Solar energy breakthrough

OKIsItJustMe

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Sat Jan-26-08 11:57 PM
Original message

Solar energy breakthrough

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=139&art_id=vn20080126094222681C112679

Carvin Goldstone
January 26 2008 at 10:37AM

There is light at the end of the tunnel - and it's not being generated by Eskom but rather by revolutionary solar-powered technology developed by University of Johannesburg professor Vivian Alberts.

He has spent the past 13 years developing highly advanced photovoltaic, or thin-film, solar panels that could be the solution to South Africa - and the world's - scramble for power.

The panels are already being constructed by Johanna Solar Technology (JST) in Brandenburg, Germany, and will go on sale in Europe this year.

According to JST, current solar modules convert only direct sunlight into electrical energy, but thin-film solar modules convert any light across the spectrum into electricity - generating power even under low-light conditions.

...

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tabatha

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Sun Jan-27-08 12:07 AM
Response to Original message

1. Thanks for that info.

I had read about this a year ago, and wondered what happened to it.

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mac2

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Sun Jan-27-08 12:20 AM
Response to Original message

2. I want one

When we were looking at new homes in Georgia I asked the small builder if they had enviornmental home why not solar? He looked at me like I was out of my mind.

Why is solar power, global warming, etc. a political issue? The party of the denial?

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undergroundpanther

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Sun Jan-27-08 12:20 AM
Response to Original message

3. I hope

These panels are affordable whenever they sell them here. I mean someone below the poverty line can hopefully get them .. Because dispite record profits the power company in my area is hiking rates again. The fuckers. I would just love to tell the greedy electric company out here to go fuck themselves,and not go broke paying them.

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nolabels

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Sun Jan-27-08 02:44 AM
Response to Reply #3

10. My guess would be yes, the whole reason for thin film cells is cost

Edited on Sun Jan-27-08 02:49 AM by nolabels

I also makes the supporting structures less costly to build because of weight of thin cell panels is so much less.

on edit, from the article:

(snip)
He said production would be well below the current price of solar panels - at least 50 percent cheaper than anything that is commercially available at present.

Based on improved temperature coefficients - which means lower performance losses at high temperatures - thin-film modules were especially suited to temperatures over 25°C, which was the case in South Africa, he added.
(snip)

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bullimiami

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Sun Jan-27-08 12:30 AM
Response to Original message

4. i sure dont understand why all new homes arent built with solar roofing and on the grid.

the highest demand in the areas with the most sun is when all of the a/c units are running and that is the peak time for solar power.

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Clovis Sangrail

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Sun Jan-27-08 12:51 AM
Response to Reply #4

5. it should be mandatory

require all new construction to have solar power capable of producing X kilowatts/year based on the number of people the building is designed to house and the average yearly hours of sunlight in that region.

Developers will want to pay as little as possible for it, so building contractors will try to source the cheapest reliable supply, which will drive solar suppliers to compete to make more efficient and cheaper solar to get that business... end result we get better and cheaper panels, lower utility bills, AND move that much further away from dependence on oil.

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NNadir

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Sun Jan-27-08 01:03 AM
Response to Original message

6. Another one? In eight years here, we've had one of these a week, sometimes one a day...

When are we going to see the first exajoule of solar energy?

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Terry in Austin

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Sun Jan-27-08 01:32 AM
Response to Reply #6

7. Tuesday

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NNadir

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Sun Jan-27-08 01:37 AM
Response to Reply #7

8. What time?

Can we try to make it at lunch time?

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truedelphi

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Sun Jan-27-08 01:59 AM
Response to Original message

9. K & R'ed. n/t

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amandabeech

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Sun Jan-27-08 12:19 PM
Response to Original message

11. On the BBC World News in the last two or three days,

I caught half a story on what I thought was an electricity crisis in South Africa.

I think that it was centered around a World Cup soccer tournament. The reporter talked about electricity shortages in S. Africa hampering its ability to pull off the tournent.

Anybody else see this?

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