photovoltaics

Germany stops energy subsidies, forcing First Solar to scale back

By Eileen De Guire / April 19, 2012

First Solar employees at the Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, plant will be losing their jobs when the it closes. Credit: First Solar. Turns out, Bill Gates was right. A few weeks…

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Giving an order to hybrid materials

By John Uhlrich / January 5, 2012

A unique method for processing ZnO nanowires and polythiophenes results in a hybrid structure with nanometer scale ordering and a high crystallinity, showing great promis for the future of hybrid…

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Ladies and Gentlemen—Start your pyrheliometers!

By Eileen De Guire / November 7, 2011

I Pyreheliometers are pointed toward the sun for their yearly calibrationat NREL. Accurate measurement of solar energy is needed for due diligence of photovoltaic installations. Credit: NREL. If you have…

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Bismuth ferrite research sheds light on increasing PV efficiency

By Eileen De Guire / September 19, 2011

At top, domains with opposite electrical polarization, averaging about 140 nanometers wide and separated by walls 2 nanometers thick, form a well-aligned array in a thin film of bismuth ferrite.…

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Renewable power crosses the 20% mark in Germany for the first time

By / September 9, 2011

Solar power in Germany jumped 76 percent in first six months of 2011. Credit: NREL. According to the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW), renewable energy grew—in the first…

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Other materials stories that may also be of interest

By / August 18, 2011

Check ’em out: Why we need a Kelley Blue Book for solar Swarmanoids (like the Mission Impossible crew, only better) Building honors site’s history as an aggregate mine with extensive…

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GE expands on thin-film solar, becomes near-term grid parity believer

By / June 1, 2011

CdTe array. Credit: NREL. For the first time that I am aware of, it General Electric seems to have jumped on the Sach’s Law bandwagon and decided that solar power…

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Sandia, SunPower to cooperate on PV-to-grid modeling and tool development

By / July 30, 2010

Sandia National Lab and SunPower Corp. say they have reached a new agreement on research into integrating utility-scale solar energy systems into the national electrical grid. Although a news release…

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Universities worldwide gearing up for North American Solar Challenge

By / June 10, 2010

Teams from 16 universities are about to embark on an 1,200-mile solar car race through the Midwest. The North American Solar Challenge starts June 20 in Broken Arrow, Okla., and…

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DOE video: Why ARPA-E funded 1366’s direct wafer technology for photovoltaic units

By / April 29, 2010

I continue to be really impressed with 1366 Technologies’ technical work and and business strategy. Now DOE has put together a short (4 minutes) video about 1366’s Direct Wafer Technology…

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