Thomko Petro Chemical Blog

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, plans to become an expert in another, cleaner field of energy by investing in solar power, the country's oil minister said in an interview released Sunday.

"For a country like Saudi Arabia - one of the most important sources of energy to look at and to develop is solar energy," Ali al-Nuaimi told French oil newsletter Petrostrategies.

He added: "One of the research efforts that we are going to undertake is to see how we make Saudi Arabia a centre for solar energy research and hopefully over the next 30 to 50 years we will be a major megawatt exporter. In the same way we are an oil exporter, we can also be an exporter of power."

Nuaimi said that Saudi Arabia was also set to invest in carbon capture and storage programmes to develop technology allowing carbon dioxide to be extracted from the atmosphere and stored underground.

"There are a lot of countries that are willing to cooperate with us," he said.

Source: Energy Daily

Nanosolar coatings are as thin as a layer of paint and can tranfer sunlight into power quite efficiently.

A solar panel without the panel. Just a coating, thin as a layer of paint, that takes light and converts it to electricity.

Imagine the possibilities, from solar coated shingles to solar lined windows to solar powered cell phones and ipods.

Solar powered buildings and homes might just become standard in the future thanks to this innovative technology by Nanosolar Inc. The almighty dollar will launch these thin-film solar cells into worldwide applications thanks to the fact that it's actually cheaper than burning coal.
 

The underlying technology for these solar cells is nothing new, having been around for decades, but Nanosolar has created the actual technology to manufacture and mass produce the solar sheets.

Read full article at ENN 

2007 Innovation of the Year - See How it Works

Now this is some real news . . . CT

Inventors from the New Jersey Institute of Technology have developed an inexpensive solar cell that can be painted or printed on flexible plastic sheets.

This means that in the near future (hopefully) homeowners will be able to print sheets of these solor cells with an inket printer. After printing, you can attach the finished product on a wall, roof or billboard to create your own power station.

I will be on the lookout for the release date on these, and of course will keep you notified !! CT

View Press Release from New Jersey Institute of Technology

Cleantechblog.com which states it is the premier cleantech site for commentary on technologies, news, and issues relating to next generation energy and the environment.

I found the 2006 year in review worth reading, and thought I would share

http://www.cleantechblog.com/2007/01/2006-in-review.html

Britain's biggest solar-powered boat debuted Tuesday on a lake in London's Hyde Park, opening what its developers hope is a door to the future of solar-powered transportation.

It is slow and travels only a short distance, but builders of the Serpentine Solar Shuttle say it's the most advanced passenger ferry on British waters.

The Serpentine Solar Shuttle, powered entirely by the sun, cruises at 5 mph, carries 42 passengers, and cost about $421,000 to build, 20% more than a diesel boat of a comparable size.

"This is the most technologically advanced shuttle in the world right now," said designer Christoph Behling, who also designed the world's largest solar boat in Hamburg, Germany.

"It is made of entirely stainless steel which means it never gets old. It will pave the way for future boats and trains and other means of transportation," Behling said.

The 48-foot-long shuttle has 27 solar panels on its roof, and the energy generated by the sun is enough to keep the boat running. Its maximum journey distance is 82 miles.

Almost no pollutants are given off during the trip because the shuttle has two silent engines, meaning there are no carbon emissions and it is also charged fully by the sun.

Even on those dark, rainy days everyone associates with London, Behling said there will be enough sun to keep the ship running.

It is expected the boat will save nearly 5,000 pounds of carbon-dioxide per year, compared with a diesel boat of a similar size. When the ferry is idle, surplus electricity generated by the solar panels will be fed back into the national transmission network.

The next project in the works is a 300-passenger solar-powered ferry to run on the Thames, and it should be ready in 2008. A 60-passenger solar-powered train for London's Battersea Park is also in the works.

Source: Associated Press

Shell has been active in the conversion of sunlight into electricity and the provision of solar power solutions for over 30 years.

The Caribbean island of Barbados is already preparing to meet this demand and these local solar shuttles, developed by scientist William Hinds, are the Caribbean's first solar-powered, environmentally friendly tour vehicles.

Students of the Pine Primary School in Barbados were treated to a solar shuttle tour recently, when Shell announced its sponsorship of the Solar Transport Project at the Sci-Tech/Green Expo exhibition on the island.

Shell has a global commitment to the development of renewable energy and this project is an example of how the company seeks to demonstrate this commitment via support for local entrepreneurial initiatives.

Through the Solar Shuttle tours, Barbadians and visitors alike will have the opportunity to experience the noise-free, pollution-free technology while having a relaxing, educational guided tour of the historical sights of the capital city, Bridgetown.

Shell is convinced that solar energy will play an increasingly significant role in the future energy mix, as the demand for clean energy continues to grow.

Shell Solar is in the process of redirecting its solar energy business efforts into the development of the next generation of solar energy technology thin film CIS (Copper Indium Diselenide).

In this application, a thin-film photo-voltaic module is created by applying a fine film of CIS (copper indium diselenide) to a glass backing, producing a semi-conductor.

When the semi-conductor is exposed to sunlight, it actively converts sunlight into electricity, at a cost of up to ten times less than the crystalline silicon based cells now on the market.

Source: The Nassau Guardian