No matter whether you felt that Earth Hour was a terrific conservation tactic or an overhyped PR stunt, energy on our planet is in peril. Our daily juice (be it electric, gasoline combustion, atomic, or carbon-based), has become a precious commodity with at least one guaranteed effect: to elicit an instantaneous hot-button opinion from just about everybody.
What can you do about it? Well, one great proactive demonstration would be to stop your regular consumption of dry-cell batteries. Yes, there are numerous substitutes, ranging from rechargeable varieties to alternative energy replacements, but each of these substitutions has a debit that few of us are willing to pay. You know, "costs" like always hunting for an outlet to power a battery recharging station, or getting rid of a clean, slim-line AA battery for a gargantuan solar-driven bat-winged monstrosity.
Hidden on a page of a recent DigiKey catalog, I found a glimmer of hope for beating this battery dependency. A small SOIC-16 SMD clear IC that is capable of generating electricity when placed in sunlight or strong artificial lighting. The CPC1832 from Clare is an 8V solar cell that is capable of powering CMOS ICs while sitting on top of a penny (U.S. monetary unit = one red cent).
The specifications for this diminutive wonder chip are impressive: 8VDC with a current of 50 µA. Even better, the CPC1832 has a built-in switching circuit that triggers the solar cell's output when it is stimulated by light. Sorta like a switch that also provides power. Likewise, with such a small footprint, several cells can be joined together for increased voltage and/or current supplies, without creating a freakish Frankenstein battery replacement circuit.
Although there are 16 pins on the CPC1832, only two are used for supplying voltage/current at its output. Pin 16 is the positive (+) output pin and the negative (-) output terminal is pin 9. While the remaining 14 pins don't have to be soldered, establishing a connection with these unnecessary pins will help ensure a mechanically stronger solar-powered design.
Oh, your designs aren't the SMD type. No matter. If you have a through-hole circuit design, you can still adapt the CPC1832 to your project. For example, Bellin Dynamic Systems makes a series of SOIC-to-DIP boards that can easily convert the CPC1832 to a 16-pin DIP IC platform. Even SMD soldering rookies can firmly attach a SOIC solar cell to a Bellin board.
Here are a few pointers for the inexperienced SMD worker that will help to guarantee successful professional-looking soldering:
1. Hold the solar cell SOIC package in place on the Bellin board and attach a small piece of masking tape to the chip for keeping it in contact with the board.
2. Apply a small amount of liquid flux to each pad of the Bellin board.
3. Touch the soldering iron to one of the board's pads, not the solar cell's pins. Carefully, apply solder to the point between the soldering iron tip and the solar cell's pin. As the solder liquefies, slide the iron's tip towards the SOIC pin. Remove the iron and examine your solder joint. When the solder is solid, test for a strong connection, by tweaking the pin with a wooden tooth pick.
4. Solder all of the solar cell's non-output pins (i.e., pins 1-8) first. When these pins are all solidly connected, remove the masking tape and solder the remaining pins (i.e., pins 9-16).
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Can Concentrating Solar Power Outshine Fossil Fuels?
The evolution of industrial power has been largely a story of utility. Societies adopted the most productive means of producing power, irrespective of all other concerns. Wind and water power may have been cheaper and cleaner, but with available technology were far less productive ways of making stuff. Hence, they were abandoned in favor of fossil fuels.
This is why, even after the energy trials and tribulations of the 1970s and the spikes in prices since, FFs still hold sway. Renewables just never quite had the reliable and sustained punch of the power we could generate by setting things on fire.
Yet present-day advances in solar promise to turn that model on its head. This time, we start with one of the cleanest fuels available – sunlight – and learn how to use it as productively as possible.
Keep an eye on concentrating solar power (CSP), which has the potential to give fossil fueled power plants a run for their (and our) money in the near future.
This solar technology has the audacity, the unmitigated gall, to produce electricity long after the sun has gone down. What, you may ask, are these upstarts trying to do? Compete with coal and natural gas?
This is why, even after the energy trials and tribulations of the 1970s and the spikes in prices since, FFs still hold sway. Renewables just never quite had the reliable and sustained punch of the power we could generate by setting things on fire.
Yet present-day advances in solar promise to turn that model on its head. This time, we start with one of the cleanest fuels available – sunlight – and learn how to use it as productively as possible.
Keep an eye on concentrating solar power (CSP), which has the potential to give fossil fueled power plants a run for their (and our) money in the near future.
This solar technology has the audacity, the unmitigated gall, to produce electricity long after the sun has gone down. What, you may ask, are these upstarts trying to do? Compete with coal and natural gas?
BP axes 620 jobs from solar business
BP is to axe 620 jobs from its solar power business – more than a quarter of that workforce – in a move it said was part of the long-term strategy to "reduce the cost of solar power to that of conventional electricity."
Two cell manufacture and module assembly plants near Madrid, will be shut with the loss of 480 posts while module assembly will also be phased out at its Frederick facility in Maryland, US, with a further 140 redundancies.
BP blamed the cutbacks on the credit crunch and lower-cost competition saying its global manufacturing capacity would still increase during this year and next via a series of strategic alliances with other companies.
"We deeply regret the impact of this business decision on our employees and the local communities," said Reyad Fezzani, chief executive of BP Solar. "We have a long history at both the Madrid and Frederick sites. Competitive hi-tech manufacturing of ingots, wafers and cells will continue at Frederick. Engineering, technology product development, sales and marketing and other business support functions will also remain at both Frederick and Madrid."
He said solar markets had been "unsettled by the impact of the global economic environment", adding that the market had been over-supplied as competition increased and prices had fallen.
Fezzani said the cuts would lead to lower prices for solar power: "The decision is part of the long term strategy to reduce the cost of solar power to that of conventional electricity."
The decision by a cash-rich oil group to reduce its direct manufacturing capacity and cut 620 out of 2,200 jobs will raise further questions about whether BP is retreating back to its core hydrocarbon business despite marketing promises to go "beyond petroleum." The London-based company said last year it was going to concentrate its alternative energy business on wind and solar in the US, while rival Shell has also been cutting back.
The moves will also send further shock waves through the wider renewable energy sector which is reeling from a retreat by the banks from higher risk investments such as green power schemes.
Andrew Mill, who sits on the UK government's Renewables Advisory Board, told the Guardian 10 days ago that the renewables sector was heading for crisis and British ministers' climate change targets would not be met. "The government has done a lot in terms of policies and targets, but the reality is that it was always going to take a lot of money to make it happen. And that money is not coming through quickly enough."
The UK is a relatively small solar market and will rely largely on wind to meet its goal of producing 15% of its energy from renewables by 2020.
Two cell manufacture and module assembly plants near Madrid, will be shut with the loss of 480 posts while module assembly will also be phased out at its Frederick facility in Maryland, US, with a further 140 redundancies.
BP blamed the cutbacks on the credit crunch and lower-cost competition saying its global manufacturing capacity would still increase during this year and next via a series of strategic alliances with other companies.
"We deeply regret the impact of this business decision on our employees and the local communities," said Reyad Fezzani, chief executive of BP Solar. "We have a long history at both the Madrid and Frederick sites. Competitive hi-tech manufacturing of ingots, wafers and cells will continue at Frederick. Engineering, technology product development, sales and marketing and other business support functions will also remain at both Frederick and Madrid."
He said solar markets had been "unsettled by the impact of the global economic environment", adding that the market had been over-supplied as competition increased and prices had fallen.
Fezzani said the cuts would lead to lower prices for solar power: "The decision is part of the long term strategy to reduce the cost of solar power to that of conventional electricity."
The decision by a cash-rich oil group to reduce its direct manufacturing capacity and cut 620 out of 2,200 jobs will raise further questions about whether BP is retreating back to its core hydrocarbon business despite marketing promises to go "beyond petroleum." The London-based company said last year it was going to concentrate its alternative energy business on wind and solar in the US, while rival Shell has also been cutting back.
The moves will also send further shock waves through the wider renewable energy sector which is reeling from a retreat by the banks from higher risk investments such as green power schemes.
Andrew Mill, who sits on the UK government's Renewables Advisory Board, told the Guardian 10 days ago that the renewables sector was heading for crisis and British ministers' climate change targets would not be met. "The government has done a lot in terms of policies and targets, but the reality is that it was always going to take a lot of money to make it happen. And that money is not coming through quickly enough."
The UK is a relatively small solar market and will rely largely on wind to meet its goal of producing 15% of its energy from renewables by 2020.
BP Solar Plans to Hire Others to Make Panels
The company is closing a panel assembly factory in the United States and one in Spain. BP also plans to outsource panel production to others. This cost-cutting move is becoming trendy.
Outsourcing is becoming vogue in the solar equipment business.
BP Solar is shutting down some of its production lines in the United States and Spain, and it is looking for manufacturers to produce panels using BP's components and bearing BP's brand.
The company announced on Tuesday plans to close its solar panel assembly center in Maryland and said it would lay off 140 people out of a 600-person workforce. It plans to continue to manufacture other solar equipment components at the Maryland complex.
BP is also closing its solar cell and panel-manufacturing complex in Madrid, where it will let go 480 out of 575 employees. Marketing and sale staff will continue to work in the Madrid office.
BP decided to close these plants down in order to cut operational costs during the economic downturn, which as led to softened demand for solar energy equipment, the company said. Yet it expects to bring more BP solar panels to market than before. In fact, the company said it expects to sell up to 320 megawatts of panels in 2009, doubling what it did in 2008.
How? Contracting with manufacturers to make BP-branded solar panels. Some of the materials and parts that go into making the panels will come from BP.
"We are negotiating now with potential global suppliers who can provide us with high volume and high quality module assembly from regional manufacturing centers," said Tom Mueller, a BP Solar spokesman.
Mueller declined to name these contract manufacturers, saying negotiations with the companies are still taking place. Some of these partners could likely be Asian companies that can keep manufacturing costs low. BP canceled a $97 million plan to expand its ingot production center in Maryland last year mainly because of the growing competition from Asian companies (see BP Solar Nixes Factory Expansion).
Although BP is closing the panel assembly plant in Maryland, it plans to continue to make silicon ingots, wafers and solar cells on the same site. It has a joint venture with Tata in India and Sun Oasis in China to make and market its panels.
Besides making its own silicon wafers and solar cells, BP has inked deals to buy those components from other companies. It's buying wafers from China-based ReneSola and solar cells from JA Solar, which is headquartered in China.
Aside from making solar energy equipment, BP also develops solar power projects.
More solar equipment companies could embrace contract manufacturing. Evergreen Solar (NSDQ: ESLR), for example, is in talks with companies to turn its silicon wafers into cells and panels and sell the panels to Evergreen's customers (see Evergreen Considers Contract Manufacturing).
Outsourcing manufacturing would allow solar technology companies to focus on research and development and not worry about raising millions of dollars to build a factory. This approach already made Asia the center of computer manufacturing (see Will the Solar Industry Become Like the PC Industry).
Outsourcing is becoming vogue in the solar equipment business.
BP Solar is shutting down some of its production lines in the United States and Spain, and it is looking for manufacturers to produce panels using BP's components and bearing BP's brand.
The company announced on Tuesday plans to close its solar panel assembly center in Maryland and said it would lay off 140 people out of a 600-person workforce. It plans to continue to manufacture other solar equipment components at the Maryland complex.
BP is also closing its solar cell and panel-manufacturing complex in Madrid, where it will let go 480 out of 575 employees. Marketing and sale staff will continue to work in the Madrid office.
BP decided to close these plants down in order to cut operational costs during the economic downturn, which as led to softened demand for solar energy equipment, the company said. Yet it expects to bring more BP solar panels to market than before. In fact, the company said it expects to sell up to 320 megawatts of panels in 2009, doubling what it did in 2008.
How? Contracting with manufacturers to make BP-branded solar panels. Some of the materials and parts that go into making the panels will come from BP.
"We are negotiating now with potential global suppliers who can provide us with high volume and high quality module assembly from regional manufacturing centers," said Tom Mueller, a BP Solar spokesman.
Mueller declined to name these contract manufacturers, saying negotiations with the companies are still taking place. Some of these partners could likely be Asian companies that can keep manufacturing costs low. BP canceled a $97 million plan to expand its ingot production center in Maryland last year mainly because of the growing competition from Asian companies (see BP Solar Nixes Factory Expansion).
Although BP is closing the panel assembly plant in Maryland, it plans to continue to make silicon ingots, wafers and solar cells on the same site. It has a joint venture with Tata in India and Sun Oasis in China to make and market its panels.
Besides making its own silicon wafers and solar cells, BP has inked deals to buy those components from other companies. It's buying wafers from China-based ReneSola and solar cells from JA Solar, which is headquartered in China.
Aside from making solar energy equipment, BP also develops solar power projects.
More solar equipment companies could embrace contract manufacturing. Evergreen Solar (NSDQ: ESLR), for example, is in talks with companies to turn its silicon wafers into cells and panels and sell the panels to Evergreen's customers (see Evergreen Considers Contract Manufacturing).
Outsourcing manufacturing would allow solar technology companies to focus on research and development and not worry about raising millions of dollars to build a factory. This approach already made Asia the center of computer manufacturing (see Will the Solar Industry Become Like the PC Industry).
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