according to Wikipedia. These
are not serious contenders to be the technology of choice for this reason, although
they do work better than other solar cells if confined to interior, protected
environments.
One type of solar cell that is still in the theoretical stage that might soon
fall into the compound semi realm is the infrared solar cell. Researchers have
devised inexpensive ways to produce plastic sheets containing billions of nanoantennas
to collect heat energy generated by the sun and other sources. The researchers
still have to devise methods to produce useful electricitym but when they do,
these would have the distinct advantage of being able to collect (invisible)
infrared rays in the dark of night since they are harvesting the stored infrared
energy as it radiates back off the earth's surface at night.
Overally, most of the PV technologies have not yet proven themselves to be
cost effective for producing electricity on a large scale. However, with the
amount of money venture capitalists and the government are pouring into research,
definitive proof of cost effectiveness of the technology should be arriving
soon. For more detail on the non-CS based technologies, Wikipedia provides a
very comprehensive discussion of solar
cell technology. You can also view the list of news stories in the compound
semi solar arena found on CS News through our search page (Ref: Search
for Non-silicon solar cells). If you have questions about the
solid state lighting and compound semiconductor industries or have news
or views to share, I'm Jo Ann McDonald, Editor of LIGHTimes and CompoundSemi News.
Feel free to contact me directly, anytime. 
My direct tel at the ranch is
+1-325-463-5345
From time to time Jo Ann may comment on companies in which she holds a
modest investment - be sure to read
her disclosure at some point in time... |
