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06 Oct 08

BioSolar Announces BioPolymer "Backsheet" for Solar Photovoltaics : TreeHugger

A cheaper and less harmful alternative to backsheets in solar panels that we use today

www.treehugger.com/...cksheet-solar-photovoltaic.php - Preview

material paper cotton solar photovoltaics alternative

materials derived from cotton and castor beans compose the company’s newly developed BioBacksheet™ product. BioBacksheet™ is intended to be an alternative to the base layer materials already in use on photovoltaic solar cells. Traditionally, such "backsheets" are made from a petroleum-based film
6 more annotations...
- Why Castor Beans?
  
  Nylon-11, which is indeed made from an extract of the castor bean, was developed by German scientists as an adaptation to the petroleum shortages of the World Wars. Much of the castor production is from India
- The Solar Photovoltaic Industry Depends Highly On the Chemical Industry.
  
  Let's explain this subtopic with an analogy based on paper. Many people think only of plant-derived cellulose when they think of paper; when, in fact, cellulose is only one of several major components likely to be found in modern "papers". Petrochemicals can be a significant part of paper, either as base substrate additive, or in coatings. Example: corrugated boxes used to ship fruits and vegetables are often coated with petroleum wax.
- Take this analogy now to photo-voltaics. There are several component layers in any type of solar cell, and the active photo-voltaic layer - silicon being the iconic one - is "sandwiched" and supported with a variety of other material layers (as pictured).
- The various non-silicon coatings and support materials in a solar cell matrix must last 20 to 40 years in the sun, cold, rain, and blowing sand. By intent, the various layers of a solar photovoltaic product are tough and not biodegradable. Recyclable perhaps: but not biodegradable.
  
  Several of the composite layers on solar cells are made from chemicals many people would not want in consumer goods. But the fact is, without really tough, complex materials produced by a modern chemical industry, society will not have cost effective solar power. There is no way past that truth.
- For solar to be "green" the chemical industry too must be green.
- BioSolar projects a cost advantage over traditional backsheets to be in the range of 25 to 50%, although the product is not yet commercially available.

02 Oct 08

Frank Gehry As Solar Power Developer? Paint-On Solar Steel Could Be Here in Three Years : TreeHugger

www.treehugger.com/...lar-cells-for-steel-sheets.php - Preview

Frank Gehry photovoltaics

The photovoltaic paint consists of a layer of dye and a layer of electrolytes.
This would get applied to the steel as one of four coats of paint: an undercoat, a layer of dye-sensitized solar cells, a layer of electrolyte or titanium dioxide, and finally a protective coating.The whole process would take place as the steel sheets get passed through rollers as they are manufactured
2 more annotations...
- If All of Corus' Steel Was Used...
  
  The original article extrapolates on Corus’ annual production of 100 million square meters of steel sheets to say that if all of this were “given a lick of solar paint” that it total it could have a potential capacity of 9000 GW, at an assumed efficiency for the solar paint of 11%.
- At Least a Coupld of Questions Remain...
  
  That’s not the only assumption in that calculation: It also assumes that all of that steel will be used in locations and for applications suitable for generating solar power. Additionally, even with a protective coating applied to the steel, the durability of the surface could come into question. And unless a method of reapplying the paint post-manufacturing is developed, then the lifetime of the product might be shorter than desired.