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Sun Volt Solar Blog

earth, the final frontier

Clean Energy, Clean Environment

We are at a cross roads in human history, we can choose to continue on as we have been, or we can make a change to improve our future and quite possibly the future for several generations to come. We are here to promote energy independence, a better environment with a higher return on investment for your hard earned money. It is what I believe in, it is why I am in the solar business.

Is the Solar Energy field recession proof?

23 Jan 08 | General Business, Solar Electric, Technology

Starting a small business during a recession may seem like a recipe for failure. The basic premise is that people will not buy anything other than what is absolutely necessary. So the questions are; is electricity necessary today? How about hot water or heat, is that necessary? Would people be interested in saving money on those things if it involved an initial outlay of cash? How fed up are people with paying for oil, gas or electric? Here is a basic recap (prices for New York State, Hudson Valley region as of January 20, 2008 from NYSERDA):

  • Home heating oil $3.484/gallon
  • Propane $2.851/gallon
  • Electric $0.138 kWh
  • Natural Gas $1.926 therm
  • Solar $0.00
  • Wind $0.00

Will people get that? I know many are rushing off to trade in their SUV’s for fuel efficient cars, but will they consider the energy they use at home as well? Those are things that I want to find out.

Right now, the solar industry is dependent on government subsides, there are no two ways about it. Without generous help from the government (federal and state) neither solar thermal nor photovoltiacs would be viable except in situations where grid power was unavailable (i.e. remote cabins, telecommunications sites, etc). In fact, in the mid 1980’s the industry was brought down to almost nothing as the Reagan administration killed all the tax incentives that were then fueling the solar sector. Will congress restore the tax breaks? Only time will tell. Even if they do, it will take a huge effort to move them away from their corporate sponsors toward the less corporate renewables.

I was listening to an interesting report on the local NPR station on my way home from work today. Amid reports of troubled economic times and other bad omens, there was an upbeat report on the Solar economy right here in the Hudson Valley. You can listen to an .mp3 of the report here (opens media player window). Basically, the it speaks about TSEC (The Solar Energy Consortium) based in Kingston, NY. This is more along the lines of research and development, but that is what will fuel the green economy in the future. It is clear to me that the sustainable movement must be able to stand on it’s own, without government assistance, to succeed. This is a tall order, considering how unfavorably the deck is stacked against renewable energy due to the huge subsides given to coal and oil.

It is, however, possible.

For the short term, the solar energy sector may well be able to weather the up coming recession as more and more people are aware of it and are looking for ways to save money. As much as we would like to believe that the human race is altruistic and will alter it’s behavior of the benefit of the planet, economics trumps environment.

For the long term, the only way that solar, wind and other renewable energy sources will survive is if they become competitive with fossil fuels on their own. This means that fossil fuels have to become more expensive (than they already are) and renewable energy, particularly photovoltaics must become less expensive.

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23 Jan 08 | General Business, Solar Electric, Technology | Comment (1)

Solar Energy Consortium, Kingston NY

21 Dec 07 | Solar Electric, Technology

I was reading the local on line news source this morning when this caught my eye:

Just under $1.5 million has been secured by Congress for the Solar Energy Consortium in Kingston.

Congressman Maurice Hinchey, who secured the funding, said it will be used to develop solar technology.

“These funds will be used to bring a new manufacturing partner into the field here of the solar consortium, and as a result, that consortium is going to grow as a whole and help strength the Hudson Valley’s identity as well,” he said.

Hinchey has already secured $3.2 million for C9 Corporation to conduct solar research and development in conjunction with TSEC.

Which leads me to the question who or what is C9 and TSEC? Here are some of the answers. About 2 years ago, C9 corporation opened a semiconductor manufacturing facility in Kingston. They have been working on research and development in several areas.

C9 Corp. plans to produce three advanced technologies. First, it will manufacture silicon carbide-based, wide band gap, superlattice wafers for high power electric switching devices and high temperature, high speed chips. Superlattice is an alloy of different elements used to form a highly-ordered, crystal lattice structure in semiconductor materials. Wide band gap semiconductors such as silicon carbide have about three times the band gap of silicon with corresponding increases in power density, temperature tolerance, speed and voltage.

For example, wide band gap silicon carbide would allow organizations like NASA to create 600 degree C Integrated Circuits to tolerate the harsh environments encountered by spacecraft, which it can only do in the lab today.

If you have a background in electronics or electrical engineering, you can appreciate the importance of what they are doing. Basically, the enemy of all semiconductors is high heat. Heat will kill a transistor or computer chip, and it makes photovoltaics run less efficiently. Developing a heat tolerant semiconductor will greatly improve the efficiency of photovoltaic cells.

…C9 is helping Nanodynamics-88 develop and manufacture large, high-voltage SiC Schottky diodes and other power devices for the power conversion market. The contract is for next-generation hybrid electric military vehicles.

Or their civilian counterparts… More interesting stuff:

For 40 years, researchers and the government have been trying to produce silicon carbide semiconductors, which have a Figure of Merit improvement of 136 over silicon. Figure of Merit is a number that represents a composite of all the positive features of semiconductor material.

What has held back the success of silicon carbide is the defects that occur from the extreme temperatures – 1,600 and 1,800 C—that must be used to produce it. The primary defects are micropipes, which show up as Swiss cheese-like holes in the wafer, and screw dislocations, which are crystal imperfections throughout the material.

“C9 has developed a technology that is free of both micropipes and screw dislocations,” said Donegan. “C9’s version of silicon carbide can extend the functions of silicon devices to include high temperature operation. Our form of silicon carbide will complement silicon by extending Moore’s Law of Exponential Advancement to several generations,” said Dr. Wang. Moore’s Law states that the transistors on a wafer will shrink in size by 50% every 18 to 24 months.
Dr. Babiak referred to the potential for C9 to manufacture advanced silicon carbide materials as a technology leap that would result from overcoming a number of technical problems, including the limitations of narrow band gap.

The band gap of semiconductor material determines its temperature and voltage characteristics. One of the original semiconductor materials predating silicon is germanium, which has a very narrow band gap and consequently unfavorable temperature and voltage characteristics. Silicon’s wider band gap vastly improved upon that, bringing temperature ranges up to 125 to 150 degree C operation and thereby making electronics available for everyday use in every aspect of life from automotive to home appliances, entertainment and office products.

Silicon carbide’s even wider band gap vastly extends the operating temperature range, speed and voltage characteristics of today’s semiconductors, allowing the creation of new devices that will be a major leap in semiconductor technology. This will affect everyday life in much the same way silicon did 20 years ago with the introduction of microelectronics.

That development would be highly beneficial to photovoltaic technology as well. One of the downsides to photovoltiacs is their low efficiency and high cost. Increasing the band gap width is huge step forward.

Photovoltaic cells produce electricity when they are struck by photons from the sun. When a photon hits the cell surface, one of three things happen; it either passes through the panel, bounces off of the panel (reflected) or is absorbed by the panel. When a photon is absorbed by the panel it excites the electrons in the semiconductor material, which is the desired effect.

However, if the electron is not excited enough to move through the band gap to the next (conduction) level, it generates heat, which is undesired. If the photon contains more energy than what is needed to move through the band gap, the excess energy also creates heat. Heat lowers the efficiency of the semi conductors in general.

By increasing the band gap, more energy will be converted to electricity. By increasing the efficiency of a photovoltiac cell, less raw materials and labor will be needed per manufactured watt, this will be key to lowering costs.

And this is really exciting, to me anyway.

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21 Dec 07 | Solar Electric, Technology | Comment (1)