October 2008 Archives
Solar power has finally hit the college scene. Stanford University, located in silicon valley, California, is currently experimenting with solar panels on campus as a renewable energy source. Universities use a huge amount of energy on average, and Stanford is looking toward solar energy to help reduce its carbon footprint on the environment.
This year, Stanford Housing has worked with Stanford's own Civil and Environmental Engineering program to try out two different solar powered water heating systems on a select number of dormitories, including Roth and Robinson House, to heat the student's showers, sinks, and dorm kitchenettes.
The Synergy House on campus, known for its environmentally-conscious residents, has also had a 10-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system installed. This system was fitted and partially paid for by the students and Synergy House alumni themselves, who worked in tandem with Stanford Student Housing on the project.
Even the university president has gotten in on the solar action. The Hoover House, which houses Stanford's university presidents, was graced with 252 polycrystalline solar panels, producing 40 kilowatts, in September 2008. This makes the Hoover House the largest photovoltaic project on campus, and since the house is often used for public events that use more energy than a normal house, it makes hosting parties much more eco-friendly.
The Synergy House on campus, known for its environmentally-conscious residents, has also had a 10-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system installed. This system was fitted and partially paid for by the students and Synergy House alumni themselves, who worked in tandem with Stanford Student Housing on the project.
Even the university president has gotten in on the solar action. The Hoover House, which houses Stanford's university presidents, was graced with 252 polycrystalline solar panels, producing 40 kilowatts, in September 2008. This makes the Hoover House the largest photovoltaic project on campus, and since the house is often used for public events that use more energy than a normal house, it makes hosting parties much more eco-friendly.
It's common knowledge in the solar industry that thin film solar is on it's way and will revolutionize the way solar panels are produced and used. No longer will PV solar panels require the clean-room style processes and expensive silicon parts that microchips popularized in previous generations. It's the expensive silicon wafers and heavy shipping weight that really bump up the cost of "going solar" in today's marketplace.
The current generation of solar panels already use much thinner glass and plastic mounting (which reduces weight) and only 1-2% of the silicon per megawatt of energy produced as the older panels. This is because of the way they are produced; a thin layer of silicon is sprayed onto a mounting surface such as etched glass or plastic. This type of solar panel is faster to produce and uses fewer resources but is more susceptible to errors in manufacturing and thus, is usually less efficient.
Looking forward to the next generation of solar panels we see thin-film technology taking hold. Thin film solar panels are created by using special printers to "print" nano particles of silicon and other special chemicals onto rolls of very thin plastic and aluminum. Hewlett Packard has long been considered the leader and innovator in ink jet printing, and here again we see them taking a lead. Recently HP announced a partnership with PowerFilm to deliver the next generation of solar panel creation tools. HP's chief of printing, Vyomesh Joshi has commented on the application saying that "we develop a pump that [can] accurately deliver nanoliters [of ink or solar materials]" referring to the millions of printers that HP sells annually.
With this kind of scale and precision HP is poised to become a leading partner in next gen solar power for the masses. Already companies like Nanosolar have proven the benefits of thin film solar and completely sold out of their first rounds of production.
The current generation of solar panels already use much thinner glass and plastic mounting (which reduces weight) and only 1-2% of the silicon per megawatt of energy produced as the older panels. This is because of the way they are produced; a thin layer of silicon is sprayed onto a mounting surface such as etched glass or plastic. This type of solar panel is faster to produce and uses fewer resources but is more susceptible to errors in manufacturing and thus, is usually less efficient.
Looking forward to the next generation of solar panels we see thin-film technology taking hold. Thin film solar panels are created by using special printers to "print" nano particles of silicon and other special chemicals onto rolls of very thin plastic and aluminum. Hewlett Packard has long been considered the leader and innovator in ink jet printing, and here again we see them taking a lead. Recently HP announced a partnership with PowerFilm to deliver the next generation of solar panel creation tools. HP's chief of printing, Vyomesh Joshi has commented on the application saying that "we develop a pump that [can] accurately deliver nanoliters [of ink or solar materials]" referring to the millions of printers that HP sells annually.
With this kind of scale and precision HP is poised to become a leading partner in next gen solar power for the masses. Already companies like Nanosolar have proven the benefits of thin film solar and completely sold out of their first rounds of production.
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