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"Donald Sadoway: The missing link to renewable energy Tweet this talk! (we'll add the headline and the URL) Post to: Share on Twitter Email This Favorite Download inShare Share on StumbleUpon Share on Reddit Share on Facebook TED Conversations Got an idea, question, or debate inspired by this talk? Start a TED Conversation, or join one of these: Green Home Energy=Hydrogen Generators-alternative sources Started by Kathleen Gilligan-Smith 1 Comment What is the real missing link in renewable energy? Started by Enrico Petrucco 8 Comments Comment on this Talk 60 total comments Sign in to add comments or Join (It's free and fast!) Sort By: smily raichel 0 Reply Less than 5 minutes ago: Nice smily raichel 0 Reply Less than 5 minutes ago: Good David Mackey 0 Reply 3 hours ago: Superb invention, but I would suggest one more standard mantra that they should move on from and that is the idea of power being supplied by a centralised grid. This technology seems to me to be much more beneficial on a local scale, what if every home had its own battery, then home power generation becomes economically more viable for everyone. If you could show that a system like this could pay for itself in say 5 years then every home would want one. Plus for this to be implemented on a large scale requires massive investment that could be decades away. Share the technology and lets get it in homes by next year. Great ted talk. Jon Senior 0 Reply 1 hour ago: I agree 100%. Localised energy production would also make energy consumers more conscious of their consumption and encourage efforts to reduce it. We can invent and invent all we want, but the fast solution to allowing renewable energies to take centre stage is to reduce the base energy draw. With lower baseline consumption, smaller "always on" generators are required to keep the grid operational. Town and house-l

The solar industry and semiconductor industry are intimately connected. Both industries rely on silicon and both use much of the same processing technology and supply chain to produce their products. Nowhere has this connection been on better display than last week at the Moscone Center in San Francisco California, where the Intersolar North America made its debut in conjunction with SEMICON West 2008. The show provided an opportunity for those in the two industries to connect and allowed those companies that work in both spaces to showcase their collective efforts. According to Chris O'Brien, Head of Market Development and Government Relations for North America for Oerlikon Solar, holding the two conferences together gave companies greater exposure and showed the promise of the U.S. solar market. In recent months a number of traditional semiconductor companies including Intel and National Semiconductor have made announcements that they are making plans to enter the solar industry in one way or another. Intel spun off it's solar research area into a new solar company called SpectraWatt. National Semiconductor announced that it will be introducing it's first solar product, SolarMagic, that could raise the efficiency of residential and industrial solar systems. Kevin Kayser, Senior Marketing Manager at National said that he product will be targeted at installers and integrators and much planning went into the company's decision to enter the solar space. "Photovoltaics currently has less than 1% of the energy market, but we think it has potentially one of the fastest growth rates of any alternative energy source. Now certainly we're looking at wind, we're looking geothermal, we're looking at other sources, but from an electronics point of view we saw that we had the most immediate potential impact in solar photovoltaics," Kayser said.

Compared to other solar energy applications, solar cooling is a relatively new, but growing, technology. Many projects using the technology are still for the purposes of demonstration only, but a growing number of systems are being implemented all over the world for conventional use. In order to give an insight into this innovative technology, detailed information about the possible technical applications of solar cooling systems is provided in this section.\n\nPassive solar cooling, based on bioclimatic strategies such as sun protection using natural screening devices or increased cooling by using ponds or water basins o the roof or close to the external walls, is widely applied and should be the first step to take in cooling a building. Such measures are easier and less costly to implement, they decrease the need for additional cooling and, therefore, for additional energy demand (and also for investment). Sufficient insulation of the building also decreases the need for cooling, as well as for heating.\n\nIf the outcome of these measures is not sufficient in itself, a solar assisted cooling system may be an intelligent solution. In solar assisted cooling systems solar heat is used to drive the cooling process for air conditioning in buildings. Instead of using electricity, free solar thermal energy is used for cooling through a thermal-chemical sorption process.\n\n

When Southern California Edison unveiled plans to install 250 megawatts' worth of solar panels on warehouse roofs back in March, it was hailed as a ground-breaking move. In one fell swoop, the giant utility would cut the cost of photovoltaic power, expand the solar market and kick-start efforts to transform untold acres of sun-baked commercial roof space into mini-power plants. There's just one problem: the solar industry is fighting the billion-dollar plan. In briefs filed with the California Public Utilities Commission, solar companies, industry trade groups and consumer advocates argue that allowing a utility to own and operate such massive green megawattage will crowd out competitors who can't hope to compete with a project financed by Edison's ratepayers. (In California, shareholders of investor-owned utilities are guaranteed a rate of return for approved projects, while utility customers bear a portion of the costs in the form of higher rates.) The five-year plan "would establish SCE as the monopoly developer of commercial-scale distributed solar in its service territory," wrote Arno Harris, CEO of Recurrent Energy, a San Francisco company that sells solar electricity to commercial customers. "This would irreparably impair the development of a competitive solar industry."

Honda Motor Company (NYSE: HMC) may begin exporting solar modules after completing the planned expansion of it's solar manufacturing facility later this year, according to a Reuters report. The company intends to increase its annual capacity to 27.5 megawatts (MW). Honda's solar subsidiary Honda Soltec Co. began producing photovoltaic solar modules in October 2007. The solar modules incorporate copper, indium, gallium and selenium, as opposed to traditional panels produced from silicon. The company reportedly has sold 3-kilowatt systems domestically to about 100 households for 3 million yen--the equivalent of about US$18,200. Honda also intends to use solar cells in a U.S. test project for next-generation gas stations that would use solar power to produce hydrogen from water for powering fuel cell vehicles, such as Honda's FCX Clarity.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy John Mizroch announced recently that the DOE will invest up to US $24 million -- subject to the availability of funds -- to develop solar energy products that will hopefully accelerate the penetration of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in the United States. \n\nWhen the projects are combined with the overall industry cost share of up to US $16 million, more than US $40 million in total could be invested in these SEGIS projects, with future federal funding subject to appropriations from Congress.\n\nThe Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems (SEGIS) projects will provide critical research and development (R&D) funding to develop less expensive, higher performing products to enhance the value of solar PV systems to homeowners and business owners. These projects are integral to the Solar America Initiative, which aims to make solar energy cost-competitive with conventional forms of electricity by 2015. \n

Solar Thin Films, Inc. (OTC BB:SLTN.OB), a developer, manufacturer and marketer of manufacturing equipment for the production of "thin-film" amorphous silicon photovoltaic modules, has entered into a strategic alliance and cross license agreement with Amelio Solar Inc. \n\nUnder the agreement, Solar Thin Films will market and sell photovoltaic products using copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) technology developed and commercialized by Amelio Solar, and has rights to manufacture PV module manufacturing equipment using CIGS technology subject to certain terms and agreements\n

General Motors (GM) announced that it is adding the world's largest rooftop solar photovoltaic power installation to its car assembly plant located in Figueruelas, Zaragoza, Spain. When the project is completed in fall 2008, the Zaragoza solar installation will cover about 2 million square feet of roof at the plant and include about 85,000 solar panels. When fully operational, the Zaragoza solar installation will generate about 12 megawatts of power at its highest output. The installation will generate about 15.1 million kWh of power annually, which is equivalent to the demand of 4,575 households with an average annual consumption of 3,300 kWh in Spain. "The Zaragoza project demonstrates proof that GM is actively accelerating our efforts to be part of the solution to the environmental issues and challenges facing our world," said Gary Cowger, GM group vice president of global manufacturing and labor relations. "We are proud to be a global leader in the usage of renewable energy."

Solar power will not be able to compete with conventional energy until there is a breakthrough in the technology, BP's chief executive has said, in a further sign of the company's move away from renewables towards oil and gas. BP has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in making solar cells and components, but in the past six months it has been closing factories around the world, and announced a sharp cut in its investment in alternative energies, such as solar, from $1.4bn last year to $1bn (£658m) this year. Tony Hayward, chief executive, yesterday told a conference in California: "I think solar is probably the most challenged of all of BP's alternative energy interests." He added: "It is not going to make the transition to be competitive with more conventional power, the gap is too big."

Last week the Spanish government announced plans to cut subsidies for solar photovoltaic (PV) power by about 75%. Although the nation expects to surpass its 2010 goal for installed solar by four fold, the down side is that generous subsidies for the industry have resulted in a ballooning tariff deficit for the country, which has risen to 4.85 billion euros, upfrom 745 million last year. Reuters reported that lending to the Spanish photovoltaic plants has risen to $3.59 billion in the year to day, up from $230.9 million euros last year and $192.44 million in 2006. As a result, the Spanish government will as the energy regulator to cap subsidies for new PV solar capacity at 300 megawatts (MW) per year--200 MW for rooftop systems and 100 MW for ground-mounted systems, which have been the highest growth area. CSP has been slower than PV technology in its emergence on the renewable energy scene, but expectations for the technology, which focuses the heat of the sun to produce steam to drive electricity producing turbines. Projects underway in the U.S. and Spain are expected to produce electricity that is cost-equivalent to electricity produced from burning coal or natural gas.

These are heady times for the thin-film solar industry. The sector's dominant player, First Solar, has been on a tear of late, recently announcing it would build a second 10 megawatt power plant in Nevada, while Miasole, once thought to be ailing, has staged an impressive comeback, raking in an eye-popping $220 million. Nanosolar has developed a new ultra-fast solar cell printer, and even giants like IBM and Applied Materials have gotten in on the game. In the face of such intense competition, how will HelioVolt, a well-funded outpost of CIGS manufacturing in Texas, fare? The company hopes a new hybrid, super fast CIGS process it has developed in collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), which combines its patented FASST process and NREL's non-vacuum deposition technique, will help even the odds. The Austin, Texas-based company licensed NREL's non-vacuum deposition process, which allows for the quick application of liquid precursors onto a printing plate and substrate, to manufacture its solar cells with a 12.2 percent conversion efficiency at a fraction of the regular cost and in record time - under 6 minutes. Another advantage is that the substrate can be made from a variety of building materials, including glass, metals, plastics and roofing materials.

A company called GreenCore Air has released an air conditioner than can be powered by a single 170 watt solar panel. The GreenCore air conditioning unit can heat and cool a 600 square foot room. It runs on DC power, so there is no need to put an AC inverter between the solar panel and the air conditioner. This eliminates the power losses associated with converting AC to DC

A company called GreenCore Air has released an air conditioner than can be powered by a single 170 watt solar panel. The GreenCore air conditioning unit can heat and cool a 600 square foot room. It runs on DC power, so there is no need to put an AC inverter between the solar panel and the air conditioner. This eliminates the power losses associated with converting AC to DC. When the sun is not out the unit runs on the battery bank which is integrated within the unit. There two version of the air conditioner: a fixed one, and a mobile one that is mounted on wheels. GreenCore units are being tested by a McDonald's restaurant and the U.S. Navy.

I recently noted that Hawaii has enacted a law that requires all new homes to install solar water heaters. Eventually, Hawaii may have as many water heaters as Israel, where 90% of homes have solar water heaters installed. When viewed from above, the Jerusalem often glitters with the shine of the thousands of solar heaters that adorn rooftops.

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have set a world record in solar cell efficiency with a photovoltaic device that converts 40.8% of the light that hits it into electricity. This is the highest confirmed efficiency of any photovoltaic device to date. The inverted metamorphic triple-junction solar cell was designed, fabricated and independently measured at NREL. The 40.8% efficiency was measured under concentrated light of 326 suns. One sun is about the amount of light that typically hits Earth on a sunny day. The new cell is a candidate for the space satellite market and for terrestrial concentrated photovoltaic arrays, which use lenses or mirrors to focus sunlight onto solar cells.

DOE announced on August 12 that it plans to invest up to $24 million over a number of years to develop products that connect solar power systems with the electrical grid in an interactive way. DOE has selected 12 industry teams that will receive $2.9 million in current fiscal year funding to develop conceptual designs and market analyses for such Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems (SEGIS) projects. The projects will focus on solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and will involve such efforts as developing systems that can communicate with an interactive utility grid and advanced power meters to respond to power price changes over the course of a day, systems that can work with energy storage devices and "smart" appliances to respond to utility price signals, and systems that can interact with building energy management systems.

XINYU CITY, CHINA, September 3, 2008. Solar wafers manufacturer LDK Solar Co Ltd has awarded a US$220 million contract to Applied Materials Inc to provide precision wafering systems to support its next phase of production expansion. Shipping to LDK Solar's facility in Xinyu, China, is scheduled to start early 2009, and it will support LDK Solar's previously announced plans to expand to 3.2 GW annual wafer capacity in 2010. "We believe that Applied's state-of-the-art wafering systems, including its HCT wire saws and squarers, are the best choice to help us scale up capacity to meet the expanding global demand for wafers," says Xiaofeng Peng, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of LDK Solar.

Dwarfed by any of the north African nations, it represents an area slightly smaller than Wales but scientists claimed yesterday it could one day generate enough solar energy to supply all of Europe with clean electricity. Speaking at the Euroscience Open Forum in Barcelona, Arnulf Jaeger-Walden of the European commission's Institute for Energy, said it would require the capture of just 0.3% The scientists are calling for the creation of a series of huge solar farms - producing electricity either through photovoltaic cells, or by concentrating the sun's heat to boil water and drive turbines - as part of a plan to share Europe's renewable energy resources across the continent. A new supergrid, transmitting electricity along high voltage direct current cables would allow countries such as the UK and Denmark ultimately to export wind energy at times of surplus supply, as well as import from other green sources such as geothermal power in Iceland. Energy losses on DC lines are far lower than on the traditional AC ones, which make transmission of energy over long distances uneconomic. The grid proposal, which has won political support from both Nicholas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown, answers the perennial criticism that renewable power will never be economic because the weather is not sufficiently predictable. Its supporters argue that even if the wind is not blowing hard enough in the North Sea, it will be blowing somewhere else in Europe, or the sun will be shining on a solar farm somewhere.

Emcore Corporation announced that it has entered into two new supply agreements for solar cells and receivers with a combined total value of more than US $40 million. The larger of the two purchase contracts is a multi-year supply agreement for solar cells, to be delivered over four years. The product to be delivered will be incorporated into concentrating photovoltaics (CPV) systems developed for commercial rooftop installations as well as utility-scale solar farms. The customers placing these orders with Emcore are targeting CPV deployments in the United States with a particular focus on the California market, Emcore said. Production for these orders has already started and approximately US $1 million of product is expected to be shipped in the present quarter.

Thin-film solar company Nanosolar has been sitting on a big secret for much of this year, it turns out: The company took a $300 million financing this March, and has remained mum ever since, only detailing it on the company's blog this morning after VentureWire reported the funding. While Nanosolar hasn't been entirely secretive about its technology, with chief executive Martin Rosencheisen showing off a rapid manufacturing technique early in summer, but apparently it didn't want details leaking on this giant-sized investment until necessary. Word slipped out in April about $50 million of the total, but at the time, Nanosolar didn't want to talk - and it's now clear why. The race for funds, and ever-larger production targets, is definitely on for thin film. Secretive thin-film silicon company Optisolar has raised over $200 million this year, and Nanosolar's thin-film CIGS competitor Miasole is trying to close on a similar amount. And while dozens of other startups are also on the hunt, large companies like Oerlikon Solar and Applied Materials are pouring money into ventures of their own. In many ways, it looks like an overheated sector. But on the other hand, Optisolar's recent deal with PG&E to provide 550 megawatts of electricity suggests that the potential for thin film panels is larger than previously expected, even when considering one analyst firm's prediction earlier this year that the sector will grow at 45 percent annually. That figure could now be much higher, especially for a few big winners - of which Nanosolar will likely be one. The company will be doing some utility-scale projects of its own, Rosencheisen tells us, with experienced partners. It also has a panel built specifically for use by utilities. And one of the backers of this funding, AES Corp., is also one of the world's biggest power companies. At the moment, Nanosolar is still working toward a gigawatt of annual manufacturing capacity, but it will grow be