photovoltaics

New Jersey regulators on Tuesday approved a proposal from utility Public Service Electric and Gas to expand its solar loan program by $143 million and 51 megawatts.

The program expansion means a total of $248 million in loans, translating into an estimated 81 megawatts worth of solar systems available to interested homeowners, businesses, and municipalities across the state.

Since Public Service Electric and Gas' (PSE&G's) first loan program for installing photovoltaic panels was approved in April 2008, about $105 million in loans, totaling 30 megawatts worth of solar systems, have been applied for by its customers, according … Read more

Solar incentives seem to be working to both increase the number of solar installations in the U.S. and bring down the initial cost, according to a report released Wednesday by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

"Findings...show that, after a three-year plateau, costs decreased by 3.6 percent from 2007 to 2008, marking a pivotal year for the American solar industry," said the report (PDF).

Broken down into real 2008 dollars, the report estimated that the actual cost of installing photovoltaic solar systems--excluding tax credits or financial incentives--was $10.80 per watt in 1998 versus $7.50 … Read more

Israeli start-up Solar Edge has secured $23 million in funding to further develop its technology for increasing the efficiency of photovoltaic panels.

GE Energy Financial Services was a principle contributor to this latest round of funding and made the announcement Wednesday.

In May, SolarEdge unveiled a boosting technology for photovoltaic panels that it said could increase a solar power system's output by as much as 25 percent.

The SolarEdge system is a junction box with an integrated circuit that is embedded into existing solar photovoltaic panels to minimize the amount of electricity loss, thereby maximizing the amount of power … Read more

BioSolar has filed a patent application for a new type of backing for photovoltaic cells.

A backsheet is the bottom layer of a photovoltaic cell used by solar manufacturers to protect the cell from moisture, temperature fluctuations, and the elements.

BioSolar's BioBacksheet-A, a new addition to the company's line of backsheets, consists of a sheet of aluminum foil sandwiched between two layers of polymer made from renewable plant sources. The aluminum used in the sheets is also 100 percent recyclable.

The company announced that it was developing plant-based plastics for solar-cell components, which included the use of cotton and castor beans, … Read more

Telecom giant Orange unveiled a concept solar tent in conjunction with the opening of this year's Glastonbury music festival in the U.K.

Inspired by the new flexible photovoltaics in development, the tent--if produced for consumers--would be covered in a semi-photovoltaic fabric woven with both coated solar threads and conventional threads to form a solar shell that could be adjusted to face optimum sun throughout the day.

The solar energy would then be channeled into four main power uses: heating, lighting, communications, and recharging.

The goal of Kaleidoscope, the design firm working in conjunction with Orange, was to create … Read more

Correction at 7:20 a.m. PDT June 23: The energy production of the tiles has been fixed. The tiles can generate 860 kilowatt hours per square (or per 100 square feet) annually in an area with "5.8 peak sun hours" per day.

Will a better aesthetic tempt more people into going solar? SRS Energy is betting on it.

The company has partnered with US Tile, a leading manufacturer of Spanish, slate, and shake roof tiles, to design solar panels with the exact same shapes as their clay counterparts.

The result is solar tiles that can be … Read more

Solar company Konarka has developed a transparent solar cell that it hopes will be built onto electricity-generating windows.

The Lowell, Mass.-based company on Tuesday said it has reached an agreement with Arch Aluminum & Glass to use Konarka's plastic solar cells in building materials, including windows.

Under its Arch Active Solar Glass development, the company has built prototypes of windows with the solar cells between two panes of glass. The photovoltaic cells can be tinted different colors.

"It is energy-efficient and transparent with superior vertical performance and a subtle red, blue or green aesthetic. With these features, … Read more

One of the world's biggest photovoltaic projects is planned for southwest Florida. Florida Power & Light will spend $350 million to build a 75-megawatt photovoltaic solar plant at a planned city, Babcock Ranch, near Fort Myers, the company announced Thursday.

Construction could begin late this year, subject to state regulatory approvals.

Eric Silagy, the ultility's chief development officer, said at a press conference that the company's photovoltaic project is larger than any previously announced.

"We are extremely excited to be building one of the world's largest solar photovoltaic projects, once the state legislative and regulatory … Read more

Solar start-up SolFocus on Monday said it has signed an agreement in Greece to produce electricity from its concentrated solar arrays.

The installation will produce 1.6 megawatts, enough to power about a town of about 2,500 residents at any given moment. Renewable-energy developer Samaras Group will head the installation, which is expected to be completed in the spring of 2009.

SolFocus, formed in 2006, is one of the leading companies in a race to validate concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) technology for utility use. It already has a handful of customers, including some in Spain.

Concentrated photovoltaic technology takes different forms, … Read more