Funneling solar energy: Antenna made of carbon nanotubes could make photovoltaic cells more efficient

ScienceDaily (Sep. 13, 2010) — Using carbon nanotubes (hollow tubes of carbon atoms), MIT chemical engineers have found a way to concentrate solar energy 100 times more than a regular photovoltaic cell. Such nanotubes could form antennas that capture and focus light energy, potentially allowing much smaller and more powerful solar arrays.

"Instead of having your whole roof be a photovoltaic cell, you could have little spots that were tiny photovoltaic cells, with antennas that would drive photons into them," says Michael Strano, the Charles and Hilda Roddey Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and leader of the research team.

Strano and his students describe their new carbon nanotube antenna, or "solar funnel," in the Sept. 12 online edition of the journal Nature Materials. Lead authors of the paper are postdoctoral associate Jae-Hee Han and graduate student Geraldine Paulus.

Their new antennas might also be useful for any other application that requires light to be concentrated, such as night-vision goggles or telescopes.

Solar panels generate electricity by converting photons (packets of light energy) into an electric current. Strano's nanotube antenna boosts the number of photons that can be captured and transforms the light into energy that can be funneled into a solar cell.

The antenna consists of a fibrous rope about 10 micrometers (millionths of a meter) long and four micrometers thick, containing about 30 million carbon nanotubes. Strano's team built, for the first time, a fiber made of two layers of nanotubes with different electrical properties -- specifically, different bandgaps.

In any material, electrons can exist at different energy levels. When a photon strikes the surface, it excites an electron to a higher energy level, which is specific to the material. The interaction between the energized electron and the hole it leaves behind is called an exciton, and the difference in energy levels between the hole and the electron is known as the bandgap.

The inner layer of the antenna contains nanotubes with a small bandgap, and nanotubes in the outer layer have a higher bandgap. That's important because excitons like to flow from high to low energy. In this case, that means the excitons in the outer layer flow to the inner layer, where they can exist in a lower (but still excited) energy state.

Therefore, when light energy strikes the material, all of the excitons flow to the center of the fiber, where they are concentrated. Strano and his team have not yet built a photovoltaic device using the antenna, but they plan to. In such a device, the antenna would concentrate photons before the photovoltaic cell converts them to an electrical current. This could be done by constructing the antenna around a core of semiconducting material.
The interface between the semiconductor and the nanotubes would separate the electron from the hole, with electrons being collected at one electrode touching the inner semiconductor, and holes collected at an electrode touching the nanotubes.

This system would then generate electric current. The efficiency of such a solar cell would depend on the materials used for the electrode, according to the researchers.
Strano's team is the first to construct nanotube fibers in which they can control the properties of different layers, an achievement made possible by recent advances in separating nanotubes with different properties.

While the cost of carbon nanotubes was once prohibitive, it has been coming down in recent years as chemical companies build up their manufacturing capacity. "At some point in the near future, carbon nanotubes will likely be sold for pennies per pound, as polymers are sold," says Strano. "With this cost, the addition to a solar cell might be negligible compared to the fabrication and raw material cost of the cell itself, just as coatings and polymer components are small parts of the cost of a photovoltaic cell."

Strano's team is now working on ways to minimize the energy lost as excitons flow through the fiber, and on ways to generate more than one exciton per photon. The nanotube bundles described in the Nature Materials paper lose about 13 percent of the energy they absorb, but the team is working on new antennas that would lose only 1 percent.

Funding: National Science Foundation Career Award, MIT Sloan Fellowship, the MIT-Dupont Alliance and the Korea Research Foundation.
Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The original article was written by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office.

Journal Reference:
Jae-Hee Han, Geraldine L. C. Paulus, Ryuichiro Maruyama, Daniel A. Heller, Woo-Jae Kim, Paul W. Barone, Chang Young Lee, Jong Hyun Choi, Moon-Ho Ham, Changsik Song, C. Fantini, Michael S. Strano. Exciton antennas and concentrators from core–shell and corrugated carbon nanotube filaments of homogeneous composition. Nature Materials, 2010; DOI: 10.1038/nmat2832
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
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Every building should flaunt energy performance says NG Bailey

The government should launch a policy forcing all landlords to hang giant Display Energy Certificates (DEC) inside their buildings to help kickstart a low carbon retrofitting revolution of the UK's building stock.

That was the stark message from leading green construction firm NG Bailey at the CBI today, which warned the UK is ill equipped to meet its carbon cutting 2020 and 2050 targets.

“Our current policies won’t deliver the goals," said NG Bailey sustainability director at Cal Bailey. "But I think we can achieve a dramatic change in our behaviour, and incentives for landlords, by making energy performance more visible by a simple branding method."

NG Bailey is a founding member of the UK Green Building Council, which is trying to push the refurbishment of non-domestic buildings up the political agenda as part of plans to halve emissions from the built environment by 2020.

At present, only public buildings must prominently display a DEC, however Bailey urged for the legislation to be rolled out immediately to all large buildings over 1,000m sq and then applied to smaller buildings in five years' time. He suggested buildings should display a 1m sq certificate in lobbies or receptions.

The policy could boost the value of better performing buildings, thus financially rewarding any landlords who build to high energy standards, he said, and would be simple and cheap for the government to implement.

However, critics at the event argued Bailey's idea was overly simplistic and failed to take account of the entire carbon footprint of a building, including waste management systems, public transport access and carbon embodied in construction.
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Computer in wrapping-paper form give solar cells a makeover

ScienceDaily (Sep. 15, 2010) — Driven by rapid global industrialization, finite fossil fuel reserves, and the high cost of many alternative energy options, meeting the world's energy challenge may demand novel solutions. One potential solution has its roots in the ubiquitous industrial invention: the factory.

Investigators at SUNY Binghamton's Center for Advanced Microelectronics Manufacturing (CAMM) -- the only center of its kind in the United States -- are giving factory production of solar energy cells a modern makeover. Their approach includes the use of "continuous electronic sheets," something like a computer flattened into wrapping paper to perform its many functions. They describe their new approach in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, which is published by the American Institute of Physics.
Explains lead researcher Howard Wang, "The goal is to apply the next generation of manufacturing to addressing the energy challenge in the way solar cells are produced. We think nanoscale engineering is the key to this new low-cost opportunity for enhancing the solar energy landscape."

Doing this includes: the use of large-scale, flexible format; roll-to-roll manufacturing, a process resembling the printing process of newspapers; and the use of continuous electronic sheets.

To reach this goal, the Wang team devised a promising hybrid material that has high structural quality but is compatible with the roll-to-roll processing technique.

"By driving the cost of production down and maintaining quality with the hybrid," says Wang, "we can create a product that can be competitive with silicon-based products."

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by American Institute of Physics, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Journal Reference:
Xu et al. Vertically aligned ZnO nanodisks and their uses in bulk heterojunction solar cells. Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, 2010; 2 (5): 053101 DOI: 10.1063/1.3478880
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
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Stiebel Eltron launches into photovoltaic installation

Merseyside-based green energy manufacturer Stiebel Eltron has launched a solar photovoltaic (PV) product range called Tegreon which is already Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) approved.
The company has already made a name for itself in heat pumps.

The Tegreon range will carry an extended warranty of 10 years and will have guaranteed performance levels of 90 per cent of original specification for 12 years and 80 per cent for 25 years. Most solar providers limit performance warranties to 80 per cent for 20 years, said Mark McManus, UK managing director of the German-owned company.

The PV panels will be aggressively marketed to the private housing sector, social housing, public bodies, such as hospitals, schools and councils and private businesses looking to take advantage of the FiT, said Mc Manus.
Stiebel Eltron is offering a free energy efficiency report of any building in the UK to detail how a property can best ‘go green’.
“This will include the cost, the carbon savings and what the pay back level is likely to be,” said McManus.
Under the FiT scheme, a typical 2.5kW well-sited solar PV installation could generate up £900 a year and save up to £140 a year on electricity bills, the company estimates.
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Feed-in tariff incentive scheme must pay all generators the same

With the media awash with stories of rising numbers of new microgeneration installations and entrepreneurial companies springing up who will install them at zero cost, momentum behind the government’s feed-in-tariff (FiT) scheme is really beginning to gather pace.

Since FiTs were launched in April this year, Ofgem figures now show that nearly 9000 new solar, hydro, wind and microCHP projects have been installed around the country

As the UK’s leading 100 per cent renewable electricity supplier, with over 1300 independent generators on our books, Good Energy has been paying our own version of a FiT since 2004. And we’ve campaigned hard for the introduction of a support scheme to provide businesses and households with the financial certainty they need to invest in microgeneration.

We welcomed the introduction of FiT in February as a great step in the right direction. But the news that large numbers of early adopters have yet to register for the scheme, demonstrates that the FiT incentive doesn’t go far enough.

The problem is not that these generators simply don’t know about the FiT incentive, as suggested by ‘industry insiders’, but that they receive a much lower rate of payment than installations which took place after July 2009 – just 9p/kWh for their energy rather than the standard 41p/kWh that solar installations post-July 2009 are paid.

For someone with a 2kW solar PV, that amounts to average payment of around £150 a year – little wonder that they feel disgruntled, disenfranchised, and that it’s not worth the copious amounts of paperwork involved to get the payment.

These individuals and businesses were the pioneers who invested in small and medium-scale renewable generation before the feed-in tariff incentive was created. Why should they be paid less for their energy when they are the very people who took the greatest financial risks in the first place, helping to demonstrate to others how it can be done and encouraging further adoption?

The answer is simple: they shouldn’t.

Since I founded Good Energy 10 years ago I have met scores of companies and individuals who have invested the time, energy and money in renewable projects because of the rewards, both financial and ethical, that they have reaped from them. Those people have been vital to the development of the feed-in tariff scheme we now have in the UK. Without their commitment to microgeneration, Whitehall would have had to spend a lot more time and money encouraging individuals and business to invest in renewable generation projects.

Furthermore, they have taken the risks and broken the new ground necessary to help create the incentive scheme that we have today.

Earlier this year Good Energy launched our Fair Deal for Entrepreneurs campaign which prompted nearly 100 MPs of all parties to back the call to reward pre-July 2009 early adopters for their hard work and innovation. The then Conservative opposition committed, in writing, to reviewing Government policy in this area. Eighty per cent of Liberal Democrat MPs, including leading members who are now in government, backed this campaign.

As Parliament heads into its autumn programme, Good Energy intends to keep up the pressure on the new government, which plans to introduce a “full” FiT scheme.
If Good Energy has its way, the scheme will not only be full, but also fair.
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Bring solar power back to the White House

"The Bush administration, in fact, created an opening -- it brought solar energy back to the White House, with some photovoltaic panels on a maintenance shed and a small water heating system for the "presidential spa and cabana." But the Bush officials purposely did it without fanfare, and fanfare is exactly what we need. Those panels belong on the roof, where every visitor can see them."

Wouldn't THIS be the point. The new solar PV and solar hot water panels were installed around 2003 and no one noticed them. This lays to rest the myth of solar sticking out like a sore thumb. The systems today can be BIPV, building integrated photovoltaic. These panels can help power your home, can heat your water for laundry, bathing and even help heat a home and they can be ubiquitous. If you want to see what Bush 'does' with alternative energy, look up Crawford Texas and the 'Western White House'.
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World Bank boosts green credentials by appointing clean tech czar

The World Bank announced yesterday that it has appointed an influential Californian professor as its first clean tech "czar" as it attempts to meet growing demand for financing from low-carbon projects in developing countries.

Daniel M Kammen, the professor of energy at the University of California, Berkeley, will take up the position as the organisation's first chief technical specialist for renewable energy and energy efficiency from 4 October, and will be tasked with shaping the bank's clean tech policy.

Inger Andersen, World Bank vice president for sustainable development, said that the appointment had been made in response to "unprecedented" demand for loans to renewable energy and energy-efficiency projects.
"More than ever, our clients and countries are looking for solutions as they put in place economic growth and poverty reduction policies for their citizens today, while taking into account the needs of the planet tomorrow," he said. " The supply and use of clean energy is a prime element in responding to both concerns."

Kammen is an influential figure in the field of clean energy and has worked as an advisor to both the Californian and the US federal government on renewable energy policy.

He said the World Bank was in a position to make "incredible contributions" to efforts to improve environmental responsibility and could play a key role in providing more "low-cost, high-quality clean energy worldwide".

The appointment is the latest in a series of measures designed to bolster the bank's green credentials and increase the amount of money it lends to low-carbon projects.

Kammen will work alongside World Bank veteran Andrew Steer, who was appointed earlier this summer as special envoy on climate change and has been tasked with overseeing $6bn in projects funded through the organisation's Climate Investment Funds.

The Bank is likely to play an increasingly influential role in funding low-carbon projects in emerging and developing economies as industrialised nations attempt to increase funding for climate change adaptation and mitigation.

However, the organisation remains a controversial source of funding for clean-tech projects, with some countries criticising the financing terms it imposes on developing nations and others accusing it of continuing to fund carbon-intensive projects at the same time as financing green initiatives.
Most notably, the US, the Netherlands and the UK all abstained from a recent vote approving a $3.75bn loan for a planned coal-fired plant in South Africa on environmental grounds.

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Forcing mismatched elements together could yield better solar cells

In what could be a step toward higher efficiency solar cells, an international team including University of Michigan professors has invalidated the most commonly used model to explain the behavior of a unique class of materials called highly mismatched alloys.

Highly mismatched alloys, which are still in the experimental stages of development, are combinations of elements that won't naturally mix together using conventional crystal growth techniques. Professor Rachel Goldman compares them to some extent to homogenized milk, in which the high-fat cream and low-fat milk that would naturally separate are forced to mix together at high pressure.

New mixing methods such as "molecular beam epitaxy" are allowing researchers to combine disparate elements. The results, Goldman says, are more dramatic than smooth milk. "Highly mismatched alloys have very unusual properties," Goldman said. "You can add just a sprinkle of one element and drastically change the electrical and optical properties of the alloy."

Goldman is a professor in the departments of Materials Science and Engineering, and Physics. Her team included other U-M physicists and engineers as well as researchers from Tyndall National Institute in Ireland.
Solar cells convert energy from the sun into electricity by absorbing light. However, different materials absorb light at different wavelengths. The most efficient solar cells are made of multiple materials that together can capture a greater portion of the electromagnetic radiation in sunlight. The best solar cells today are still missing a material that can make use of a portion of the sun's infrared light.

Goldman's team made samples of gallium arsenide nitride, a highly mismatched alloy that is spiked with nitrogen, which can tap into that underutilized infrared radiation. The researchers used molecular beam epitaxy to coax the nitrogen to mix with their other elements. Molecular beam epitaxy involves vaporizing pure samples of the mismatched elements and combining them in a vacuum.

Next, the researchers measured the alloy's ability to convert heat into electricity. They wanted to determine whether its 10 parts per million of nitrogen were distributed as individual atoms or as clusters. They found that in some cases, the nitrogen atoms had grouped together, contrary to what the prevailing "band anti-crossing" model predicted.

"We've shown experimentally that the band anti-crossing model is too simple to explain the electronic properties of highly mismatched alloys," Goldman said. "It does not quantitatively explain several of their extraordinary optical and electronic properties. Atomic clusters have a significant impact on the electronic properties of alloy films."

If researchers can learn to control the formation of these clusters, they could build materials that are more efficient at converting light and heat into electricity, Goldman said. "The availability of higher efficiency thermoelectrics would make it more practical to generate electricity from waste heat such as that produced in power plants and car engines," Goldman said. This research is newly published online in Physical Review B. The paper is entitled "Nitrogen composition dependence of electron effective mass in gallium arsenide nitride."
This research is funded by the National Science Foundation, the Science Foundation Ireland, and the Center for Solar and Thermal Energy Conversion, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by University of Michigan.

Journal Reference:
T. Dannecker, Y. Jin, H. Cheng, C. Gorman, J. Buckeridge, C. Uher, S. Fahy, C. Kurdak, R. Goldman. Nitrogen composition dependence of electron effective mass in GaAs_{1-x}N_{x}. Physical Review B, 2010; 82 (12): 125203 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.82.125203
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

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Feed-in tariff delivers £180,000 for generators over first three months

Ofgem has attempted to clear up the confusion surrounding the number of households and businesses taking advantage of the government's feed-in tariff renewable energy incentive scheme, yesterday releasing detailed figures revealing 6,850 new installations have registered for the scheme since its launch in April.

The update confirms that in total 9,350 installations have registered to receive payments through the feed-in tariff scheme, but of these about 2,500 were pre-existing installations that have simply transferred from the Renewable Obligation subsidy scheme into the feed-in tariff.

Industry insiders have been concerned that Ofgem's failure to publicly distinguish between pre-existing and new installations has allowed critics of the scheme to overstate its success and accuse the incentives available of being overly generous.

The figures were made available in the first quarterly newsletter from Ofgem E-Serve, the agency set up to administer the feed-in tariff.

They also reveal that under the scheme total payments worth £182,059 were made to renewable energy generators between the start of April and the end of June. As anticipated, the solar sector has dominated the early months of the scheme, with solar photovoltaic installations accounting for 44 per cent of all installed capacity, compared to 35 per cent wind capacity and 21 per cent hydro.

However, there has been more interest in the incentives from the business sector than was originally anticipated, with 41 per cent of feed-in tariff-registered capacity coming from installations on commercial properties.

The update will also fuel concerns that not enough is being done to notify households and businesses that already operate renewable energy installations that they are able to register for the feed-in tariff.

An estimated 6,000 pre-existing installations accredited under the Renewable Obligation are able to be migrated to the feed-in tariff scheme, but to date only 2,500 have done so.

Ofgem said in the newsletter that "a large majority of the remaining installations are still to provide the required information to allow them to be migrated", meaning that many early adopters have only a few weeks left to submit the necessary documents and enter into the feed-in tariff scheme before the 1 October deadline.

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MIT boffins unveil self-healing solar cell

For years scientists have managed to develop solar cells that are highly efficient in laboratory conditions, but quickly deteriorate when asked to cope with direct sunlight – which constitutes something of a drawback for a solar panel.

Now a team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) reckon they may have found the solution to the problem of deteriorating solar cells following the demonstration of a new cell design that manages to repair itself.

The cell mimics the ability of plants to convert sunlight into energy at the same time as continuously breaking down light-capturing molecules and reassembling them from scratch in order to avoid the debilitating effects of sunlight.

Michael Strano, the Charles and Hilda Roddey Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, who led the research team, said the cell was "basically imitating tricks that nature has discovered over millions of years", such as plants' " reversibility, the ability to break apart and reassemble".

The cell uses synthetic molecules known as phospholipids that form disks which then provide structural support to proteins that respond to light. The molecules then create "reaction centres" that release electrons when hit by light particles. When suspended in a solution these reaction centres spontaneously attach themselves to carbon nanotubes that hold the disks in place and also act as wires that can transmit the released electrons.

The research team then added a surfactant to the self-assembling mixture, which resulted in the seven components that make up the system breaking apart. Once the surfactant, which MIT said was similar to that used to break up the BP oil spill in the Gulf, was removed from the mixture using a membrane, the compounds spontaneously assembled once again into a perfectly formed, rejuvenated photocell.
The team then ran the cell through the same cycle of assembly and disassembly repeatedly over a 14-hour period and recorded no loss of efficiency.

Strano said that the initial experiment delivered very low levels of efficiency, because the concentration of the molecular structures in the solution was very low. However, the efficiency of each individual structure stood at around 40 per cent, double that of the most efficient solar cells currently available, while the team believes that, theoretically, the structures could reach close to 100 per cent efficiency. MIT said the team is now working on how to increase the concentration of the solution.

It is likely to take years to develop commercially available solar cells based on the technology, but the breakthrough suggests that one of the most significant technical challenges faced by emerging nanomaterial-based solar technologies could be overcome.

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Renewables provide real returns for investors, says Salmond

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has claimed that investing in renewable energy projects would create "real wealth" for Scotland

Establishing a sustainable low carbon economy presents vast investment opportunities for Scotland's financial services industry, Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has said.


Speaking at Aberdeen Asset Management's conference last week (September 3), Mr Salmond highlighted that investment in renewable energy and low carbon projects would "create real wealth" and not asset inflation. This would benefit the economy and environment, he added.

Mr Salmond claimed that Scotland's has world-leading expertise and experience in financial services and in particular asset management, which could help to fuel the "renewables revolution" by investing in infrastructure.

He said: "Companies such as Aberdeen Asset Management have helped to establish Scotland as a global hub for financial services excellence with the people and infrastructure to deliver success. "Scotland has an outstanding reputation for financial innovation and significant opportunities lie ahead from harnessing investment from developing economies such as China to encourage sustainable economic growth through infrastructure creation, not asset inflation."

He added that creating a sustainable low carbon economy and tackling the global climate change challenge presents "enormous opportunities". "The financial industry can deliver real gains for their investors and our environment by funding the renewables revolution and financing low carbon developments." Later this month, Mr Salmond will open the two-day Scottish Low Carbon Investment Conference in Edinburgh, which aims to bring together leaders from finance, energy and government with investors and developers of low carbon projects to discuss the multi-billion pound opportunities presented by renewable energy and other low carbon developments.

On this event, Mr Salmond said: "The Scottish Low Carbon Investment Conference will take place later this month to explore how we can capitalise on Scotland's rich natural energy resources and financial expertise to deliver a new green economy.

"Global climate change is the most pressing issue of our generation. It is crucial that our business leaders understand both the challenges and opportunities climate change presents so that we can work together to ensure a positive future for our economy, environment and society."

The low carbon economy is a global market, estimated to be worth £3 trillion in 2007-08 and forecast to grow to £4.3 trillion by 2015. The Scottish Government estimates that 60,000 ‘green jobs' could be created by 2020 in low carbon industries and businesses across Scotland (see this NewEnergyFocus.com story).
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Feed-in Tariffs impact solar PV more than other technologies

The REA‘s analysis of Ofgem‘s figures show 6,930 solar PV panels serving the domestic sector have been installed since the introduction of the FiT.

The Renewable Energy Association (REA) has published its analysis of figures obtained from energy regulator Ofgem, which show that 6,930 solar PV panels serving the domestic sector have been installed since the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) was introduced in April this year.


The figures, as interpreted by the REA, also reveal that 1,376 domestic PV installations have been transferred from the Renewables Obligation (RO), with a further 14 schemes transferred across the commercial, industrial and community sectors.

Based on this analysis, the REA claims the tariffs have had more of an impact on solar PV than other technologies.

Chief executive of the REA, Gaynor Hartnell, said: "In the first five months of the scheme, the tariffs have had more of an impact on solar PV than other technologies, but that's hardly surprising.
"Solar panels are the most straightforward renewable power generation technology for the average householder. All you need is some roof space with right aspect. It is usually rapid to install and planning permission is rarely required as it is permitted development."

She added that, despite this, it was important to keep the growth in perspective, with the UK having only installed 2% of the PV installed in Belgium last year, meaning "we have a lot of catching up to do".
The figures, correct yesterday (September 6), provide further detail on those published by Ofgem last week, which showed how many solar photovoltaic devices were fitted in August under the Feed-in Tariff.

Projects installed under the Renewables Obligation, prior to 15th July 2009 Projects installed under the Renewables Obligation, after 15th July 2009New houses with PV panels under 4kW, built after 1st April 2010 Existing homes (ie retrofitted with PV panels) under 4kW, built after 1st April 2010Projects in range 100kW to 5MW, built after 1st April 2010Projects in range 10kW to 100kW, built after 1st April 2010Projects in range 4-10kW, built after 1st April 2010

Source: REA's analysis of Ofgem's figures
On top of looking in greater detail at the number of installations which have migrated from the RO - with more set to transfer before the October 1 cut-off date - the REA has also surveyed its members to find that the tariffs have resulted in a 62% increase in employment levels to date, with an overall increase of 125% likely by the end of the first tariff year.

The survey was based on the results of 45 companies, ranging from sole traders to large multinationals. The REA said the majority of the responses were from installers, with five new companies having been set up as a result of the FiTs.

The REA released its analysis on the day that climate change minister, Greg Barker, endorsed FiTs for solar power during a visit to Birchwood High School in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire - the first school to benefit from a new scheme offered by renewable technology enabler, Our Generation.
Our Generation has secured private sector funding as a result of the government's FiT, which will be used to enable "hundreds of schools" throughout Britain to have solar electricity systems installed free of charge.
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Capital markets in the spotlight in fight against climate change (Press release)

The vital role of capital markets in tackling climate change has been ignored for too long, Climate Change Minister Greg Barker will say today as he launches the Capital Markets Climate Initiative (CMCI) at the London Stock Exchange.

Opening the conference with Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, Greg Barker will highlight the City of London’s potential to become a global hub for green finance and why low carbon investment is a huge opportunity for the UK’s financial services industry.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change is bringing together key players from the City with international financiers and policy makers, with the initiative aimed at driving green economic investment in emerging economies and identifying how the current barriers to new investment can be dismantled.
The CMCI aims to help unlock the private sector’s ability to help meet the $100 billion of new green investment required annually by 2020 to tackle climate change in developing countries.

Greg Barker said:

“The vital role of capital markets in tackling climate change has been overlooked for far too long. The finance needed to help developing countries become low carbon isn’t flowing at the rate and scale needed.
“However, this is a huge opportunity for the UK financial services industry to grab a share of a completely new international market that will be worth billions in the years to come.
“I have convened today’s meeting to bring together our key players from the City and internationally to help drive green economic investment.
"We want the City of London, with its unique expertise in innovative financial products, to lead the world and become the global hub for green growth finance. We need to put the sub-prime disaster behind us and focus back on investment in genuine wealth creation and in ways that don't damage the environment”.

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said:

“As the powerhouse of the UK's economy, it is vital that London remains at the forefront of low carbon advancement. That's why City Hall has teamed up with others to set up the £100m London Green Fund to provide investment for climate change programmes and to prove their commercial viability. I want to ensure London's competitiveness as a leading global city and the Capital Markets Climate Initiative is a great opportunity to help us do that.”

Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Justine Greening, said:

"Private finance is vital to tackling climate change and today's discussions will help ensure that the Government has a full understanding of what can be done to foster this. We need to make sure that we get the policy framework right in order to unlock large-scale private investment for clean technologies both here in the UK and internationally."

Xavier Rolet, Chief Executive Officer, London Stock Exchange Group, said:

“We are delighted to be hosting the launch of the CMCI. The London Stock Exchange is already home to over 100 clean tech firms, with our market’s deep pool of equity capital powering the development of low carbon companies from around the world.
“But we want to do more, and by working together, building on the UK’s leadership in green technology and harnessing the global expertise gathered here today, we can help build a vibrant business environment for the low carbon age.”
The International Energy Agency estimates that the total investment required by 2030 to reduce emissions by 50% by 2050 is around $1 trillion per year. Between 2005 and 2009 investment in clean energy grew by 230%, with $162 billion invested globally last year.

The UK has a leading position on clean energy investment. Amongst the G20, the UK was the fourth country in terms of five-year growth (2005-2009) in clean energy investment with around $11.2bn being invested in 2009 alone, according to Pew Center findings.

The London Green Fund is made up of contributions of £50 million from the London European Regional Development Fund Programme, £32 million from the LDA and £18 million from the London Waste and Recycling Board.
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Solar sector welcomes rise in home solar uptake

The figures show a marked increase in domestic PV installations last month

The Solar Trade Association has today (September 1) welcomed figures published by Ofgem which show a surge in the number of solar photovoltaic panels installed by homeowners in August.


However, while the solar energy industry body welcomed the report it stressed that there was a need for further improvement to help the UK to catch up with the rest of Europe.

Ofgem, through its Feed-in Tariff (FIT) Statistical Report, said there were 3,606 solar photovoltaic devices fitted to households in August 2010, dwarfing the previous highest figures for July (1,736) and June (1,397).
Commenting on the increased figures, the Solar Trade Association offered a word of caution about financial drivers for domestic installations.

David Matthews, chief executive of the Solar Trade Association, told NewEnergyFocus.com: "We welcome the rise in PV as there has got to be an increase in renewables, as in this country we are well, well behind what is happening in Europe, especially Germany and Austria."

Mr Matthews called on the government to ensure that the forthcoming Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) would be used to complement the FITs system. "We don't want to see boom and bust, so let's make sure that market intervention is balanced."

The figures, which are updated monthly on a dedicated website by Ofgem, account for the uptake of microgeneration technologies since the launch of the FITs scheme, which rewards householders for renewable energy they produce, on April 1 2010.

Those that install solar PV panels receive 41.3 pence per kWh at the tariff's peak. After the panel or panels are installed the tariff is paid for 25 years and increases in line with inflation.

Since the introduction of the FIT, there have been 8,037 domestic installations of Solar PV panels totalling 19.5 MW of installed capacity. Comparatively, 39 hydro, two micro-combined heat and power (CHP) and 373 wind devices have been installed in UK homes over the same period.

Ofgem declined to comment on the figures
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Off-the-shelf dyes improve solar cells

Like most technologies, work on solar devices has proceeded in generational waves. First came bulk silicon-based solar cells built with techniques that borrowed heavily from those used to make computer chips. Next came work on thin films of materials specifically tailored to harvest the sun's energy, but still more or less borrowed from the realm of microelectronics manufacturing. Then came the third generation, described by one researcher and blogger as "the wild west," which among other objectives aims to build inexpensive next-generation solar cells by relying on decidedly low-tech wet chemistry.

In a paper in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, which is published by the American Institute of Physics, Ram Mehra of Sharda University in Greater Noida, India, reports success in boosting the ability of zinc oxide solar cells to absorb visible light simply by applying a blended mixture of various off-the-shelf dyes commonly used in food and medical industries. Working with colleagues from the University of Delhi, Mehra doused cells with a variety of dyes in a soak-then-dry procedure not unlike that used to color a tee-shirt in a home washing machine.

The best result came from a blend of dyes -- including Fast Green, a food dye used in canned vegetables, jellies and sauces and Rose Bengal, used in diagnostic eye drops to stain damaged cells and identify eye injuries -- that together boosted the efficiency of zinc oxide solar cells by nearly eight percent. Mehra and colleagues say that in the future, specific dye blends might be formulated to make solar cells targeted for specific uses, much as custom mixing of dyes today yields products as diverse as adhesives, cosmetics, and perfumes. They write that "by changing composition of the mixture, its properties will change to be more or less suited to a particular useful application."

Mehra's work on so-called dye-sensitized solar cells is funded by India's Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by American Institute of Physics, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Journal Reference:
Rani et al. Development of a dye with broadband absorbance in visible spectrum for an efficient dye-sensitized solar cell. Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, 2010; 2 (4): 043103 DOI: 10.1063/1.3463056
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New solar prediction system gives time to prepare for the storms ahead

ScienceDaily (Sep. 2, 2010) — A new method of predicting solar storms that could help to avoid widespread power and communications blackouts costing billions of pounds has been launched by researchers at the University of Bradford.

Solar storms involve the release of huge amounts of hot gas and magnetic forces from the surface of the sun into space at around a million miles an hour. The next major solar storms are expected in 2012-13 as part of the sun's 11-year weather cycle. A 2008 US National Academy of Sciences report estimated that modern reliance on electronics and satellite communications means a major storm could cause twenty times more economic damage than Hurricane Katrina.

Although major solar eruptions (coronal mass ejections) normally take several days to reach the Earth, the largest recorded in 1859 took just eighteen hours. Solar flares -- which can also cause significant disruption to communications systems -- take just a few minutes. So advance warning is of vital importance to enable steps to be taken to avoid the worst effects of solar activity.

Up to now, solar weather prediction has been done manually, with experts looking at 2D satellite images of the sun and assessing the likelihood of future activity. But the team from the University of Bradford's Centre for Visual Computing have created the first online automated prediction system, using 3D images generated from the joint NASA/ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory satellite (SOHO). The system can be seen at work at http://spaceweather.inf.brad.ac.uk

Already in use by both NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), the Bradford Automated Solar Activity Prediction system (ASAP) identifies and classifies sun spots and then feeds this information through a model which can predict the likelihood of solar flares. The system is able to accurately predict a solar flare six hours in advance and the team are working to achieve a similar accuracy for the prediction of major solar eruptions in the near future.

Reader in Visual Computing, Dr Rami Qahwaji, who led the EPSRC-funded research, says: "Solar weather prediction is still very much in its infancy, probably at about the point that normal weather forecasting was around 50 years ago.

"However, our system is a major step forward. By creating an automated system that can work in real time, we open up the possibility for much faster prediction and -- with sufficient data -- prediction of a wider range of activity. With NASA's new Solar Dynamic Observatory satellite which came into operation in May, we have the chance to see the sun's activity in much greater detail which will further improve our prediction capabilities."

The ASAP model is based on historical data which was analysed to identify patterns in the sun's activity. Dr Qahwaji is now applying for more funding to further improve the system and ensure it can be adapted to work with the latest sun monitoring satellites.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by University of Bradford, via AlphaGalileo.

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The new Feed-in Tariff – A tax on Northerners?

James Lovelock has questioned whether people have the intelligence to deal with a concept as complicated as climate change. Creating workable and effective policies in this area is certainly daunting, as Government is increasingly discovering. As their policies start to be implemented, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches – starting with the recently introduced Feed-in-Tariff.

A generous tariff


Since its introduction, hardly a week has gone by without an organisation contacting us with a Blackadder-style cunning plan to make money from the new Feed-in Tariff.

Fundamentally, organisations have worked out that the Government has got its sums wrong and that the tariff is far too generous if certain criteria are followed by the installers.

They have calculated that panels need to be installed in the south or south-west to make a serious profit. They need to be able to install the panels quickly, at a reasonable scale and facing south.

They also need to sign a 25 year agreement with the organisation or person who is having the panels installed on their land or property.

If they meet these criteria, organisations have calculated that they can cover the capital costs of the installation themselves, provide free or discounted electricity and be able to start to generate a profit on their investment after six to eight years.

The economics of the tariff have resulted in a plethora of initiatives. For instance, owners of land in the south-west from farmers to industrial sites are being asked to rent their land for panels. Cornwall County Council is aware of at least 30 developers who have approached organisations in the county.
Homeowners in the south-west are being approached with an offer of free panels and discounted electricity if they make their roof space available for a 25 year period. Housing Associations and other community buildings are also being approached with an offer of free or discounted electricity in return for their roof space.

Good intentions but...


The Feed-in Tariff was introduced by Government with all the right intentions but the reality is certainly not quite what they expected. Clearly the tariff is socially unjust.

It penalises people in the north, people who do not own sufficiently large enough roof areas to interest the installers and those who are not in a position to make a 25 year commitment.

Environmentally the tariff will have some negative implications. The offer of free or discounted electricity reduces an economic driver for energy efficiency. There are implications linked to putting panels on agricultural land.

Nobody has looked at the impact on soil erosion, flood run-off, the aesthetics, or the fact that it might decrease the amount of land desperately needed for growing food.
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