PIVOTRY RADIOMETER:  FEBRUARY 2011

Pivotry Radiometer is a free monthly newsletter about new developments in the solar renewable energy industry and based upon the "game changers" from the Pivotry Perspectives Workshops conducted by Wayne Chang, Ph.D.  You are welcomed to share this newsletter with others.

Pivotry Radiometer is in four sections this month:

1.       New Materials

At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado, researchers have successfully demonstrated a process called singlet fission in a material called 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran (DPIBF).  This molecule demonstrates electron multiplication and could increase by one third the conversion efficiency of incident solar photon energy into electricity (ref-1.1).  The experimental conditions involve fabricating thin polycrystalline films of DPIBF with specific nanoscale molecular geometry.  This is a significant research achievement, and the future potential of this material and other compounds to absorb a larger region of the solar energy spectrum means much higher cell efficiencies may be possible.

2.       Hybrid Systems and Integration

Current solar PV systems have numerous points of data collection and monitoring which includes the panels, inverters, and tracking systems.  In the majority of cases, there are also numerous software silo solutions specific to each part.  One company, ESEI Soft, a division of ESEI Group offers integrated data management solutions for both PV plant-level and system-level (ref-2.1).  A list of information categories includes electrical metering, solar plant performance monitoring, system optimization, climatology data, component manufacturer efficiency & performance, and revenue generation.  Using statistical models to analyze data at various levels of integration, the performance and reliability of solar systems can tracked.  This is invaluable to financial and insurance providers as well as end investors.

3.       Photovoltaic Technology Roadmaps and Standards

The SEMI PV North American Fall Standards Meetings were held in San Jose, November 9-10, 2010.  A large number of Task Forces and Working Groups reviewed standards on a wide range of topics including Specifications for Silicon Wafers for Use as PV Solar Cells, Test Method for Measuring Trace Elements in Silicon Feedstock in Solar Cells, PV Electrical and Optical Properties Measurements, and PV Quality Assurance (ref-3.1).  Such standards are significant in building a sustainable industry by maintaining materials' quality and reducing costs.

4.       CULTURE Perspectives

A very recent culture aspect in the solar PV manufacturing industry is the adoption of contract manufacturing services companies.  Traditionally, the solar companies that built panel and inverter products did so with capital investments into   factories owned by the same companies.  Some of these companies have decided to outsource manufacturing to dedicated electronics manufacturing services (EMS) companies.  Recently in January 31, 2011, Recurrent Energy, a subsidiary of Sharp Corporation announced that 180MW of crystalline-silicon PV panels will be made for them at Celestica (ref-4.1).  On a related note, Advanced Energy announced on December 6, 2010 that Celestica will manufacture two of its leading inverter products for the Ontario, Canada market (ref-4.2).

REFERENCES & LINKS

1.1 http://www.nrel.gov/news/press/2010/912.html

2.1 http://www.eseisoft.com/index.php?page=Affiliations

3.1 http://www.semi.org/en/Standards/CTR_030361

4.1 http://international.pv-tech.org/news/order_focus_celestica_signs_180mw_supply_agreement_for_recurrents_ontario_s

4.2 http://www.advanced-energy.de/de/news_2010_12_06.html

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This newsletter is based upon information that we consider reliable, but we do not represent that it is accurate or complete, and it should not be relied upon as such.