(Nanowerk News) Cyrium Technologies, Inc., a leading developer of multi-junction concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) cells, today announced the incorporation of its quantum dot enhanced solar cells in the CPV solar tracker deployed as part of the SUNRISE (Semiconductors Using Nanostructures for Record Increases in Solar-cell Efficiency) project.
On October 21, 2010 the National Research Council of Canada announced the unveiling and introduction of the SUNRISE solar tracker, installed at the Canadian Centre for Housing Technology site in Ottawa, Ontario. For Cyrium, SUNRISE demonstrates that its advanced patented nanotechnology (quantum dots) can be used to enhance the performance of multi-junction cells in CPV systems and enable the delivery of higher conversion performance at higher concentrations.
The SUNRISE project stems from the National Research Council of Canada's research and development efforts to bring clean power generation technologies to Canadians, and is a research collaboration between the National Research Council of Canada, the University of Ottawa, the Université de Sherbrooke and industrial partners Cyrium Technologies and Opel International. The project is funded by the National Research Council of Canada, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Business Development Bank of Canada and demonstrates the success that can be achieved when industry, government, and academia work together with a common goal. As the engine driving CPV systems, Cyrium's patented quantum dot enhanced cells (QDEC) were critical to the success and execution of the SUNRISE project. When used in advanced solar modules on dual axis trackers, such as those provided by Opel, Cyrium's QDEC cells enable the system to achieve some of the highest efficiencies in the CPV industry.
"I am very proud of Cyrium's participation in SUNRISE," said Harry R. Rozakis, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cyrium Technologies. "Seeing our patented cell technology at the core of the project is exciting not only for Cyrium but also for all of those who see CPV as a viable and cost effective source of solar power. SUNRISE clearly demonstrates how the combination of our unique quantum dot nanotechnology with state of the art solar concentrator and tracker designs can enable cost effective, high efficiency renewable energy generation."
About Cyrium Technologies
Cyrium Technologies, headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, is a fabless developer and supplier of Concentrator Photovoltaic (CPV) cells for the terrestrial solar energy market. Using its breakthrough patented nano-technology, which significantly increases photovoltaic solar cell performance at high concentration, Cyrium has achieved cell efficiencies of greater than 40%. Cyrium's QDEC (quantum dot enhanced cell) product line is designed to deliver the highest possible conversion efficiencies which in turn enable CPV systems companies to achieve the lowest levelized cost of energy (LCOE). For further information on the company and its products, please visit http://www.cyriumtechnologies.com.
Source: Cyrium Technologies (press release)
Friday, 29 October 2010
Lockheed, Ocean Power to Team Up on Wave Power
By JOSIE GARTHWAITE of GigaOm
Published: October 28, 2010
Lockheed Martin Corp. and Ocean Power Technologies plan to develop a utility-scale wave power project off the coast of California or Oregon, the two said this morning.
Lockheed will construct the project and handle operations once it’s up and running, and New Jersey-based Ocean Power will provide the technology — so-called “PowerBuoy” (pictured) generators that convert wave energy into electricity, which can feed into a local power grid via underwater transmission lines. The 12-year-old company, one of the more established wave power developers in a growing field, claims that its 10-megawatt buoys can work in arrays of up to hundreds of megawatts.
Wave power technology, however, has yet to be tested on that scale. Even single-digit megawatt projects (“utility-scale” generally means generating capacity of at least 1 megawatt) remain in the early stages of development. As Finavera Renewables found out three months ago when the California Public Utilities Commission sunk a 2-megawatt project planned for the Pacific coast, it’s a long haul between an agreement like the Lockheed-Ocean Power one unveiled today and actual deployment.
California utility PG&E agreed to buy energy from the Finavera array back in 2007. It was slated to become the country’s first commercial wave power project — until state commissioners decided the technology was too new and the prices too high for a viable project. Approval for the energy procurement contract: denied.
To be sure, wave power has bulked up its utility-scale track record recently, and the Lockheed-Ocean Power project may fare better with regulators. The companies have already worked together on maritime surveillance projects for the U.S. government. And last fall, Spanish utility Iberdrola deployed a PowerBuoy off the coast of Spain in the first phase of what Ocean Power said would be the first commercial utility-scale wave power generation venture. (A 10-buoy, 1.39-megawatt array is planned for the site.) If Lockheed and Ocean Power can bring down the cost of a power-purchasing agreement, the West Coast may be home to the second.
Published: October 28, 2010
Lockheed Martin Corp. and Ocean Power Technologies plan to develop a utility-scale wave power project off the coast of California or Oregon, the two said this morning.
Lockheed will construct the project and handle operations once it’s up and running, and New Jersey-based Ocean Power will provide the technology — so-called “PowerBuoy” (pictured) generators that convert wave energy into electricity, which can feed into a local power grid via underwater transmission lines. The 12-year-old company, one of the more established wave power developers in a growing field, claims that its 10-megawatt buoys can work in arrays of up to hundreds of megawatts.
Wave power technology, however, has yet to be tested on that scale. Even single-digit megawatt projects (“utility-scale” generally means generating capacity of at least 1 megawatt) remain in the early stages of development. As Finavera Renewables found out three months ago when the California Public Utilities Commission sunk a 2-megawatt project planned for the Pacific coast, it’s a long haul between an agreement like the Lockheed-Ocean Power one unveiled today and actual deployment.
California utility PG&E agreed to buy energy from the Finavera array back in 2007. It was slated to become the country’s first commercial wave power project — until state commissioners decided the technology was too new and the prices too high for a viable project. Approval for the energy procurement contract: denied.
To be sure, wave power has bulked up its utility-scale track record recently, and the Lockheed-Ocean Power project may fare better with regulators. The companies have already worked together on maritime surveillance projects for the U.S. government. And last fall, Spanish utility Iberdrola deployed a PowerBuoy off the coast of Spain in the first phase of what Ocean Power said would be the first commercial utility-scale wave power generation venture. (A 10-buoy, 1.39-megawatt array is planned for the site.) If Lockheed and Ocean Power can bring down the cost of a power-purchasing agreement, the West Coast may be home to the second.
Cash incentives for councils that sign up for new wind farms
By Oliver Wright, Whitehall Editor
Friday, 29 October 2010
Local councils are to get extra funding if they give the go-ahead to new wind farms, under plans to stop local communities sabotaging renewable energy projects.
Ministers are worried at the vast number of wind farm projects that are being turned down by councillors in the face of local opposition. The Independent revealed yesterday that the number of planning approvals for onshore wind farms is at an all time low, with only one in three applications getting to go-ahead.
There are now 233 separate local campaign groups against wind farms. As a result ministers have agreed that local councils should be given incentives to help persuade them to approve more wind farms.
Under the plans councils will be allowed to keep the business rates generated by wind farms – which currently have to be passed to central government.
Even a small wind farm with just five turbines pays business rates of around £37,000 a year. The money would come without pre-conditions on how it is spent.
“For a small district council who, especially now, does not have large sums to spend without strings attached, this could make a significant difference to the way in which they approach these applications,” said one source familiar with the discussions.
“This is money councillors will be able to spend on their own projects. The idea is that it gives them an incentive to say yes.”
Another possibility which has been investigated would require wind farm developers to make contributions to the local economy as a condition of planning approval – either as part of the proposed community infrastructure levy or the existing section 106 rules.
Such conditions already apply to some other commercial developments, such as housing developments or supermarkets, although in the case of wind farms it would be more complicated to administer and would pass on the cost directly to the renewables industry.
Clllr Gary Porter, chairman of the Local Government Association's Environment Board, said it was vital that local communities were given a stake in wind farms. “Councillors are elected to represent the interests and concerns of people in their area and will quite rightly take this into account when making decisions on whether to permit this sort of development,” he said.
“People need to see how wind farms will benefit them and their local areas - whether that be financially or by supplying renewable energy to their homes and businesses.
“It is only when local communities can see clearly the benefits of renewable energy at both national and local level that individual proposals for renewable energy will be welcomed as a matter of course.”
A spokesman for RenewableUK, which represents the wind farm industry said they would be in favour of the business rate proposal: “You need to make the benefits of renewable energy obvious to local communities. Other countries, like Spain, who have mature renewable energy markets do this. It’s not reinventing the wheel.”
But Michael Hird, from the Campaign Against Wind farms, said it the payment amounted to “a bribe”.
“This is nothing short of a bribe to get local councils to agree to wind farms. They should be spending money on good green energy and not this.”
A Department of Energy and Climate Change spokesman said: “The UK needs onshore wind in order to help deliver energy security and to combat climate change, however we recognise the concern some local authorities and communities have about hosting wind farms. We are working with communities and Local Government to ensure that communities benefit directly from the wind farms they host - for example through retaining the business rates they generate”.
* The Lake District could become a 'dumping ground' for the nuclear industry, environmentalists warned after the Government failed to rule out using England’s largest national park to bury radioactive waste.
As the country decommissions the nine power stations currently running, pressure is building to find a permanent solution deep underground. At the moment waste is stored on site.
To find the best sites, the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) launched a geological survey of West Cumbria, the only county where councils have agreed to store nuclear waste.
Land under the towns of Keswick, Cockermouth and the Wast Water have not been ruled out by the British Geological Survey.
Friday, 29 October 2010
Local councils are to get extra funding if they give the go-ahead to new wind farms, under plans to stop local communities sabotaging renewable energy projects.
Ministers are worried at the vast number of wind farm projects that are being turned down by councillors in the face of local opposition. The Independent revealed yesterday that the number of planning approvals for onshore wind farms is at an all time low, with only one in three applications getting to go-ahead.
There are now 233 separate local campaign groups against wind farms. As a result ministers have agreed that local councils should be given incentives to help persuade them to approve more wind farms.
Under the plans councils will be allowed to keep the business rates generated by wind farms – which currently have to be passed to central government.
Even a small wind farm with just five turbines pays business rates of around £37,000 a year. The money would come without pre-conditions on how it is spent.
“For a small district council who, especially now, does not have large sums to spend without strings attached, this could make a significant difference to the way in which they approach these applications,” said one source familiar with the discussions.
“This is money councillors will be able to spend on their own projects. The idea is that it gives them an incentive to say yes.”
Another possibility which has been investigated would require wind farm developers to make contributions to the local economy as a condition of planning approval – either as part of the proposed community infrastructure levy or the existing section 106 rules.
Such conditions already apply to some other commercial developments, such as housing developments or supermarkets, although in the case of wind farms it would be more complicated to administer and would pass on the cost directly to the renewables industry.
Clllr Gary Porter, chairman of the Local Government Association's Environment Board, said it was vital that local communities were given a stake in wind farms. “Councillors are elected to represent the interests and concerns of people in their area and will quite rightly take this into account when making decisions on whether to permit this sort of development,” he said.
“People need to see how wind farms will benefit them and their local areas - whether that be financially or by supplying renewable energy to their homes and businesses.
“It is only when local communities can see clearly the benefits of renewable energy at both national and local level that individual proposals for renewable energy will be welcomed as a matter of course.”
A spokesman for RenewableUK, which represents the wind farm industry said they would be in favour of the business rate proposal: “You need to make the benefits of renewable energy obvious to local communities. Other countries, like Spain, who have mature renewable energy markets do this. It’s not reinventing the wheel.”
But Michael Hird, from the Campaign Against Wind farms, said it the payment amounted to “a bribe”.
“This is nothing short of a bribe to get local councils to agree to wind farms. They should be spending money on good green energy and not this.”
A Department of Energy and Climate Change spokesman said: “The UK needs onshore wind in order to help deliver energy security and to combat climate change, however we recognise the concern some local authorities and communities have about hosting wind farms. We are working with communities and Local Government to ensure that communities benefit directly from the wind farms they host - for example through retaining the business rates they generate”.
* The Lake District could become a 'dumping ground' for the nuclear industry, environmentalists warned after the Government failed to rule out using England’s largest national park to bury radioactive waste.
As the country decommissions the nine power stations currently running, pressure is building to find a permanent solution deep underground. At the moment waste is stored on site.
To find the best sites, the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) launched a geological survey of West Cumbria, the only county where councils have agreed to store nuclear waste.
Land under the towns of Keswick, Cockermouth and the Wast Water have not been ruled out by the British Geological Survey.
Wireless charging could drive electric vehicle take-up, developers say
HaloIPT believes next generation of green cars could be charged wirelessly by parking over a transmitter pad or even using electrified roads
Adam Vaughan guardian.co.uk, Friday 29 October 2010 07.00 BST The next generation of electric cars could be charged wirelessly and even powered up as they drive over electrified roads, claims a company backed by engineering giant Arup.
Employing the same technology used to charge electric toothbrushes, HaloIPT says its wireless charging system could drive the take-up of electric cars and overcome fears that drivers will forget to recharge them.
This week the company demonstrated adapted electric cars in London that could recharge themselves simply by parking over a transmitter pad in the road. The Citroën electric cars were fitted with receiver pads on the underside of the car, allowing the cars to be powered up automatically and wirelessly.
Drivers of existing electric cars, such as the G-Wiz, Mitsubishi i-MiEV and Nissan Leaf, have to connect a cable from a socket in the side of the car street-side parking meter-like stands to mains sockets in car parks and at home.
Anthony Thompson, HaloIPT's chief executive, told the Guardian that convenience and consumer fears over "charge anxiety" - drivers worrying about forgetting to recharge their electric car - would make wireless charging a success. "There are a number of issues that wireless charging solves with electric vehicles - people are inherently lazy and they don't like having to take action. With our system, you can recharge without having to make a conscious decision," he said.
The technology works using inductive charging, and the pads in the road can be buried under asphalt, making them effectively invisible. While other companies are working on similar technology, HaloIPT claimed its system can charge with greater lateral movement - meaning parking accurately is not so important – and a greater gap between the pads than rivals.
The company has already trialled wireless charging with buses in New Zealand and in Milan, but there are currently no wireless charging bays in the UK and none of the car manufacturers has adopted the technology.
Despite the news this month that electric car sales in the UK had dropped by nearly 90% in two years to just 55 last year, HaloIPT sees the UK as a key market globally for electric cars. "The UK is the epicentre of technology behind electric cars, it offers good government support for them and it has lots of early adopters," said Thompson. "Both Germany and France also have big electric car programmes too, and California is pushing along quite nicely."
Starting in January, a government subsidy will offer up to £5,000 off new electric cars, which it expects will help drive sales of around 8,600 of the vehicles in 2011.
As well as wireless charging bays, Thompson sees wireless charging roads as "technologically possible" and says getting such charging lanes to most of the UK's population would cost around £60bn. "By electrifying the roads, you shift the argument from energy being stored to energy being distributed," he said. "Batteries could be smaller and drivers wouldn't have to worry about range." Most electric cars today can go no further than 100 miles without recharging.
Howevever, David Bott, director of innovation programmes at the Technology Strategy Board, has previously told the Guardian he was sceptical that such charging lanes would be practical: "It's scientifically feasible, but it's whether it's scalable and feasible is another matter."
While aided in the UK by its development partner Arup, two of the main obstacles to the take-up of the firm's technology are standards and cost. HaloIPT estimates it would cost £3,000-£3,500 to retrofit an existing electric car with the wireless pad, and to make it affordable, car manufacturers would need to be persuaded to incorporate the technology in new cars. Last year Nissan demonstrated a similar wireless system but has yet to add it to any of its cars.
As well as wired competition, wireless charging also needs to overcome the alternative system of battery-swapping at designated electric car refuelling stations, as promoted by the Better Place project. Shai Agassi's California-based company has already signed up Israel, Denmark, Australia, California, Hawaii, and Ontario to the idea, and major car makers including Renault-Nissan.
Adam Vaughan guardian.co.uk, Friday 29 October 2010 07.00 BST The next generation of electric cars could be charged wirelessly and even powered up as they drive over electrified roads, claims a company backed by engineering giant Arup.
Employing the same technology used to charge electric toothbrushes, HaloIPT says its wireless charging system could drive the take-up of electric cars and overcome fears that drivers will forget to recharge them.
This week the company demonstrated adapted electric cars in London that could recharge themselves simply by parking over a transmitter pad in the road. The Citroën electric cars were fitted with receiver pads on the underside of the car, allowing the cars to be powered up automatically and wirelessly.
Drivers of existing electric cars, such as the G-Wiz, Mitsubishi i-MiEV and Nissan Leaf, have to connect a cable from a socket in the side of the car street-side parking meter-like stands to mains sockets in car parks and at home.
Anthony Thompson, HaloIPT's chief executive, told the Guardian that convenience and consumer fears over "charge anxiety" - drivers worrying about forgetting to recharge their electric car - would make wireless charging a success. "There are a number of issues that wireless charging solves with electric vehicles - people are inherently lazy and they don't like having to take action. With our system, you can recharge without having to make a conscious decision," he said.
The technology works using inductive charging, and the pads in the road can be buried under asphalt, making them effectively invisible. While other companies are working on similar technology, HaloIPT claimed its system can charge with greater lateral movement - meaning parking accurately is not so important – and a greater gap between the pads than rivals.
The company has already trialled wireless charging with buses in New Zealand and in Milan, but there are currently no wireless charging bays in the UK and none of the car manufacturers has adopted the technology.
Despite the news this month that electric car sales in the UK had dropped by nearly 90% in two years to just 55 last year, HaloIPT sees the UK as a key market globally for electric cars. "The UK is the epicentre of technology behind electric cars, it offers good government support for them and it has lots of early adopters," said Thompson. "Both Germany and France also have big electric car programmes too, and California is pushing along quite nicely."
Starting in January, a government subsidy will offer up to £5,000 off new electric cars, which it expects will help drive sales of around 8,600 of the vehicles in 2011.
As well as wireless charging bays, Thompson sees wireless charging roads as "technologically possible" and says getting such charging lanes to most of the UK's population would cost around £60bn. "By electrifying the roads, you shift the argument from energy being stored to energy being distributed," he said. "Batteries could be smaller and drivers wouldn't have to worry about range." Most electric cars today can go no further than 100 miles without recharging.
Howevever, David Bott, director of innovation programmes at the Technology Strategy Board, has previously told the Guardian he was sceptical that such charging lanes would be practical: "It's scientifically feasible, but it's whether it's scalable and feasible is another matter."
While aided in the UK by its development partner Arup, two of the main obstacles to the take-up of the firm's technology are standards and cost. HaloIPT estimates it would cost £3,000-£3,500 to retrofit an existing electric car with the wireless pad, and to make it affordable, car manufacturers would need to be persuaded to incorporate the technology in new cars. Last year Nissan demonstrated a similar wireless system but has yet to add it to any of its cars.
As well as wired competition, wireless charging also needs to overcome the alternative system of battery-swapping at designated electric car refuelling stations, as promoted by the Better Place project. Shai Agassi's California-based company has already signed up Israel, Denmark, Australia, California, Hawaii, and Ontario to the idea, and major car makers including Renault-Nissan.
Fowl energy: Chicken poo lights Gloucestershire town
Biogas power station will convert chicken manure from thousands of birds into electricity and heat for 350 homes
Arwa Aburawa guardian.co.uk, Thursday 28 October 2010 11.08 BST
Cherie Blair may have been moved to buy a "beware of the hen poo" sign on eBay, but one town in Gloucestershire is embracing chicken manure as a fuel for lighting its homes.
Thousands of chickens will next month be contributing their droppings to a biogas power station that will provide enough electricity to light 350 homes.
The plant in Cirencester will convert agricultural and animal waste from local farms into heat and electricity. And the project will also help local farmers reduce their operating costs and carbon footprints.
Peter Kindt, managing director of Alfagy, the company supplying the plant's technology, said: "What makes this project exciting is that farmers deliver energy to the urban environment. We believe this is a model for the future of local power generation".
The combined heat and power plant, which will begin operating in November, captures the methane-rich gas released by decomposing organic matter such as chicken manure. This is then burned in a generator to produce renewable electricity and heat. Farmers are paid for the waste and will receive free heat for drying grain and animal housing.
The smell from the waste is also reduced as the gases are extracted and burned. Any leftovers from this process can then be used as fertiliser. If used locally, this also reduces the impact of farming on the environment as it replaces conventional fertilisers which have large carbon footprints because of their energy-intensive production process and transportation.
Although biogas plants are widespread in Europe, particularly in Germany and Sweden, they are less common in the UK. Centrica recently opened a plant at Didcot sewage works which uses human waste to produce renewable gas for household use. The project is the first of its kind in the UK and will supply around 200 homes with renewable gas. Adnams the Suffolk brewer is also making the most of its waste matter and recently opened an anaerobic digestion facility which converts waste products from the brewing process into renewable energy.
Arwa Aburawa guardian.co.uk, Thursday 28 October 2010 11.08 BST
Cherie Blair may have been moved to buy a "beware of the hen poo" sign on eBay, but one town in Gloucestershire is embracing chicken manure as a fuel for lighting its homes.
Thousands of chickens will next month be contributing their droppings to a biogas power station that will provide enough electricity to light 350 homes.
The plant in Cirencester will convert agricultural and animal waste from local farms into heat and electricity. And the project will also help local farmers reduce their operating costs and carbon footprints.
Peter Kindt, managing director of Alfagy, the company supplying the plant's technology, said: "What makes this project exciting is that farmers deliver energy to the urban environment. We believe this is a model for the future of local power generation".
The combined heat and power plant, which will begin operating in November, captures the methane-rich gas released by decomposing organic matter such as chicken manure. This is then burned in a generator to produce renewable electricity and heat. Farmers are paid for the waste and will receive free heat for drying grain and animal housing.
The smell from the waste is also reduced as the gases are extracted and burned. Any leftovers from this process can then be used as fertiliser. If used locally, this also reduces the impact of farming on the environment as it replaces conventional fertilisers which have large carbon footprints because of their energy-intensive production process and transportation.
Although biogas plants are widespread in Europe, particularly in Germany and Sweden, they are less common in the UK. Centrica recently opened a plant at Didcot sewage works which uses human waste to produce renewable gas for household use. The project is the first of its kind in the UK and will supply around 200 homes with renewable gas. Adnams the Suffolk brewer is also making the most of its waste matter and recently opened an anaerobic digestion facility which converts waste products from the brewing process into renewable energy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
