ThinFilmSolar
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GE's new factory will push out one solar panel every ten seconds
General Electric is sending its troops to Colorado to conquer the thin film solar panel business. The 38th state will play home to a new facility that leverages the supermodel-thin panel know-how of PrimeStar Solar, which GE scooped up back in 2008. In traditional solar panels, sand is refined into silicon ingots, sliced wafers of which are then placed in a frame. The thin film process eliminates this, sandwiching layers of semiconductors between panes of glass -- saving time, money and, most importantly, energy. The factory will open ahead of schedule in 2012 and is reportedly capable of producing a new panel every ten seconds. You can learn all of that and more in the press release we've got for you after the break.
Purdue researchers make solar cell manufacturing cheaper, more efficient with lasers
Is there anything lasers can't do? We only ask because they seem to be improving everything from microphones to railroads, and now researchers from Purdue University have leveraged the power of light to better manufacture solar cells. Using an ultrashort (as in quadrillionths of a second) pulse laser to more precisely scribe the microchannels connecting thin-film solar cells -- as compared to current mechanical stylus methods -- the Boilermakers were able to improve energy transfer efficiency between cells and significantly reduce manufacturing time. Having demonstrated the process works, research continues to better understand and prepare it for use by manufacturers -- sooner rather than later, we hope.
LG's Solar Cell e-Book goes an extra day for every 5 hours of sunlight
Funny thing going on in the marketplace right now: reading for pleasure is on a rapid decline yet the choice of e-reader devices grows weekly. That's good news for those of us not spending our down-time in front of a television, mouth agape -- awkward for manufacturers testing the waters of this unproven niche. LG's showing off its Solar Cell e-Book reader anyway, in a bid to flex its thin-film solar muscle. The prototype features an energy conversion efficiency of about 9.6 percent giving it an extra day's worth of power for that 6-inch TFT-LCD after about four to five hours in the sun. LG is working towards boosting its thin-film solar cell energy conversion efficiency rate to 12% by 2010 on up to 14% by 2012. We say bring it LG, if you can. [Via OLED-Display]
Nanosolar solar film rolls off the presses at 100 feet-per-minute
It looks like those curious to see just how Nanosolar turns out their solar panels for less than a dollar per watt need wonder no more, as the company has just posted a video that shows the thin film solar cells rolling off the presses at speedy 100 feet-per-minute. That's apparently possible thanks to what the company claims is the industry's first 1GW production tool, and its use of its own long-in-development nanoparticle ink, which eliminates the need for expensive high-vacuum chambers (though the printer still costs a hefty $1,65 million). What's more, the company says their technique would even work "in principle" at speeds up to 2,000 feet-per-minute, although they aren't making any promises about attempting an upgrade anytime soon. Head on past the break to check it out in action.[Via Earth2Tech, thanks William]
