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The road to grid parity for PV power generation will be difficult, needing five or more years to compete with utility power, unsubsidized, on a large scale, noted Mark Thirsk, managing partner at Linx Consulting, at a recent SEMI PV forecast luncheon (Sept. 18) in Santa Clara, CA Most input materials for PV production are in relative oversupply and will not constrain production, Thirsk pointed out - and for this reason manufacturers are conservative about capacity investment. In particular, his PV module production forecast (see Fig. 1, above) shows an overstep in demand in 2008. One reason for suppliers' reluctance to build capacity for entering the silicon supply chain is that it is an inefficient process. "Only about 15% of all the silicon going into the supply chain goes into the wafers, so it's a pretty wasteful and capital intensive process, so there is a lot of reluctance to build capacity," said Thirsk. Despite the efficiency challenges, Thirsk's forecast indicates that an oversupply may occur in 2009 Because >40% of PV grade silicon is lost at the wafering step, Thirsk believes this represents a significant opportunity for the right technology. Additionally, diamond wire is a potential replacement for slurry technology, but this technology is still immature. In the crystalline silicon (c-Si) value chain, Thirsk sees opportunities for optimizing mono-crystalline wafers with metal wrap technology and backside contacts; process optimization and material improvements would improve cell efficiency, and glass, wafer, backsheet, and grid improvements can enable more efficient light capture. Looking ahead, Thirsk told the audience that while thin-film technologies will enjoy strong growth "and may be more attractive to value-add materials and equipment suppliers, thin-film cell production will remain a minority share for the medium term." (see Fig. 3, below) He closed his presentation encouraging the creation of a Moore's Law type of roadmap for the PV

"China has started mass production of graphene films used in production of cell phone and computer touch screens as a new production line began operation. The production line is in a graphene industrial park in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. It can produce tens of millions of graphene films every year."

plans to build two solar cell lines by investing 220 billion won (168 million U.S. dollars).

Thinking of throwing out your old cell phone? Think again. Maybe you should mine it first for gold, silver, copper and a host of other metals embedded in the electronics -- many of which are enjoying near-record prices.

Light weighting as a strategy to combat emission and mileage targets has carved a niche corner in automotive original equipment manufacturers' (OEMs') and supplier's research and development. Almost all OEMs have been working on ambitious weight reduction strategies to adhere to future regulations. Light weighting has a profound effect as a long-term strategy, as OEMs transit from making ICE-powered vehicles to battery electric and fuel-cell vehicles. Light weighting as a strategy has implications in other industries such as aviation and power generation. This market insight provides insights on the key factors such as emissions, mileage targets, emission test cycles, electrification, urbanization, and cost and their influence on OEM light weighting strategies.

"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 U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and A123Systems have teamed up to support the battery-maker's effort to develop safe, less expensive, more powerful, and longer lasting batteries for hybrid-electric vehicles. The Laboratory and the battery-maker have signed a three-year, Cooperative Research and Development Agreement to examine and develop new techniques to improve thermal management in advanced transportation batteries. "We're pleased to be working with A123Systems on thermal management of their advanced nanophosphate-based lithium ion batteries," NREL Principal Engineer Ahmad Pesaran said. "Batteries with improved thermal behavior are critical for widespread acceptance of affordable hybrid-electric vehicles that consume less fuel and reduced harmful emissions." Hybrid electric vehicles get as much as double the fuel economy of comparable cars. Plug-in hybrids will be even more gasoline-stingy with potential of displacing significant amount of gasoline with electricity for road transportation. To achieve these goals, affordable, high-performance, safe, and long-lasting batteries need to be produced in large quantities. Propulsion batteries - batteries that power an electric motor to assist moving a car - are key components of hybrid-electric vehicles, and will be more important in the plug-in hybrid and extended range electric cars of the future. By better understanding the thermal behavior of advanced batteries, NREL researchers will help A123Systems engineers design improved thermal management systems and to optimize the design of the battery cell and develop a battery pack that's lighter, cheaper and more durable.

The Kyoto-car is a concept eco-friendly electric vehicle designed by the Kyoto University Venture Business Laboratory. Its roof is covered in solar cells which harness energy collected onto a battery. Aside from running on electric juice, the Kyoto-Car can also be used to charge gadgets or power devices, making it especially useful for camping or hiking trips. Aside from its rather attractive oriental design, another curious feature (if ever the concept will come to fruition) is that the car could move sideways, which is quite similar to "drifting" (a driving technique wherein the car skids sideways).