Solar manufacturing Breakthrough

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070213/20070213006100.html?.v=1


Nearly 1,000 Kilowatts of IAUS's solar panels were manufactured in a short 24-hour run. On a 24/7 operating schedule, an estimated 350 Megawatts of IAUS panels can be produced annually. In comparison, a traditional photovoltaic (PV) solar module manufacturing plant with a yearly capacity equal to IAUS would cost an estimated $840 Million to construct.

......Low-cost energy produced by IAUS's new patented and patent-pending solar technology can be used to generate electricity or produce clean fuels such as hydrogen and green methanol (gasoline replacements) at a competitive price. Many experts had predicted that no solar power technology would likely accomplish this milestone before the year 2025.

...IAUS plans to quickly expand its annual solar panel production capacity this year to 1 Gigawatt, which is enough to supply an estimated $2 Billion in sales per year.

------
OK, it's a press release, but let's say they are telling the truth.

to put this in practical terms, the average large coal/nuclear plant is about in the
1 gigawatt range.
assuming this company reaches this production level at this one facility -
they are cranking out the equivelant of a large nuke plant in capacity
every year.
multiply by ........?

it seems like every few months we hear about a "new solar technology breakthrough" that promises cheap solar power.

The hard part is knowing who to believe and when.

Solar power, despite all the hype, is still 0.1% of our energy needs.

brings down cost it is the streamlining of production. Cost per unit goes down.

This is starting to look more viable every day.

Now we really need a storage revolution.

Refrigerated warehouses might soon be used to store not just food, but gigawatts of electricity. A plan dreamt up in the Netherlands could see the giant fridges acting as massive batteries. They would buffer swings in supply and demand from electricity created from renewable sources.

The idea seems simple. Say you lowered the temperature of all large coldstores in Europe by just 1°C during the night when electricity demand is low, then let it rise 1°C by switching them off during the day when demand is at peak. The net effect would be that the warehouses would act as as batteries — potentially storing 50,000 megawatt-hours of energy — and the food wouldn't melt.

http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070205/full/070205-9.html

http://blogs.zdnet.com/emergingtech/?p=486

And I want a rebate too! :evilgrin: