NOTE  URLs or email addresses are hyperlinks which when accessed transfer direct

to the web page or your email program.

 

 

 

 

SOLAR PV Energy 21, , www.energy21.org.uk  Has a sample of the Dye Solar Cell (Graetzel Cell, renewable energy general, many other interesting contacts. Nanocrystalline Solar, Dye Solar Cells, reportedly 20% of the cost of silicon ones of the same efficiency. See www.dyesol.com  and for an experimental one for school and college use www.ice.chem.wisc.edu (Hands on Science Kits No. 98-001) Estimated production cost of electricity from these much the same as large power stations, i.e about 3p/kWhr. Estimated total PV (Solar electric power) available in UK, using all suitable wall and roof surfaces was given in 1994 as between 200 and 360 TWh of electricity per year from an installed capacity of between 70 and 110 GW. (ETSU report R-82, quoted in a written House of Lords answer to the Earl of Liverpool by Lord Clinton-Davis of 2 Feb 1998.)  .

See also

http://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2005/10/10/36498/STdevelopsdye-sensitisedsolarcells.htm

www.henkel.com

[flexible roof solar PV panels]

http://saharawind.com/documents/trec.paper.pdf

Solar Concentrator for PV, cost given as US$1.25/DC Watt

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sunball

 

CSP PV has two basic formats:

1/. Uses a  Fresnel lens to focus the sun's rays onto a very small piece of photovoltaic material.

In order for a high-x solar concentrator to work, the lens must be pointed directly at the sun. This requires a tracking system that moves the module in both the altitude (distance above the horizon) and azimuth (the angle across the horizon) dimensions. Tracking is also "closed loop," meaning that it does not rely on GPS locators or an internal clock to get its bearings; it relies solely on internal sensors to find and track the sun.

 

Concerns using the Fresnel lens system either commercially now, or due to be available in the near future, includ

eA] Green and Gold Energy in Australia http://www.greenandgoldenergy.com.au whose 500 Watt  SunCube™ was launched to the world at the Green City Festival (Elder Park, Adelaide, Sunday, 17 Feb 2008), and are now reportedly commercially available in  Auastralia, New Zealand and the South Pacific through  www.zolardistributors.com    Best price ex works for  2000+ units = $950/unit

B] Sunflower in the USA whose units are currently undergoing performance testing

C}Soliant Energy is an award-winning manufacturer of innovative concentrating solar panels. They state that our rooftop solar concentrator offers an efficient and cost-effective solution for solar electric systems.http://www.practical-instruments.com

 

2/. Uses a reflective “dish” similar to those used for Stirling CSP using glass mirrors. A recent innovation by Cool Earth Solar has taken a radical approach to building CSP PV by manufacturing round plastic balloons, to reflect light onto the solar cell  Because its design uses relatively cheap and  uses readily available components, it is estimated  these solar concentrators could generate electricity at a cost comparable to that of natural-gas plants

 

Solarr8 Converts Sunlight Into Both Electricity and Heat!

The five metre long and one meter wide Solar8 produces both 230 V electricity and 50º hot water. Solar 8 is not suited for private homes, but instead is developed for property owners with large building who would like to produce electricity and need heat.

 

http://www.arontis.se/

 

 

CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER [CSP]

URLs for more information:

Stirling Engine Systems:

http://www.stirlingenergy.com/default.asp

http://www.infiniacorp.com/applications/clean_energy.htm

                                                                   Co-op Tower Manchester Solar PV Cladding

CSP PV Systems

http://www.solarsystems.com.au/

http://www.solfocus.com/

http://www.greenandgoldenergy.com.au/

Concentrating Photovoltiac Systems (Commercially Available in 2008)

http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Concentrated_Solar_Power

 

Thermoelectrics

http://www.johnsonems.com/jhtec.html

 

Solar Stirling Systems 25 kW generator                      Bank of units                                                    Stirling Engine

 

Saliant Energy Freznel Lens Bank

Solar System Australia CS500 Unit CSP PV

UMUWA SOLAR POWER STATION Australia, Solar Systems

10 CS500 dishes are equipped with 22% efficient silicon-based photovoltaic (PV) cells.

The power station has a rated capacity of 220kW.

Solar Power Tower, Mirrors concentrate Solar Heat onto a central point.

 

The diagram, below, shows the main components of a parabolic trough type of CSP plant.

 

Each of the 'solar collectors' is a trough-shaped mirror (with a parabolic cross-section) that tracks the sun and focuses the light on to a tube containing 'heat transfer fluid'—which is normally some kind of oil. The hot oil passes through a 'solar superheater' and 'steam generator' where the heat boils water and creates superheated steam. The steam drives the turbine, the turbine drives the generator and that feeds electricity into the electricity transmission grid.

 

Steam that comes out of the turbine is still quite hot. It is fed through a condenser where it is cooled down by cooling water from a cooling tower. The cooled water is fed back into the steam generator and solar superheater to create superheated steam again, and this is fed back into the turbine to generate more electricity.

'Trough systems' use parabolic trough-shaped mirrors each one of which focuses light on to a tube containing oil or similar fluid that takes the heat to where it can be used to raise steam and generate electricity.

'Power towers', for example, use a large field of sun-tracking mirrors to concentrate sunlight on to a receiver on the top of a low tower, to raise steam and generate electrici

Solar Two tower and heliostats in Daggett (Barstow), California