Thin-film solar update

[Lee]

The discovery of a replacement for the current silicon technology by Vivian Alberts holds great promise for the future generation of electricity from the CIGSSe alloy. Dr. Alberts has been overseeing the creation of a thin-film technology plant in Brandenberg/ Havel , Germany.
"Aleo solar will introduce the new modules prototype at the 22 European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference in Milan, Italy, this September."
Two California companies with plans for this technology are Nanosolar and Miasole.
Please feel free to update me on this blog about any applications you know about that use the CIGSSe technology.
It appears that we are in a transition phase in solar technology.
Albert's discovery which uses copper, indium, gallium, sulphur and selenium is four times thinner than human hair which is about 20 microns thick..... Thin-film technology has the potential to make our households energy independent, and I look forward to its development with great anticipation.

[Osborn F Enready]

Thanks for the update Lee.

Any ideas on application of this film?

[Clarence]

Quote by: Osborn F Enready Thanks for the update Lee. Any ideas on application of this film?

we could apply it accross the desert and have a hoover dam type power source. Anytime we can cut the use of dirty coal...Or we could use it in place of paint on vehicles exteriors to make more efficiant hybrids maybe to power supercharged catylitic converters. Something. Houses could cover their entire roof with thin cells and wouldn't have to reinforce their home's structure as often is necessary..

..Lets get it in the chute.

[arielmessenger]

Oh goodie, maybe people will start thinking seriously about my Solar Rail concept I had way back when..

The Solar Rail System
(1976)

Imagine the highways and freeways gone. No cars, no trucks, no exhaust pollution, no noise pollution, no dead animals lying on the sides of the road.

Imagine no huge Cal-Trans budget and tax burden because the roads are gone. Imagine no more CHP tickets and no more fossil fuel cars.

Imagine all the money saved if California had a state-wide mass transit system that fueled itself with electricity generated by the Sun.

Imagine the thousands of acres of highway road beds turned into forests and organic farms and quiet villages where people and animals can safely cross underneath a quiet electro-magnetic monorail system where the monorail itself contains a thousands of miles long solar collecting system that catches, stores, and releases electricity from the sun supplying all the power needed to run both passenger and freight monorail trains throughout California.

This is the future. This is the promise of the Solar Rail System for the 21st Century.

* * *

[Clarence]

Japan Hybrid Train Fights Global Warming: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

if they put this technology to use all over the outside of this diesel electric train, we'd almost be there

[Lee]

Quote by: Osborn F Enready Thanks for the update Lee. Any ideas on application of this film?

I thank all of your for your replies...... Certainly there is the element of don't count your chickens before ........ also one might wonder about the natural abundance of the elements that make up the CIGSSe alloy.
As thin-film solar can be applied to almost any surface, its applications for the generation of electricity during daylight hours will undoubtedly involve the transportation and housing sectors which contribute so much to global warming and pollution of our natural resources.
Again, feel free to post me on any news or developments that you find about CIGSSe.











Please feel free to post any news or developments that you find about CIGSSe.

[Osborn F Enready]

Lee said: As thin-film solar can be applied to almost any surface.....

Do you know where one can find out more information about application techniques, materials, equipment?

[Lee]

Quote by: Osborn F Enready Do you know where one can find out more information about application techniques, materials, equipment?

Osborn,

Using the Google search engine, I typed CIGS solar cell. V.K. Kapur and others have published a paper for ISET, International Solar Electric Technology which discusses application methods and materials.
The Title of the paper: Fabrication of CIGS Solar Cell via Printing of Nanoparticle Precursor Inks.
Also, I have seen that Honda is showing great interest in this alloy.

[Osborn F Enready]

Cool Lee, thanks for the info.

[Compugasm]

Quote by: arielmessenger This is the future. This is the promise of the Solar Rail System for the 21st Century.

Sounds cool. To bad they don't have a Coaster go straight to Las Vegas. Too many environmental impact studies to make that ever happen. Heck, even one going down the 15 would be great. Instead, toll lanes. Thanks Cal Trans! Freeway medians use up a lot of space. I wonder if solar panels will ever be put there.

[5010]

Quote by: arielmessenger The Solar Rail System

I like it. It makes sense to marry solar and rail. Then, cars don't need to lug around the batteries or spend time recharging.

But how about a solar-roller-coaster? Use smaller number of expensive solar panels to merely electrify motors that turn mirrors. The mirrors would focus solar energy on a boiler, which would drive a steam powered gear system for rollercoaster cars. The cars would take passengers around town via gravity. Of course, this wouldn't be fast and thrilling like the rollercoasters at the park. The thin-film tech would make it cheaper to drive the mirrors. Of course, the system would need alternate sources of power at night and cloudy weather.

[Lee]

Engineers have propelled rockets with solar panels up in the air using sunlight reflected from mirrors.... but the rockets did not go up very far because the mirrors could not track the rockets trajectory for any length of time....

[5010]

Quote by: Lee Engineers have propelled rockets with solar panels up in the air using sunlight reflected from mirrors.... but the rockets did not go up very far because the mirrors could not track the rockets trajectory for any length of time....

Agreed, but it's a lot easier to track a mirror to a stationary boiler that drives a gear system to lift cars up to the high part of the rollercoaster track. Of course, the area would need to be enclosed so that a newspaper doesn't blow into the energy path and catch fire, then blow away to light the nearest building...

[Lee]

Quote by: 5010 Agreed, but it's a lot easier to track a mirror to a stationary boiler that drives a gear system to lift cars up to the high part of the rollercoaster track. Of course, the area would need to be enclosed so that a newspaper doesn't blow into the energy path and catch fire, then blow away to light the nearest building...

Well, one could always turn the mirrrors away once the cars reach the top of the track.... assuming the boiler was on a swivel..... this would allow the buildings across the street to remain standing while gravity leads the cars down the track.... and perhaps the energy of a swiveling boiler could be harnessed to help guide the cars up the next hill...

[Osborn F Enready]

Lee, have you ever heard of solar-film roofing shingles?

Uni-Solar 17W PV Roofing Shingles

Do you know if these are the same, or competing technologies?

[Pooeypants]

To digress a bit, why can't electric cars have liquid batteries which can be changed at a Pump station? I mean, the spent electrolyte fluid could be emptied from the tank and then refilled relatively quickly. It makes sense to me as there wouldn't be a long waiting time for the battery to charge up.

[Lee]

In an August 5-07 article for the Mail and Guardian Online, Kevin Davie notes that production of Albert's CIGSSe alloy will begin next month. I believe that he is referring to the solar- panel -manufacturing plant in Brandenburg/ Havel Germany. Production of the same technology will not begin for another two years in South Africa.
Davie notes that Google founders Larry Page and Segrey Brin raised about 100 millions dollars for
thin-film technology and they are associated with the U.S. company Nanosolar.... In the article, Davie claims that the thin-film technology being used in Germany is more efficient and has "... significant cost advantages over rival technologies."
Osborn, I have not looked into the thin-film solar roofing shingles yet.
There is another American company involved with the thin-film applications besides Miasole and Nanosolar and it is located in Utah. I think that the name is something like International Automated Systems.
If anyone wants to they can check me on this, or eventually I will include it here.

[Osborn F Enready]

Thanks Lee, I am always looking in on this stuff, and searching for it on Google.

My father is considering a solar panel system of some type, and I have been doing a lot of research lately trying to get methods and pricing.

[Lee]

Quote by: Pooeypants To digress a bit, why can't electric cars have liquid batteries which can be changed at a Pump station? I mean, the spent electrolyte fluid could be emptied from the tank and then refilled relatively quickly. It makes sense to me as there wouldn't be a long waiting time for the battery to charge up.

There is a company, Global Solar, that sells a thin-film solar module that is said to recharge "lead-acid batteries." One can visit that site and look it up under the FAQS icon.

[Lee]

Osborn,

Here are some companies that use non-silicon thin film technology:
First solar, Konarka, Nanosolar, Global Solar Energy, Helio Volt, and Aleo Solar.
I am now curious as to what your final decision will be as to a choice for solar technology in this market.