16 May 2012

A German startup company Heliatek GmbH (Dresden) borrows the materials and manufacturing process of OLED displays to make a new kind of solar panel. The company has developed a new kind of solar panel made of small, organic molecules (oligomers) deposited on polyester films. The technology is similar to what's used for OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) displays for phones and flat-screen TVs. The panels are flexible, and far lighter than conventional solar panels (only 0.5 kg per sq. m. as compared with 12-17 kg per sq. m. for silicon analogues), yet in some locations-particularly where it's hot or cloudy-they can generate just as much electricity as a conventional solar panel.

11 May 2012

Superconductor Technologies Inc. (STI), a world leader in the development and production of high temperature superconducting (HTS) materials and associated technologies, in particular of second generation (2G) HTS wire, reported results for the quarter ended March 31, 2012.

27 Apr 2012

Scientists at Natcore Technology Inc., using simple liquid bath processes, have created a black surface on a silicon wafer with an average reflectance in the visible and near-infrared region of the solar spectrum of 0.3%, making it the "blackest" silicon solar cell surface ever recorded. Standard production cells, with antireflective coatings made via a chemical vapor deposition process that requires a high-temperature vacuum furnace and hazardous gases, have a reflectance of about 4%. The black color of black silicon results from the near-total absence of reflected light from the porous wafer surface. With solar cells, "blackness" is highly desirable because it indicates that incident light is being absorbed for conversion to energy rather than being reflected and thus wasted.