New Innovations in PV Cells from Ascent Solar
Photovoltaic (PV) cells were invented 50 years ago. Yet, within the 50 years solar energy is still more costly than fuel created from fossil fuels.
One of the companies expecting to benefit from the 2009 stimulus package is Ascent Solar. In the works at Ascent Solar is a plastic film coated with thin-film PV to turn natural sunlight into power for electricity. The thin film is flexible and light weight. With this innovation solar panels plan to be more flexible and affordable than traditional rigid solar panels, hopefully making solar power more affordable for everyone.
The thin-film PV uses thin-film coating technologies, much like those used for putting metallic and transparent coatings on plastics and glass for food processing, architectural glass, mirrors, and eyewear. To date, Ascent Solar has come up with three applications that look promising.
Speaking of the Stimulus Package that President Obama signed in Denver, the senior vice president of Ascent Solar commented:
"I think the stimulus bill would generate a lot of opportunity for us downstream," said Ashutosh Misra, senior vice president of Ascent Solar, a company that has developed a lightweight, flexible solar panel that can be incorporated into construction materials, eliminating the need for separate solar panels.
Guide to Solar Lights
If you are looking for high quality solar lights, check out Guide to Solar Lights. Although it is a relatively new site, there are already a few good reviews on solar lights for exterior use. The guide tells us that we get what we pay for. With solar lights, we do.
I have contacted the site and it will updated regularly as new reviews are made available.
Solar Panels for the New Year
Hi!
We want to say happy new year. For anybody who doesn't know about us we are the kids in the neighborhood according to Happy and Maya. There are 10 of us most of the time who hang out at Happy's or Maya's. Maya and Happy think they are old but we know they are the youngest people we know in spirit if not years.
We are the "kids" in the neighborhood that they like to talk about. We built their greenhouses and put solar on Maya's art studio. She doesn't talk much about her art work but she's good. She's cool, too. She cuts steel with a plasma torch and welds terrific art forms. She made us a 12' tall giraffe that overlooks the garden and greenhouse in the bottom field. Bet she didn't mention that in her blog. (http://onlinegratitudejournal.com) Happy is the one who does the greenhouse and garden site. (http://eating-the-backyard.com)
It's about time for us to get out of school for the holidays so we are going to take some time off from looking for information on solar panels. We are going to build some solar panels instead of writing about them.
Think about using solar where you can. Visit Maya's site and Happy's site. You will love them as much as we do. For now Happy Holidays! See you in the new year!
Jason, Mark, Sarah, Jenna, Traci, Jon, and all the rest of us
