The featured publication for today is from Mehrdad Moslehi, who developed a template for pyramidal three dimensional thin film solar cell manufacturing.  See: U.S Publication 20090107545.  A view of the template is reproduced below.

    Robert E. Goozner - April 30, 2009

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    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents once a week, on Tuesday.  On Tuesday, the USPTO issued 3,754 patents.

      Of the 3,754 patents issued,

  22 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   12 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   5 contained the term "biodiesel";
   
  3 contained the word "geothermal"; and

  5 contained the term  "wind turbine".

  An interesting patent for today is by Yoshihiro Nagata et al.of Toyo Technology, who developed a wave activated power generation device and wave activated power generation plant. See: USP 7,525,213.

    Robert E. Goozner - April 28, 2009

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    It's Friday and it is going to be a warm weekend.  Donie N. Quintal has a solution with a ventilated cap with porous solar cells 30.     See U.S. Patent 7,331,064.

    Robert E. Goozner - April 24, 2009

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Publication Day

     The featured publication for today is from David A. Muchow et al., who developed a suitcase power system that includes solar cells.  See: U.S Publication 20090102415.  A view of the suitcase is reproduced below.

    Robert E. Goozner - April 23, 2009

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    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents once a week, on Tuesday.  On Tuesday, the USPTO issued 3,970 patents.

      Of the 3,970 patents issued,

  17 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   14 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   2 contained the term "biodiesel";
   
  3 contained the word "geothermal"; and

  6 contained the term  "wind turbine".

  An interesting patent for today is by John A. Rogers et al. of the University of Illinois, who developed a stretchable from of single crystal silicon suitable for solar cells.   See: USP 7,521, 292.  

    Robert E. Goozner - April 21, 2009

     The featured publication for today is from Stephen R. Forrest et al. under an NREL grant, who developed type II quantum dot solar cells.  See: U.S Publication 20090095349.  A view of the cell is reproduced below.

    
    Robert E. Goozner - April 16, 2009

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    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents once a week, on Tuesday.  On Tuesday, the USPTO issued 3,979 patents.

      Of the 3,979 patents issued,

  23 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   15 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   1 contained the term "biodiesel";
   
  3 contained the word "geothermal"; and

  9 contained the term  "wind turbine".

  An interesting patent for today is by David Hyman Gordon of Windsave Holdings, who developed a roof mounted wind turbine.   See: USP 7,518,255.   For a view of Figures 9 and 2, see below.

   
    Since it looks like rain today you might need an umbrella.  One possibility is the umbrella apparatus of Gregory G. Kuelbs in U.S. Publication 2009/0090404, which has a solar cell 135 at the apex.

    Robert E. Goozner - April 10, 2009

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     The featured publication for today is from Dimitrias Elias Katsoulis and Bizhong Zha, who developed a cadmium telluride solar cell on a silicone substrate.  See: U.S Publication 20090090413.  A view of the cell is reproduced below.

    Robert E. Goozner - April 9, 2009

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    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents once a week, on Tuesday.  On Tuesday, the USPTO issued 3,953 patents.

      Of the 3,953 patents issued,

  19 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   17 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   6 contained the term "biodiesel";
   
  1 contained the word "geothermal"; and

  6 contained the term  "wind turbine".

  An interesting patent for today is by Steven J. Wojtczuk et al. of Spire Corp., who developed a nanoscale photovoltaic device.   See: USP 7,514, 725.   For a view of Figures 9 and 10, see below.

    Robert E. Goozner - April 7, 2009

        Back in 1982 Chester D. Guzowski patented a welding helmet including a fan powered by a  solar cell.    See U.S. Patent 4,309,774.  Numeral 44 is the solar cell.

    Robert E. Goozner - April 3, 2009

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     The featured publication for today is from Jong Hyeok Park et al., who developed a dye-sensitized solar cell using nanotubes arranged perpendicular to a substrate.  See: U.S Publication 20090084434.  A view of the cell is reproduced below.

      Robert E. Goozner - April 2, 2009

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    General Motors seems to be heading towards bankruptcy court at this point.  That is, in order for the car maker to survive, there will be cuts.  I hope that the cuts are not in the critical area of R&D.  

    For example, I researched GM's patent activity in one potential future technology - fuel cells - and found that GM holds 365 United States Patents.  A chart of the fuel cell patents granted per year is below.

 

    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents once a week, on Tuesday.  On Tuesday, the USPTO issued 3,777 patents.

      Of the 3,777 patents issued,

  19 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   24 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   2 contained the term "biodiesel";
   
  1 contained the word "geothermal"; and

  2 contained the term  "wind turbine".

  An interesting patent for today is by Thomas L. Gibson and Nelson A. Kelly of General Motors, who developed a method and apparatus for hydrogen separation using solar cells.   See: USP 7,510, 640.   For a view of Figure 2, see below.

    It's good to see GM doing this type of thing, which will eventually get them out of the fix they are in.  Let's hope that R&D is not cut back during the restructuring.

    Robert E. Goozner - March 31, 2009

    

     The featured publication for today is from Kasra Khazeni et al. of Qualcomm, who developed in interferometrically tuned photovoltaic cell producing an increased field in an active region of the photovoltaic cell.  See: U.S Publication 20090078316.  A view of the cell is reproduced below.  

      Robert E. Goozner - March 26, 2009

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    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents once a week, on Tuesday.  On Tuesday, the USPTO issued 3,780 patents.

      Of the 3,780 patents issued,

  13 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   12 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   4 contained the term "biodiesel";
   
  6 contained the word "geothermal"; and

  4 contained the term  "wind turbine".

  An interesting patent for today is by Brian J. Flaherty and Timothy M. Davis of Lumeta, Inc., who developed a profile roof tile with an integrated photovoltaic module.   See: USP 7,506,477.   For a view of Figure 9, see below.

    It's Friday and it gets hot in Florida in spring.  However, Mark Schneider developed a solar fan hat with interchageable ears.  See U.S. Publication 2008/022277.

   

    This hat may even have a built in trademark dilution function.

    Robert E. Goozner - March 20, 2009

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     The featured publication for today is from Subhendu Guha et al. under an Air Force contract, who developed a lightweight phtovoltaic device fabricated on a non-etchable barrier layer  disposed on an etchable substrate.  See: U.S Publication 20090075483.   Figures 3 and 4 of the publication are reproduced below.  The features include an active material 14, a substrate 12, a barrier layer 16 and an encapsulant material 18.   

    Robert E. Goozner - March 19, 2009

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    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents once a week, on Tuesday.  On Tuesday, the USPTO issued 3,764 patents.

      Of the 3,764 patents issued,

  12 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   10 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   0 contained the term "biodiesel";
   
  5 contained the word "geothermal"; and

  7 contained the term  "wind turbine".

  An interesting patent for today is by Ben M. Enis and Paul Lieberman,  who developed a method of transporting and storing wind generated energy using a pipeline.   See: USP 7,504,739.   For a view of Figure 3, see below.

    As an additional comment on Kristina Johnson, I do note that her background is in materials and thin film systems such as LCDs.  These are at least conceptually related to photovoltaics, which are also thin films and similar to LCDs, use glass or silicon substrates.

    So her technical background as relating to energy is very appropriate.

    Robert E. Goozner - March 17, 2009

     President Barack Obama announced yesterday his intention to nominate Kristina M. Johnson to be Undersecretary of Energy.  See, for example, Stephen Kiel's report in the Baltimore Sun.  

    Johnson has held positions at Johns Hopkins and at Duke and is reported to hold 129 U.S. and foreign patents and patents pending.  I looked her up and found  39 U.S. Patents, which can be found here.  

    However, these patents are for display technologies, such as liquid crystal displays (I wrote my dissertation on liquid crystals, as an aside).  Liquid crystals is a great field, but it is not a field directly related to energy.  For example, the last patent with her name on it is USP 7,460,101, (assigned to Duke) which is for a frame buffer pixel circuit for a liquid crystal display.

    Also, a search of her patent publications found 13 publications, which can be found here.  These are also a mixed bag.  An example is U.S. Publication 2007/0270916  
for a cardiac pacemaker with an integrated battery.  Figure 6 of the publication, a logic diagram, is below.

    Although Ms. Johnson's work is not dead on in the field of energy, she has real chops as a cutting edge scientist and engineer.  I am sure that she will be a terrific appointee as Undersecretary of Energy.
    

    It's Friday the 13th.  To keep the sky from falling on your head you may need a solar powered hard hat, like the one developed by Fred L. Pullin for a solar powered headwear fan.  See U.S. Patent D 275,334.

   

    Robert E. Goozner - March 13, 2009

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.Publication Day

     The featured publication for today is from Neil Paul Dasgupta et al. of Stanford, who developed a hydride photolytic fuel cell.    See: U.S Publication 20090065048.   Figure 2 of the publication is reproduced below.

   Robert E. Goozner - March 12, 2009

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    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents once a week, on Tuesday.  On Tuesday, the USPTO issued 3,283 patents.

      Of the 3,283 patents issued,

  9 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   10 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   1 contained the term "biodiesel";
   
  3 contained the word "geothermal"; and

  2 contained the term  "wind turbine".

  An interesting patent for today is by Gene S. Fein et al. of Genedics, who developed a roadway system and method for creating a networked infrastructure roadway distribution platform of solar energy gathering devices.   See: USP 7,501,713.   For a view of a system element, see below.

    Robert E. Goozner - March 10, 2009

    It's Friday and the sun is out.  So you might be thinking of getting a solar powered hat for the weekend.  One possibility is the one by Gerald B. Hirsch et al. for a solar powered headwear fan.  See U.S. Patent 4,680,815.  The abstract of the patent says it all:   
  

    "The present invention includes a self-contained personal cooling device. It is a one-piece modular component which is pre-wired and interchangeable between different hats. The components of the modular unit are employed in the unit to effect total body cooling by evaporation and forced convection. The unit is powered by photo-voltaic energy. The cooling effect of this modular device is maximized by incorporating air vent slots adjacent to the fan motor assembly to increase the force of air delivery."

   

     The featured publication for today is from Bruce H. King et al. of  Optomec Inc., who developed  an aerosol jet printing system for photovoltaic applications.    See: U.S Publication 20090061077.   Figure 3 of the publication is reproduced below.

L.A. Solar Plan Trails

    The Los Angeles solar energy plan known as Measure B was trailing Wednesday, surprising a coalition of politicians, labor leaders and environmentalists who still hope that uncounted ballots will push it to victory.  As of today, the unofficial count was 50.3% of voters opposing it and 49.7% favoring it.  For more see The Los Angeles Times.

Solar Cells Getting Cheaper

    Some good news is that solar cells are getting cheaper and may soon become competitive with conventional technologies.  After hitting $4.20 a watt in the middle of 2008, solar panel prices have slid almost 30 percent to about $3 a watt, and may  further drop 20 percent  this year.  On the other hand, profits have dwindled for solar cell manufacturers and there may be a shake out of weaker players.  This has been recently been reported by Reuters.

    Robert E. Goozner - March 5, 2009

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    The weather in the Washington are has been very cold and snowy lately, and I have not been riding my bicycle into work this week (at least so far).  However, I have been thinking about bicycles.  So why not a solar bicycle?
    The problem is is that the modern bicycle has been around for at least a century, and the technology is higly developed.  The modern road bike weighs less than 30 pounds, has 24 gears and is highly efficient.  Modifying a bicycle to add solar cells, motor and battery adds weight, and extra weight is inimical to virtually every bicyclist.
    However, this does not stop people from trying.  For example, a modified bicyle fitted with solar cells can be seen at Gotwind.org or at  Galt Global Review.  Examples of electric bicycles engineered from the ground up include the Electrobike Pi.
    There are also patents on solar electric bicycles.  For example there is Henry M. Gannon's electric and pedal driven bicycle with solar charging:  U.S. Patent 5,316,101.  There is also Ronald W. Whittaker's electric bicycle in U.S. Patent 6,155,369.  A view of Whittaker's bicycle is below.

    Robert E. Goozner - March 4, 2009

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    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents once a week, on Tuesday.  On Tuesday, the USPTO issued 3,763 patents.

      Of the 3,763 patents issued,

  17 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   14 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   2 contained the term "biodiesel";
   
  4 contained the word "geothermal"; and

  3 contained the term  "wind turbine".

  An interesting patent for today is by Roderick A. Hyde of Searate, who developed a photonic crystal energy converter where a  photonic crystal is configured with wavelength converting material to act as a concentrator for electromagnetic energy. The concentrator may also be configured with energy conversion devices to convert the electromagnetic energy into another form of energy. See: USP 7,499,619.   For a view of the converter, see below.

     The featured publication for today is from Youssef Habib of Illuminex Corporation, who developed  a photovoltaic device where the charge carrier collection occurs in an array of semiconducting nanowires.    See: U.S Publication 20090050204.  
    Figure 1  from Habib:

     Robert E. Goozner - February 26, 2009

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