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Tonga replacing some of its diesel with solar next month
The first solar farm in the Pacific island nation of Tonga is set to light up homes in the country, according to a report from Matangi Tonga Online. The island nation’s King Tupou VI officially opened the first renewable energy site in the country Tuesday last week. It is expected to begin operations early next month. It will have a capacity of around 1,880 megawatt-hours per year.
The solar cell technology is extremely old and work started on this way back in the 1800’s. The French physicist Antoine – Cesar Becquerel is credited with the solar panel research, in 1839. While he was experimenting with a solid electrode that was dipped in the electrolyte solution he was able to see a photovoltaic effect. He even saw a voltage develop when the sunlight fell on the electrode. The solar cell creation for the first time is credited to Charles Fritts, who used junctions that were created when the semiconductor was coated by a very thin layer of gold.
The earliest solar cells and panels that were created were extremely inefficient and the energy conversation received from the sun stood under 1%. Russell Ohl was the first inventor, who created the silicon solar cell in 1941. in 1954, the three American researchers Gerald Pearson, Calvin Fuller and Daryl Chapin were able to create a solar panel that could the had the efficiency level of 6% with direct sunlight.
Radio station goes solar in energy-poor Congo
This radio station in Africa is broadcasting live – and solar powered.
Environment group Greenpeace launched a community radio in Congo’s Oshwe region that they said will no longer depend on expensive, noisy and polluting fuel generators but on sun-derived energy instead.
For the month of May this year, 10 percent of Germany’s total electricity production came from solar power, 40 percent more than in 2011, the Federal Association of the Energy and Water Industry reports. A total of 4 billion kilowatt-hours’ worth of solar power was fed into German grids, compared with the 2.6 billion kWh in May last year. From January to May this year, a total of 10.5 billion kWh was generated from solar, posting growth from the previous year’s 7.6 billion kWh, according to German Energy Blog.
New Solar Cell Targets the 40% of Sun’s Energy That Others Miss
A group of researchers lead by Michael Stranoannounced today that they have developed a prototype solar cell that can draw on a broader range of solar energy, and hence provide more electricity, than traditional technology.
Photo: U.S. Air Force, Airman 1st Class Nadine Y. Barclay
Ed note: Solar technologies being pioneered in Spain show even greater promise for the United States.
(via climate-changing)
French semiconductor leader Soitec will open the doors to its first large-scale manufacturing facility for concentrating photovoltaic technology products by the fourth quarter of 2012. The company will be investing more than $150 million on the facility to be based in San Diego, California. It will manufacture Soitec’s Concentrix modules which use Fresnel lenses to concentrate and focus sunlight onto small multi-junction cells.
German organic photovoltaics company Heliatek G.m.b.H. is now developing transparent solar films that can be put in between glass sheets of double glazed windows, thus integrating solar power into a potential building’s design. “[O]ur business model is to be the leading supplier of customized solar films to the building and construction material industry.
The Seoul municipal government and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education signed up for a project that will develop solar power facilities in about 1,000 schools in the South Korean capital. According to a report from The Korea Times, the city will first install solar power panels in 200 schools in the area within this year based on the agreement.
Recurrent Energy said it is selling half its portfolio of solar photovoltaic projects in Ontario to Mitsubishi Corporation and Osaka Gas. The transaction involves approximately 100 megawatts of solar power from projects currently under development. The projects will provide enough power for approximately 10,000 homes, which will be purchased by Ontario Power Authority.
Swedish home furnishings retailer giant IKEA plans to install solar energy panels in their business locations in the United States and China. Two solar rooftop projects for the retailer’s distribution centers in the eastern U.S. are to be installed this summer.
