Tuesday May 20, 2008

HelioVolt to produce power-generating windows with thin-film solar cells

news.com :

Solar company HelioVolt and Architectural Glass & Aluminum on Tuesday [6 May 2008] announced a partnership to produce glass windows capable of generating electricity. HelioVolt intends to make solar cells for rooftop panels and later get into building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), where cells are embedded onto roof shingles, blinds, awnings, or other building components. The deal calls for the companies to design solar-enabled curtain walls, the glass facades on the outside of buildings, or architectural glass in the interior of buildings.

In its coverage, Greentech Media pointed out that BIPV has a number of technical challenges, making the days of power-generating windows a few years away. Solar cells typically have a shorter warranty - 20 or 25 years - than many building materials. Thin-film cells made from CIGS (copper indium gallium selenide), as HelioVolt is making, corrode more in water than traditional silicon cells.

- Add to these technical challenges the looming indium shortage, and the fact that the multi-billion-dollar LCD industry also requires this exotic material, and the stage is set for a scramble for resources between these two industries. Last I heard, the price for indium had zoomed up over $1000 per kg.

Makers of traditional silicon-based solar cells will find this situation familiar, as they are already in competition with the semiconductor industry, another multi-billion-dollar behemoth, for refined silicon, the building block for both semiconductor chips and silicon-based solar panels.

See also :

1. Nanosolar 'prints' first flexible solar cells
2. 40% efficient solar cells to be used for solar electricity
3. Silicon vs. CIGS: With solar energy, the issue is material
4. Silicon hike hits solar energy

(2008-05-20 13:04:57 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

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