Solar ... In the news

Martyn1981

Some renewables news from Fukushima:

i. Solar park on contamintaed land:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21528764.800-japan-could-become-second-biggest-solar-power-nation.html

ii. World's largest off-shore wind farm:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23082-japan-to-build-worlds-largest-offshore-wind-farm.html

These projects also take advantage of the powerful grid connection infrastructure left over from the nuclear industry.

Japan is also to launch a FIT @ $0.5/kWh:

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120630f1.html

"The FIT system will immediately boost demand for solar panels, creating great opportunities for all solar battery manufacturers and related companies. It will lead to cities installing more solar panels, and the development of better energy management systems,"

Just imagine what those clever Japanese will develop in the next decade!

Mart.

zeupater

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Some renewables news from Fukushima: ....

Hi

Typical of Japanese efficiency ... loads of surplus network infrastructure so why not make use of it as soon as possible, instead of endless debate and consultation as happens in the UK ....

Z

Energetic_2

Since the Tsunami they've developed their electric car charge points to allow the car battery to feed the home in cases of grid failure.

The EV's could be the first real step in home storage. The chaos after the disaster has changed their mindset and they are now really focussed on grid autonomy during these extreme events. The new housing estates all have PV and EV charge points as standard.

Although it looks like there will be some nice new L-ion batteries going for scrap from the 787 fleet...

Martyn1981

A new record efficiency reached for thin film solar cells using CIGS:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130118064733.htm

Also, and whilst not solar, a New Scientist article on wind energy in the UK:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21729000.200-wind-power-delivers-too-much-to-ignore.html

and a linked report:

http://www.ippr.org/images/media/files/publication/2012/08/beyond-the-bluster_Aug2012_9564.pdf

Mart.

spgsc531

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/23/solar-companies-feed-in-tariff-cuts?intcmp=122

The_Green_Hornet

spgsc531 wrote: »

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/23/solar-companies-feed-in-tariff-cuts?intcmp=122

Your link is broken and shouldn't the headline be

"Solar companies to sue UK taxpayer for £140m over feed-in tariff cuts"

as the Government has no money of it's own.

zeupater

Hi All

Pretty typical of German 'joined-up-thinking' ..... http://criticalpoweronline.com/news/012013-181/ ....

With solar pv in Germany being pretty close to a saturation-point where further installed capacity would likely cause major grid issues this looks to be a positive move towards a supply-to-demand solution ...

HTH
Z

rogerblack

Martyn1981 wrote: »

A new record efficiency reached for thin film solar cells using CIGS:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130118064733.htm

Ah yes - flexible solar panels in whatever iteration.
Maybe this time it'll work.
All prior efforts have pretty much died due to the decreasing price of crystalline solar.

At the moment, I'm almost of the belief that cost per watt and efficiency are a somewhat of red herring, other than incidentally.

What's needed is solar that is not panels.
But that is an asthetically acceptable whole-roof-covering that has a lower lifetime TCO than a conventional roof.

rogerblack

zeupater wrote: »

Hi All

With solar pv in Germany being pretty close to a saturation-point where further installed capacity would likely cause major grid issues this looks to be a positive move towards a supply-to-demand solution

MASS PRODUCTION!

Batteries and pumped storage have major issues.
In principle, there isn't anything really hard about flywheel energy storage - it's just putting the money into getting the costs down, which nobodies done.
The 'compress air to use in jet turbines and burn gas with for higher efficiency' is a neat wrinkle.

zeupater

rogerblack wrote: »

MASS PRODUCTION!

Batteries and pumped storage have major issues.
In principle, there isn't anything really hard about flywheel energy storage - it's just putting the money into getting the costs down, which nobodies done.
The 'compress air to use in jet turbines and burn gas with for higher efficiency' is a neat wrinkle.

Hi

At the moment it's nothing to do with 'mass production' or any particular technology .... it looks like it's simply establishing a framework for sector co-operation on product development & standardisation ... my guess is that it will lead to some form of financial assistance to the industry to encourage R&D with a further potential for initial federal (Germany !) financial support for early adopters of whatever solutions are deemed to be required.

HTH
Z