Solar Junction’s World Record of 43.5 % efficiency for concentrated photovoltaic Cell

Recently, Solar Junction, A developer of high efficiency multi-junction cells for the concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) market, has achieved world-record for 43.5 percent efficiency on a commercial-ready 5.5 mm x 5.5 mm production cell.

                   

This record is just a step in direction of improvement with hope of much better achievement in concentrated photovoltaic cell. Efficiency is always important in photovoltaic, but it's probably even more important in CPV.The accomplishment of high efficiencies for devices based on Moderated Photovoltaic i.e concentrated photovoltaic technology has made a hope that concentrated photovoltaic will provide viable solution for solar energy to be treated as real alternate energy resource in near future.

BlueChip Energy Announces Development of 40 Megawatt Solar Farm in Florida

Signs Solar Power Purchase Agreement with Progress Energy Florida

                  BlueChip Energy™ (BCE), a fully-integrated solar energy provider for residential, commercial, government and utility applications, today announced a power purchase agreement (PPA) to supply Progress Energy Florida with renewable solar photovoltaic (PV) power from the Sorrento Eagle Dunes Solar Farm, a 40 megawatt (MW) utility-scale solar PV facility the company is developing in Central Florida.

                 The solar farm project, located in Lake County, Florida, will have a total capacity of 40 MW and an annual generation of more than 64,000,000 kilowatt-hours. This is equivalent to the annual energy use of roughly 8,000 area homes. The Sorrento project will be the largest private solar plant in the State of Florida and one the largest solar PV projects in the United States. The annual power generated from the solar plant will displace over 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.

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3W POWER SHARES : New Protect PV.500: AEG Power Solutions Expands Inverter Portfolio for Solar Plants

Energy technology and power electronics specialist AEG Power Solutions presented its new solar power inverter Protect PV.500 at the Hannover Fair. This newest addition to the Protect PV product line expands the company's product range of professional industrial solutions for use in solar power installations for Multi-MW utility scale. AEG Power Solutions is a subsidiary of listed holding 3W Power (Euronext Amsterdam 3WP, Frankfurt 3W9, ISIN GG00B39QCR01, WKN A0Q5SX).

A key feature of the Protect PV product line is its power stack with advanced-design measuring and control technology enabling DC input voltages of up to 1000 VDC. Thin-film modules can therefore be used efficiently.

                        Protect PV.500 is directly derived from the technology developed for the highly successful Protect PV.250, whose certified efficiency yields 98,7% according to European standard 50530. The protect PV family and now PV.500 inverter clearly exceeds expectations for its power class. With an appropriate transformer, it can also be adapted to the medium voltage grid (e.g. 10, 20, 33 kV). The Protect PV.500 is fully compliant with BDEW guidelines for energy producing installations and thus contributes to overall grid stability.

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Colorado Solar Company Completes One of Colorado's Largest Solar Array Installations

True Value Hardware Reaps Huge Electrical Savings by Investing in Solar

                 Syndicated Solar, Inc., a full service Solar Company, announced the completion of a major commercial solar power array for Grand Junction, Colorado-based hardware retail supplier, Peach Tree True Value Hardware. The new solar energy systems were designed to produce 143,866 kilowatt hours of solar electricity each year. Completed February 28th, the solar energy system's engineering, design, permitting, solar energy equipment procurement, solar grants, solar rebates and construction were all seamlessly handled by Syndicated Solar. Construction of the solar project was accomplished in two-and-a-half weeks, with almost no disruption to Peach Tree True Value's retail operations. EPC solar companies, such as Syndicated Solar, specialize in efficiently completing solar energy projects.

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Seco Tools and EETN To Inaugurate First Solar PV System In East Tennessee

                     On April 8, Seco Tools will host business leaders and federal, state and local officials at an event inaugurating a new solar photovoltaic (PV) system in Lenoir City, Tennessee. Owned by Seco Tools, the new 29.6 kilowatt (kW) solar PV system was developed, designed and constructed by Efficient Energy of Tennessee, LLC (EETN) of Powell.

                     Installed at Seco Tools’ Lenoir City production facility, the system is comprised of 126 SHARP solar modules manufactured in Memphis, using AGC Flat Glass manufactured in Kingsport. Seco Tools was awarded energy grant funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which was applied to the total system cost.

                     The Sharp NU-U235F1 solar modules deployed in this 29.61 kW top-of-pole mount PV system were installed with the support of the Lenoir City Utilities Board (LCUB) and Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) under the TVA Generation Partners Program. It is anticipated the solar power array will generate 37,067 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of clean, emissions-free energy annually. This amount of power is equivalent to powering more than 3 average Tennessee homes annually.

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Solar Frontier Sets New Efficiency Record in Thin-Film CIS Technology

                   Solar Frontier has announced that it has achieved 17.2% aperture area efficiency on a 30x30cm CIS-based photovoltaic submodule, according to in-house measurements. This new world record for thin-film CIS technology was accomplished at Solar Frontier’s dedicated research laboratory in Atsugi, Japan, a cornerstone of the company’s integrated research and production framework, in cooperation with Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). The new record surpasses Solar Frontier’s previous achievement of 16.3% set in September, 2010. As per Solar Frontier, the details of the 17.2% achievement will be made available at the 37th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, to be held June 19-24, 2011 at the Washington State Convention Center, Seattle, Washington.

Sunengy, Australia, partners with India’s largest integrated private power utility, Tata Power to build its first floating solar plant in India

                   

In India, a pilot plant for the low-cost, floating-on-water, solar technology is to be build by the end of this year.  This, floating-on-water, solar technology is developed by Sunengy, Australia. Sunengy, Australia, partners with India’s largest integrated private power utility, Tata Power to build its first floating solar plant in India and construction will commence in August 2011. This project allows Sunengy to demonstrate the practicality of its technology in one of the world’s most promising solar power markets. This nascent technology will be demonstrated in the natural environment; it utilises the water surface for mounting and does not compete with land that can be used for other purposes The Liquid Solar Array (LSA) technology uses traditional Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) technology – a lens and a small area of solar cells that tracks the sun throughout the day, like a sunflower. Floating the LSA on water reduces the need for expensive supporting structures to protect it from high winds. The lenses submerge in bad weather and the water also cools the cells which increases their efficiency and life-span. LSA effectively turns a dam into a very large battery, offering free solar storage and opportunity for improved water resource management. LSA needs no heavy materials or huge land acquisitions and is effectively cyclone proof. If India uses just one percent of its 30,000 square kilometers of captured water with this LSA system, the power generated will be equivalent to 15 large coal-fired power stations.