Mitsubishi Electric & Electronics USA Inc. has announced its entry into the growing U.S. solar/photovoltaic (PV) or module market, with two high-efficiency modules that contain no lead solder. The company will initially focus on the southwestern United States through its network of dealers and distributors, and expand to other regions in the months ahead.
Mitsubishi Electric’s entry into the U.S. market comes at a time of increasing awareness and acceptance of alternative energy sources. Designed for both commercial and residential applications, Mitsubishi Electric’s PV modules contain lead-free solder. Instead of lead solder coating for the cells, Mitsubishi Electric developed silver electrodes that offer weatherproofing and higher PV module conversion efficiency.
Currently, Mitsubishi Electric offers dealers and distributors two module options: 120 watts and 165 watts. While a new entrant to the U.S. market, Mitsubishi Electric has been active in the solar arena globally. The company began building solar-powered satellites in the 1970s, and recently expanded its Japanese factories’ module production capabilities in response to growing worldwide demand.
Reasons for Optimism
There are several factors that are contributing to the increased interest in solar power. Breakthroughs in solar technology, concerns about dependence on foreign sources of oil, and increasing demand for energy worldwide are all playing a role. The energy venture capital sector is also finding investments in solar technologies to be attractive, as witnessed by the community’s investments in firms such as Konarka, Miasole, Nanosolar, Nanosys, and Solacix.
As a result of these factors, a number of new companies with intriguing technologies are being attracted to the sector. For example, SolarAmp LLC, based in Raleigh, N.C., is focused on providing a very cost-effective PV module for solar cells. The company is engaged in the commercialization of the LARTEC (Light Absorbing Rod TEChnology) solution. The LARTEC solution is a patented nanotechnology PV exclusively licensedfrom North Carolina State University. According to SolarAmp, the characteristics of the LARTEC solution will allow it to support early product introduction in key markets. SolarAMP it presently completing the commercial prototype of the company’s first product.
Another example is Smart Solar. Based in Pittsford, NY, Smart Solar is a startup manufacturer in the process of developing a “plug-n-play” solar photovoltaic system. The company’s goal is to cut the cost of grid-connected solar electricity generated on flat-roofed buildings in urban and suburban areas by more than half. To meet this goal the company plans to provide a complete solar electric rooftop solution that is substantially less expensive to buy, install, and maintain, yet provide more energy, and operate more efficiently than today’s traditional installations of horizontal solar modules. The key enabling technology under development at Smart Solar is the company’s wide-angle solar concentrator. According to the company, their technology could cuts the cost of crystalline PV cells in a solar electric system by 80-90%. These PV cells are the principal cost driver in today’s solar electric systems.
Other enabling technologies in the company’s “plug-n-play” system are embedded microcontrollers, wireless networking and internet connectivity. According to Smart Solar, these technologies integrate system setup, data collection, output power reporting, operational management and troubleshooting, providing a modular solar electric power generating system with minimum installation and operating costs.
Distributed Solar Power Ltd. is another interesting company focused on the market for solar power. Based in Israel, the company is developing a comprehensive solar combined heat and power (CHP) solution based on concentrated PV technology. Using proprietary technology licensed from Tel Aviv University, the company claims to achieve higher efficiency and provide more energy at a substantially lower cost than comparable competing solar energy systems. Distributed Solar Power focuses on grid-connected public, business, commercial, industrial, and residential customers with high power requirements in electricity, heating and cooling.
Another company to watch is HelioVolt. Based in Austin, Tx., HelioVolt plans to develop standardized manufacturing systems for producing thin-film Copper Indium Selenide (CIS) PV modules with a production cost of less than half the competition’s. The key to achieving this lower cost will be HelioVolt’s proprietary manufacturing technology for efficient thin-film CIS PV modules. The company has issued five patents and has two currently pending to protect the proprietary process, manufacturing systems, and the resulting products. The company has recently demonstrated high-rate synthesis of CIGS absorber films via a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), demonstrating its technology. At the completion of that CRADA, the company expects to have produced devices that have been measured by NREL to document an electrical efficiency of 12% or more. HelioVolt plans to globally license full scale production facilities for the manufacture of standard CIS PV module products with a significantly reduced cost structure, due to lower materials cost and a more efficient value chain than silicon can provide.
Key Challenges
Solar energy is still a small contributor, with only 742 megawatts of solar cell annual production worldwide. The United States has an abundant supply of coal, which could act as a deterrent to pursuing more expensive solar energy forms.
The major challenge that solar power faces is where and how often the sun shines. The American Southwest, for example, has double the production potential of the Northeast where more people are located. Moreover, the sun only shines around 30 percent of the time even in the brightest locations, given the presence of darkness, dawn, and clouds. That makes it currently difficult to cover the cost of paying off a capital intensive technology.
There are other barriers as well, say solar advocates, namely a lack of U.S. federal policy and regulations not to mention few long-term government incentives and commitments. They furthermore says that a patchwork of state-level programs combined with resistance from incumbent utilities have deterred broad development.
Clearly, fossil fuels will not be displaced in the foreseeable future. However, the efforts to produce cleaner forms of energy is a positive development, and one that forces all types of producers to constantly look for newer and cleaner ways to generate energy. As the costs of solar power projects continue to decrease, the future of solar power will brighten.
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