Solar power cheaper than coal: One company says it’s cracked the code

CleanTechnica has an exclusive on a new solar technology that claims to be able to produce power with a levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of8¢/kWh. That is mind-boggling, “two-thirds the price of retail electricity and over 3 times cheaper than current solar technology.” If the claim proves to be true (and a lot can happen between prototype and mass manufacturing), it could revolutionize the solar industry.

The company is called V3Solar (formerly Solarphasec) and its product, the Spin Cell, ingeniously solves two big problems facing solar PV.

First, most solar panels are flat, which means they miss most of the sunlight most of the time. They only briefly face direct sunlight, unless expensive tracking systems are added. The Spin Cell is a cone:

V3Solar

The conical shape catches the sun over the course of its entire arc through the sky, along every axis. It’s built-in tracking.

The second problem: Solar panels produce much more energy if sunlight is concentrated by a lens before it hits the solar cell; however, concentrating the light also creates immense amounts of heat, which means that concentrating solar panels (CPV) require expensive, specialized, heat-resistant solar cell materials.

The Spin Cell concentrates sunlight on plain old (cheap) silicon PV, but keeps it cool by spinningit.

It’s just so damn clever.

Here’s a video that explains:




The V3Solar Spin Cell rotating under the power of the afternoon sun:

Read the full story of Solar power cheaper than coal: One company says it’s cracked the code By David Roberts

Solar Cells May Supplement Smartphone Batteries

Solar cells under development by a Silicon Valley start-up, Alta Devices, could give smartphone batteries a boost of as much as 80 percent of a batterys power. The company uses hybrid gallium arsenide solar cells, which are better at capturing energy than silicon solar cells.

 Read the full story at The New York Times

Why Investors Are Crazy About Chinese Solar Companies

Armageddon Energy's Plug n Play Solar Panels

Rooftop solar panel installation is often a time-consuming and complicated process, but Armageddon Energy's new prefab panels are practically roof-ready when they come out of the box.

A solar "clover"--enough to provide 400 watts of power--is made up of three 10 to 12 pound silicon hexagonal panels, a triangular frame and a micro-inverter. The panels can be easily connected with a series of uncomplicated tab and slots. Then all that's left is for a professional, or mechanically-inclined homeowner, to secure the clovers to the roof, angle them towards the sun, and plug them into the home power system. According to Armageddon, the process only takes a few minutes.

read more | digg story

New Coating= Solar Panels Harvest 96% of Available Sunshine

By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - A new type of reflective coating can make solar panels far more efficient, soaking up nearly all available sunlight from nearly any angle. Current solar panels -- which convert energy from the sun into electricity -- absorb only about two-thirds of available sunlight.

read more | digg story

All-polymer solar cells improve efficiency, flexibility

Polymer-based solar cells have received a fair bit of attention in the research community, some of which has been covered here at Nobel Intent. Much of the attraction is in being able to move away from the expensive raw materials used in inorganic solar cells and the costly manufacturing that accompanies them. Researchers have recently demonstrated an all-organic solar cell with a high efficiency, one that can provide both thin and flexible solar cells and routes to cheap manufacturing.

read more | digg story