NEW!
INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY PAGE
This
page and blog (link above) is directed at addressing intellectual
property
concerns of scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs working
in
the solar energy field. However, people in other fields,
e.g.,
semiconductors, will also find this page useful.
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IS
SOLAR ENERGY HARMFUL?
The
wide scale interest in the commercial potential of cadmium telluride
(CdTe)
and copper indium diselenide (CIS) photovoltaic modules is tempered by
the use
of toxic metals such as cadmium and selenium in their manufacture.
Research found these fears to be groundless.
Click
here to read full article.
GOOGLETM
GOES SOLAR
PV Cells on Google HQ (from
Google)
Google
has a firm commitment to solar energy, as is clear from their PV cell
covered California headquarters. The Google
Solar Panel Project generates in excesss of 1,000
kilowatt-hours of electricity per day.
Google founders Sergey Brin
and Larry Page also invest heavily in solar energy companies
such as Nanosolar.
On November 27, 2007, Google announced a
major research effort to produce energy
cheaper than coal.
The newly created initiative, known as RE<C, will
focus
initially on advanced solar thermal power, wind power technologies,
enhanced geothermal systems and other potential breakthrough
technologies.
It's too bad that Google wasn't around
during all the lean years of alternative energy research.
SOLAR CRIME
WAVE
Array With Stolen Panels
Criminals have found an attractive target in
solar energy cells as the technology becomes in increasingly greater
demand in Germany. German
crooks
are targeting not only solar cell arrays, but also the associated
inverters
to convert from DC to AC. The
German
state of Bavaria
alone has reported 13 incidents of stolen solar cells
since the beginning of the year.
An
example of solar thievery was the idyllic town of Wuppertal-Ronsdorf,
where teacher Klaus Ehlert discovered of the 70
solar panels in the Erich-Fried
School ,
only a dozen were left behind by thieves by the end of summer vacation. In
Biedenkopf-Wallau, the tire-selling firm
of Reifen-Ritter was hit three times, with thieves stealing solar cells
with a value of
24,000 Euros. In
June, 30
photvoltaic
modules were stolen from a solar energy farm in Mirow.
As a result of the solar
crime wave, the Bavarian police have issued guidelines for the security
of
solar energy technology, which can be read in German Here.
FEATURED RECENT
PATENT
Researchers
at Kent State University have found novel nanoscale discotic liquid
crystalline porphyrins capable of being used
as
high-efficiency photovoltaic materials.
Quan Li and fellow researchers developed molecules
that can facilitate
charge transport in the direction along the columns, can be processed
to form a large area monodomain, can respond to external light
irradiation by changing their resistivity, and can convert light to
electric energy.
See
Patent.
ARCHIVE
October 2007
November 2007
FEATURED RECENT
PATENT
USP
7,281,381
Alan D. Johnson developed a mechanical thermo-voltaic solar
power
system with three major subsystems: (1) a light collector array, (2) a
mechanical thermo-voltaic generator, and (3) a storage and retrieval
system. At the center of the system is the light collection array
comprised of solar collector elements (10). See
Patent.
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NEW YEARS THOUGHTS
In January,
I'll be reorganizing the site so that more entries, hopefully on a
daily basis, will be on the main page. My Tuesday and Thursday
reviews of patents and publications will also be moved to the main
page.
The IP page will be more closely
directed to the specifics of intellectual property for working
scientists and engineers. This means the ins and outs of patents
and trade secrets. I am also planning to cover other topics of
interest, such as licensing, contracts, employment agreements, etc. as
they pertain to working scientists and engineers. Hopefully this
will one day mature into a book on the subject.
SOLAR COOKER PROJECT
As a final thought for the year, remember that all alternative energy
is not necessarily high tech. Even low tech solutions may
have a great impact on people's lives.
For example, you may wish to consider the Solar Cooker Project, which aids Darfur refugees. Happy New Year!
Robert E. Goozner - December 31, 2007
NEW JERSEY TO LIMIT SOLAR REBATES TO APPLICANTS ON CURRENT LIST
On December 21, 2007, Kevin G. DeMarrais in the Bergen Record reported that the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities voted Thursday to reject new applications for
solar rebates but found enough money from other parts of its $391
million "clean energy" budget to provide rebates to everyone on its
current waiting list. The
extra money was "found" by delaying funding for an offshore wind
project. Those lucky enough to be on the list will be eligible
for up to $245,000 for a 100 kilowatt sytsem.
Read the full article online here.
Thanks to David Carper for the tip.
Happy Holidays to all. - Robert E. Goozner - December 24, 2007
NANOSOLAR BEGINS SALES OF SOLAR PANELS
Nanosolar, a heavily financed Silicon Valley start-up whose backers
include Google’s co-founders, announced on December 18, 2007
that it has begun selling its innovative solar panels. In
his blog, Martin Roscheisen, CEO of Nanosolar stated:
Our
product is defining in more ways I can enumerate here but
includes: the world’s first printed thin-film solar cell in a
commercial panel product; the world’s first thin-film solar cell
with a low-cost back-contact capability; the world’s lowest-cost
solar panel – which we believe will make us the first solar
manufacturer capable of profitably selling solar panels at as little as
$.99/Watt; the world’s highest-current thin-film solar panel –
delivering five times the current of any other thin-film panel on the
market today and thus simplifying system deployment; an intensely
systems-optimized product with the lowest balance-of-system cost of any
thin-film panel – due to innovations in design we have included.
John Markoff also reported this development in the New York Times.
Robert
E. Goozner - December 18, 2007
Israel has found its place in the sun as a player in solar energy,
especially in the field of solar thermal technology. For
example,
one of the world's largest producer of thermal solar electric systems
is Solel.
Solel has
installed over 100,000 solar receivers in solar power plants.
Solel recently announced the tripling of its capacity for
manufacturing its
receiver systems.
However, Israel has lagged behind in generating patents in solar
energy, especially in the area of photovoltaics. The dramatic
increase in the number of total United States patents by Israeli
inventors since 1990 is set forth in the graph below (please note that
the 2007 data is not complete).
However, the number of solar energy patents is small. In
2006,
the number of patents that contained the term "photovoltaic" numbered
6, compared to 105 that contained the term "semiconductor".
In
2006, the number of patents that contained the term "solar" numbered 15.
On the other hand, there is ongoing progress in solar energy.
For example, a Bar-Ilan Univeristy nanotechnology expert
(Arie
Zaban) has invented a photovoltaic cell - which produces electricity
from the sun's rays - that could be dramatically cheaper to produce, as
reported by Judy
Siegel. Dr. H. Avraham Arbib of the Israeli government issued
a report
noting that most photovoltaic applications are off the grid, as in the
Eged bus stop below.
The Municipality of Tel Aviv has decided
in principle that
every public building undergoing restoration will incorporate a
photovoltaic system. It remains to be seen how the decision will be
implemented.
The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
in a report from
2002 notes: " Photovoltaics,
although having little if any industrial backing in Israel
at present, does enjoy a modest degree of government support because
this
technology may form the basis of some of the power stations of the
future.
Innovative methods for producing silicon solar cells are being
investigated at the Jerusalem College of Technology (high-efficiency,
single crystal cells) and at Tel Aviv University (amorphous silicon
thin
layers). New thin-film materials are being investigated for potential
PV
use at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (C60), at the Technion Israel
Institute of Technology (CdTe) and at the Weizmann Institute of Science
(WSe2)."
The solar energy infrastructure in
Israel includes the Ben-Gurion
University of the Negev National Solar Research Center.
The
Center was originally established to advance and assess
promising alternative energy technologies, particularly those involving
solar electric power generation. Since its transfer to Ben-Gurion
University, the main emphasis has been research, but component and
system testing still plays a significant role in the Center's
activities.
A podcast on solar energy in Israel has
been prepared by National
Public Radio.
Robert
E. Goozner - December 4, 2007
Bayonne High School - From
Industcards
New Jersey has
emerged as the country’s second largest producers of solar
energy, surpassed
only by California. On November 12, 2007,
the Wall Street Journal reported that sunny California
dominates the market for rooftop solar power systems at 57%, but not so
sunny New Jersey
comes in second at 8%. Lagging
behind are Colorado
(4%), Nevada
(3%) and Arizona
(2%).
New Jersey
gives homeowners up to 70% of the cost of a rooftop full of solar cells. In the United
States, only New
Jersey has solar incentives that
rival California's,
though it's a much smaller market.
For example, rebates of up to $4.10 per
watt are available for a 0-10,000 watt roof mounted unit of cells.
These
subsidies are to help to achieve the goal of New
Jersey
being 2% solar by 2020, and 20% renewable energy by 2020.
The New
Jersey
rebate program has proved to be so popular that demand exceeded the
allotted
funding in 2006. However,
New Jersey
has separate funding that allows utilities to
offer homeowners up to 30 cents per KWH to sell their solar power.
The federal government and some states are offering serious
incentives that can slash the price of installation (typically over
$40,000
gross for a full system) in half. In California
and New Jersey
- the first states
to allow so-called net metering, whereby homeowners are credited for
electricity they generate beyond their own use - going solar can pay
for itself
in several years.
Solar's ability to lower energy costs also adds value to
your home. For every utility-bill
dollar saved annually because of an improvement, you gain $10 to $20 in
property value. So if you can zero out a $1,000 annual electric tab by
installing solar, you'll get back $10,000 to $20,000 in home value.
For more information see New
Jersey's Clean Energy Program.
Robert
E. Goozner - November 17, 2007
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GREEN HOUSE IN ARLINGTON
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A stream of visitors oohed and ahhed as they streamed
through a brand new green house on North 24th
Road in a quiet
neighborhood in north Arlington, Virginia on
October 6, 2007. The
high tech nature of the house was accentuated by the white booties that
the
visitors wore. The
booties
had nothing
to do the technology, but were to protect the exquisite new wood floors.
The
centerpiece of the green technology was a geothermal heating system
based on
trio of three-hundred foot deep wells sunk into the ground.
Andrew Moore, Vice President of builder Arlington
Designer Homes
(Contact) ,
stated: “It was a very noisy three days when
the truck came to
the side of the house and the wells were dug.
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The main
geothermal unit is located in the basement of the house, and
includes a humidifier.
Geothermal
technology works by tapping the natural heat storing ability of the
earth. Geothermal
technology provides an efficient,
money-saving and environmentally friendly solution for environmental
heating
and cooling as well as water heating.
Heating
and
cooling bills can be reduced by at least 50% using this
technology. The
geothermal system was
installed by Wittman Mechanical Contractors.
Arlington Designer
Homes installed a plethora of other energy saving elements in the
house,
including energy efficient windows, efficient front loading washer and
dryer,
low voltage timers, etc.
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Arlington
Designer Homes
specializes
in green building techniques and builds all
their
houses under the Arlington County
green building
guidelines.
The only thing
lacking in the green house was solar cells.
Andrew
Moore explained: "Arlington
has very small lots, and this particular lot had no advantageous
southern
exposure." As a
result, installing solar
cells did not make economic sense.
By Robert
E.
Goozner
See also:
www.wittmanmechanical.com
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AACHEN GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
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LINKS
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NEW!
INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY PAGE
RECENT
ISRAELI PATENT
Uri Banin and Nir
Tessler developed a composite material comprising a host material in
which are incorporated semiconductor nanocrystals. The host material is
light-transmissive and/or light-emissive and is electrical charget
ransporting thus permitting electrical charge transport to the core of
the nanocrystals. The nanocrystals cause the composite
material to emit/absorb energy in the near infrared (NIR) spectral
range. Electro-optical devices composed of this composite material emit
light in the NIR and photodetectors absorb light in the same
region.
See USP
7,200,318.
Eshel Ben Jacob et
al. are making transistors from DNA strands. A digital computational
circuit includes a network made of identical repetitive
DNA-based conductive elements. The DNA-based elements employ a P-bridge
as a tunnel junction for a net charge. The DNA-based element of which
the circuit is made may be a DNA SET transistor. The circuit may
include a DNA resistor built from a plurality of SET transistor
elements a series, with a constant over-threshold gate voltage.
See USP
7,176,482
Over the last three years, four Swiss Universities
and 70 helpers have developed a small three wheeled two-seater
automobile equipped
with a six square meter flat trailer outfitted with solar cells. These
solar cells (supplied by QCells)
are
delivering half of the
required power for the automobile.
The
rest of the power is supplied by Zebra
batteries based on salt, nickel and ceramic, which are recharged from
an
electrical outlet. Two
of these high
energy batteries give a range of 300 kilometers, and the fully
recyclable
batteries can be recharged up to 1000 times.
An
MP3 player and
two webcams are also on board.
The
progress of the solar taxi can be followed at their Website.
Solar Cells in New Jersey
from BPSU
GERMAN UNIVERSITY TAKES
FIRST
PLACE
The student team led by professor Manfred Hegger took
first place in the Solar Decathon in competition with an
array of
American Universities.
The Darmstadt house eschewed the typical solar esthetics by
not
flaunting the presence of solar cells. Instead, the Darmstadt
house incorporated elements of Bauhaus and Scandinavian design where
the flat-roofed, rectangular house had an exterior clad completely in
fine-grained
German oak. Solar panels were integrated into the slats of
floor-to-ceiling wooden shutters on the east, south and west sides of
the house. On the shady north side, the shutters lacked
solar panels.
A computer changes the tilt of the slats to
catch
the sun's rays and generate electricity throughout the day, storing as
much as possible for use at night.
The shutters' dual purpose, shading and insulating
the interior while generating electricity from the sun, reflects the
twin tasks of a solar house. It is as important to conserve energy as
it is to generate it. Design competitions such as the Solar Decathlon
are
intended to hasten the marketability and affordability of green
technologies and solar-power generation.
Second place was taken by local
favorite
University of Maryland. Third place award was to
Santa
Clara University.
Complete event details, team information, high-resolution
photos, and
daily results are available on the Solar
Decathlon website.
For
more
coverage of the Solar DecathlonClick
Here
and Click
Here.
BUILDING
THE SOLAR
DECATHLON
For pictures of the Solar Decathlon under construction: Click
Here. |
The Goozner
Solar Review arises from my
long standing interest in all
forms of alternative energy. This not only includes solar
energy,
but all kinds of energy that are non-carbon based. At left,
you
see me in front of the geothermal project at the University of Aachen
(Germany). The geothermal energy is obtained by sinking a
shaft
about 1km straight into the ground, and exploiting the temperature
gradient between the abyss and the surface. This shaft will
supply most of the energy used by the University.
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