Bob Goozner's Solar Review

Patent Day

    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,

27 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   11 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   3 contained the term "biodiesel";

4 contained the word "geothermal"; and

5 contained the term "wind turbine".

An interesting patent for today is by Richard M. Swanson et al. of Sunpower, who developed a solar cell in which harmful polarization is prevented. See U.S. Patent 7,554,031.

Robert E. Goozner - June 30, 2009

Publication Day

    On Thursday, the USPTO issued 6,697 publications.

    Of the 6,697 publications,

    63 contained the word "photovoltaic";

    46 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   11 contained the term "biodiesel";

   9 contained the word "geothermal"; and

20 contained the phrase "wind turbine".

The featured publication for today is from Peter Lechner and Walter Psyk, who developed a semitransparent photovoltaic module. See U.S. Publication 20090162968.

Robert E. Goozner - June 25, 2009

Patent Day

    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents once a week, on Tuesday. On Tuesday, the USPTO issued 3,766 patents.

    Of the 3,766 patents issued,

20 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   13 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   3 contained the term "biodiesel";

3 contained the word "geothermal"; and

9 contained the term "wind turbine".

An interesting patent for today is by Benjamin Elias Blumenthal, who developed a a system to generate electricity from vehicular traffic and road infrastructure. See U.S. Patent 7,550,860.

Robert E. Goozner - June 24, 2009

Friday's Bicycles

Here is a picture of the line of bicycles parked outside Munich's Sendlinger Tor subway station taken on May 28, 2009. It would be nice to see this many bikes in front of the DC area metro stations.

Robert E. Goozner - June 19, 2009

Publication Day

    On Thursday, the USPTO issued 7,450 publications.

    Of the 7,450 publications,

    53 contained the word "photovoltaic";

    44 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   15 contained the term "biodiesel";

   12 contained the word "geothermal"; and

8 contained the phrase "wind turbine".

The featured publication for today is from Manish Kothari and Kasra Khazeni, who developed photovoltaics with interferometric ribbon masks. See U.S. Publication 20090151771.

Robert E. Goozner - June 18, 2009

Patent Day

    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents once a week, on Tuesday. On Tuesday, the USPTO issued 3,006 patents.

    Of the 3,006 patents issued,

11 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   10 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   1 contained the term "biodiesel";

8 contained the word "geothermal"; and

5 contained the term "wind turbine".

An interesting patent for today is by Anthony M. Chiu of STmicroelectronics, who developed a regenerative fuel cell that can draw power from a solar cell. See: USP 7,547,483.

Robert E. Goozner - June 16, 2009

Intersolar Pictures

I took a few pictures when I was at Intersolar on May 27-29. Among the interesting stuff was a solar bicycle and a featured solar car from the University of Bochum (Germany).

Robert E. Goozner - June 12, 2009

Publication Day

    On Thursday, the USPTO issued 6,161 publications.

    Of the 6,161 publications,

    51 contained the word "photovoltaic";

    48 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   12 contained the term "biodiesel";

   8 contained the word "geothermal"; and

   23 contained the phrase "wind turbine".

The featured publication for today is from David Warren Lee and Roeland M.M. Hogt, who developed a hybrid electric vehicle including body panels 94 adapted to collect solar energy. See U.S. Publication 20090145674.

Robert E. Goozner - June 11, 2009

Patent Day

    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents once a week, on Tuesday. On Tuesday, the USPTO issued 3,795 patents.

    Of the 3,795 patents issued,

15 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   13 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   2 contained the term "biodiesel";

2 contained the word "geothermal"; and

1 contained the term "wind turbine".

An interesting patent for today is by Chengjun Julian Chen, who developed a solar powered refrigerator with a photovoltaic panel, and using a mixture of glycerin, alcohol and water to store energy. See: USP 7,543,455.

Robert E. Goozner - June 9, 2009

With My Bike in Munich
Goozner with bike

    Last week I was in Munich to attend an oppostion at the European Patent Office and to go to Intersolar. The first thing I did was to rent a bicycle at the railroad station. I went to all my appointments on my bicycle (usually wearing a suit) or a combination of bicycle and U-bahn (subway).
    If you scroll down the page I put up a couple of bicycle and beer pictures (see also the sidebar).

    Robert E. Goozner - June 5, 2009

Publication Day

    On Thursday, the USPTO issued 5,867 publications.

    Of the 5,867 publications,

    50 contained the word "photovoltaic";

    45 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   5 contained the term "biodiesel";

   10 contained the word "geothermal"; and

   13 contained the phrase "wind turbine".

The featured publication for today is from Nigel Pickett et al., who developed a nanoparticle material incoporating ions suitable for use in solar cells. See U.S. Publication 20090139574.

Robert E. Goozner - June 4, 2009

Patent Day

    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents once a week, on Tuesday. On Tuesday, the USPTO issued 3,761 patents.

    Of the 3,761 patents issued,

10 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   13 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   1 contained the term "biodiesel";

5 contained the word "geothermal"; and

3 contained the term "wind turbine".

An interesting patent for today is by Joseph A. Valentino, who developed a system for generating useful energy from vehicle motion, which can be a spring loaded energy scavenging speed bump (see below). See: USP 7,541,684.

I have returned from Intersolar in Munich, and will post some pictures when I get them organized. What was most interesting was not the new technology, but that the Chinese were entering the market with old technology polycrystalline cells at a lower price. There was even lots of old fashioned (but still being optimized) heat exchange technology there. There really wasn't too much (but there was some) of the newer thin film materials such as CdTe and CIS. However, anything that brings down the cost is an advance.

Robert E. Goozner - June 2, 2009

Publication Day

    On Thursday, the USPTO issued 7,121 publications.

    Of the 7,121 publications,

    57 contained the word "photovoltaic";

    51 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   17 contained the term "biodiesel";

   12 contained the word "geothermal"; and

   13 contained the phrase "wind turbine".

The featured publication for today is from Brett D. Martin et al. of the Navy, who developed mesoporous monliths containing conducting polymers that can be used in photovoltaic cells. See U.S. Publication 20090130422.

I am leaving for Europe tomorrow to attend an oppostion at the European Patent Office and then go to Intersolar. Therefore any updates to the web site next week may be sporadic, if at all. So I'll see you at Intersolar.

Robert E. Goozner - May 21, 2009

Patent Day

    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents once a week, on Tuesday. On Tuesday, the USPTO issued 3,761 patents.

    Of the 3,761 patents issued,

21 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   19 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   4 contained the term "biodiesel";

4 contained the word "geothermal"; and

1 contained the term "wind turbine".

An interesting patent for today is by Ichiro Kataoka et al. of Canon, who developed a solar cell module connected to an electric device using electrodes 5 and a terminal block 8. See: USP 7,534,956.

Robert E. Goozner - May 19, 2009

Friday's Hat

Roger G. Thompson has developed a headwear accessory device that removably engages a portion of a baseball cap, which can include a photovoltaic cell 31. See U.S. Publication 20090119819.

Today is ride your bicyle to work day, so I got a free bagel and t-shirt on my ride into work today. See WABA's poster.

Robert E. Goozner - May 14, 2009

Publication Day

    On Thursday, the USPTO issued 6,239 publications.

    Of the 6,239 publications,

    50 contained the word "photovoltaic";

    42 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   10 contained the term "biodiesel";

   12 contained the word "geothermal"; and

   11 contained the phrase "wind turbine".

The featured publication for today is from Declan J. Ganley, who developed a tidal power system for harnessing energy from ocean tides. See U.S. Publication 20090121486.

Robert E.Goozner - May 14, 2009

Patent Day

    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,

22 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   14 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   5 contained the term "biodiesel";

7 contained the word "geothermal"; and

5 contained the term "wind turbine".

An interesting patent for today is by David S.Melton and Odes Armijo-Caster of Sacred Power Corporation, who developed a tracking solar power array. See: USP 7,531,741.

Robert E. Goozner - May 12, 2009

Friday's Hat

Michel Fontaine of Paris, France has developed a device to prevent the risk of overexposure to harmful solar radiation. The hat includes a detection device 10 that incorporates a photovoltaic cell. See U.S. Patent 7,265,358.

Robert E. Goozner - May 8, 2009

Publication Day

    On Thursday, the USPTO issued 6,228 publications.

    Of the6,228 publications,

    58 contained the word "photovoltaic";

    56 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   15 contained the term "biodiesel";

   9 contained the word "geothermal"; and

   10 contained the phrase "wind turbine".

The featured publication for today is from Michael Milbourne et al., who developed a solar array using a monolithic array of primary mirrors. See: U.S Publication 20090114265.

Changing topics, I have said some disparaging things about the Chevy Volt, for which I think the technology (especially the battery technology) doesn't exist. However, you can get another opinion at the Chevy Volt fan site at gm-volt.com.

Robert E. Goozner - May 7, 2009

Patent Day

    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents once a week, on Tuesday. On Tuesday, the USPTO issued 3,746 patents.

    Of the 3,746 patents issued,

7 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   11 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   6 contained the term "biodiesel";

4 contained the word "geothermal"; and

3 contained the term "wind turbine".

An interesting patent for today is by Anand Chellappa et al.of Intelligent Energy, Inc., who developed compact devices for generating pure hydrogen including a hydrogeen membrane reactor. See: USP 7,527,661.

Robert E. Goozner - May 5, 2009

Friday's Hat

Lennert E. Lundgren of Northglenn Colorado has developed a ventilated cowboy hat with solar cells 50 mounted on the brim. See U.S. Patent 7,143,451.

Robert E. Goozner - May 1, 2009

Publication Day

    On Thursday, the USPTO issued 6,717 publications.

    Of the6,717 publications,

    48 contained the word "photovoltaic";

    40 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   10 contained the term "biodiesel";

   12 contained the word "geothermal"; and

   17 contained the phrase "wind turbine".

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

BICYCLES IN MUNICH - MAY 2009
Munich Bicycles

TRAILS END IN MUNICH - MAY 2009
Munich Beer

BICYCLES IN BERLIN- MAY 2008
Berlin Bicycles

TRAILS END IN BERLIN - MAY 2008

Patent Attorney Office River-Vu

Patent Lawyer View

My law firm, Young & Thompson, moved into nice new offices at the northern edge of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. Somehow I was given a prestigious (but not corner) office with a view of the Potomac river.

Although you can barely see it, the Alexandria boathouse is at the end of Madison street, and one can see the rowing team practice in the late afternoon.

AACHEN GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

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. Above, 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.

LINKS

Solar Decathlon	Department of Energy	Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy	National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
United States Patent And Trademark Office	Gooznews	Young & Thompsom