systems offer high quality as well as simple andeasy installation, and thus can be marketedthrough a wide range of sales channels, includingconsumer electrical goods stores and electricalcontractor outlets.

In the future, Sharp plans to aggressivelypromote the development of easily manage-able, clean systems to meet the demand forelectricity and which are appropriate to theeconomic conditions in these non-electrifiedareas. To expand demand even further, it alsointends to introduce these systems to marketsin Europe, the Americas and Japan as conven-ient AC power generating systems.

FFoorr mmoorree iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn oonn SShhaarrpp CCoorrppoorraattiioonn,, ggoo ttoo::sharp-world.com

Sunny Boy inverter gainsUL approvalGerman solar power inverter manufacturerSMA has gained Underwriters Laboratories(UL) approval of its Sunny Boy 1100 W grid-tie inverter. The approval means that SMAcan now offer the US market a complete lineof inverters.

The approval of the 1100 inverter followsrecent UL approval of the company’s Sunny Boy700 inverter. The two endorsements mean thatthe Sunny Boy product line is now broadenough to offer solutions for all system sizes.

SMA offers the Sunny Boy inverters at 700 W,1100 W, 1800 W and 2500 W ratings for solarelectric PV installations. All units offer systemmodularity, and are designed as grid-tie invertersideal for residential or commercial PVapplications.

FFoorr mmoorree iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn oonn SSMMAA,, ggoo ttoo:: www.sma.de orwww.sma-america.com

Kyocera Solar aidsNigerian villageUS-based Kyocera Solar recently suppliedsolar products and technical support for aunique rural electrification project designedto pump water and power homes, schools,clinics, mosques and local micro-enterprisesin three agriculture-based villages in Nigeria.

The project will strive to spawn a grassrootssolar industry that can sustain its momentumwith new jobs and businesses that focus onsystem installation and maintenance. It is jointlysponsored by the US Agency for InternationalDevelopment, the US Department of Energyand the Government of Jigawa State in Nigeria.

The Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF), anonprofit organization based in Washington,DC with extensive experience in developingvillage electrification, is supplying managementand onsite assistance.

FFoorr mmoorree iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn oonn KKyyoocceerraa SSoollaarr,, ggoo ttoo::www.kyocerasolar.com

FFoorr mmoorree iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn oonn tthhee SSoollaarr EElleeccttrriicc LLiigghhttFFuunndd,, ggoo ttoo:: www.self.org

Princeton researchersdevelop large-areaorganic PVEngineers at the Center for Photonics &Optoelectronic Materials (POEM), theDepartment of Electrical Engineering andthe Princeton Materials Institute atPrinceton University in New Jersey haveinvented a technique for making solar cellsthat could lead to a highly economical sourceof energy. The results, reported recently inNature, move scientists closer to a new classof solar cells that are not as efficient asconventional ones, but could be much lessexpensive and more versatile.

The materials are ultra-thin and flexible, andcould be applied to large surfaces. Organic solarcells could be manufactured in a processsomething like printing or spraying the materialsonto a roll of plastic, says Peter Peumans, agraduate student in the lab of electricalengineering professor, Stephen Forrest. Peumansand Forrest co-wrote the paper in collaborationwith Soichi Uchida, a researcher visitingPrinceton from Nippon Oil Company in Japan.The cells could also be made in different colors,making them attractive architectural elements,or they could be transparent so they could beapplied to windows.

The Forrest group changed the organiccompounds used to make their solar cells,yielding devices with efficiencies of more than3%. The most recent advance reported in Natureinvolves a new method for forming the organicfilm, which increased the efficiency by half asmuch again. The researchers are now planning tocombine the new materials and techniques.Doing so could yield at least 5% efficiency,which would make the technology attractive tocommercial manufacturers.

By comparison, conventional silicon chip-based solar cells are about 24% efficient.‘Organic solar cells will be cheaper to make, so inthe end the cost of a watt of electricity will belower than that of conventional materials,’explains Peumans.

Solar cells are made of two types of materialssandwiched together: one that gives upelectrons and another that attracts them,allowing a flow of electricity. The Princetonresearchers figured out how to make those twomaterials mesh together like interlockingfingers, so there is more opportunity for theelectrons to transfer.

The key to this advance was to apply a metalcap to the film of material as it is being made.The cap allows the surface of the material tostay smooth and uniform while the internalmicrostructure changes and meshes together –an unexpected result, says Forrest. Theresearchers then developed a mathematicalmodel to explain the behavior, which will likelyprove useful in creating other micromaterials.

FFoorr mmoorree iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn oonn tthhee OOppttooeelleeccttrroonniiccCCoommppoonneennttss && MMaatteerriiaallss GGrroouupp aatt PPrriinncceettoonn,, ggoo ttoo::www.ee.princeton.edu/~ocmweb

TThhee NNaattuurree ppaappeerr iiss aavvaaiillaabbllee aatt:: www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v425/n6954/abs/nature01949_fs.html

UK delegation visitsJapanese PV, Londondissemination eventThe aim of a recent UK Department of Trade& Industry (DTI) initiative was to gain first-hand information to help accelerate the UK’sposition by interaction with counterparts insome leading Japanese facilities. The resultsof two complementary visits will be sharedwith the UK’s PV community through asingle dissemination event in London onTuesday 18 November.

The DTI initiative, called the ‘Global WatchMission’, made two visits to Japan in 2003.The first mission was sponsored by one of the UK’s regional development agencies,Advantage West Midlands (AWM), and set outto identify the current status of the PVindustry in Japan, and the deployment of PVtechnology in the country.

The second mission was organized andsponsored by the Integration of New &Renewable Energy in Buildings (INREB)Faraday Partnership. This mission was toconsider the processes required for theincorporation of low-carbon technologies intobuildings, and study how PV is being integratedinto buildings.

FFoorr aa ccooppyy ooff tthhee mmiissssiioonn rreeppoorrtt aanndd ddeettaaiillss ooff tthheeddiisssseemmiinnaattiioonn eevveenntt,, ccoonnttaacctt:: Dr Geoff Hogan, ERINConsulting Ltd, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1865 883416, Email:geoff@ERINconsulting.co.uk

9November 2003 Photovoltaics Bulletin

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