[LINK] And... world's first 24x7 solar plant...Re: solar cells

[Marghanita da Cruz]

and.. complete with a gorgeous photo...
> Supporters of renewable energy have been dreaming of the day when solar power would finally be able to provide 24/7 baseload energy year-round. Well it seems that their dreams may have come to fruition, with the construction of the Gemasolar power plant in the Spanish province of Andalucia.
> 
> Gemasolar is a sleekly designed, 19.9-MW solar power plant with an expected production of 110,000 MWh per year, or enough energy to power 25,000 homes. But the real gem of the plant is a 15 hour battery to ensure that electricity may still be provided even when solar power is inaccessible.
<http://www.the9billion.com/2011/06/30/worlds-first-247-baseload-solar-power-plant-now-fully-operational-in-spain/>

stephen at melbpc.org.au wrote:
> 'Cling-film' solar cells could lead to advance in renewable energy
>  
> <http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=21973.php>
> 
> (Nanowerk News) A scientific advance in renewable energy which promises a 
> revolution in the ease and cost of using solar cells, has been announced 
> today, Monday 4 July 2011. 
> 
> A new study shows that even when using very simple and inexpensive 
> manufacturing methods - where flexible layers of material are deposited 
> over large areas like cling-film - efficient solar cell structures can be 
> made.  
> 
> The study, published in the journal Advanced Energy Materials paves the 
> way for new solar cell manufacturing techniques and the promise of 
> developments in renewable solar energy.
> 
> Plastic (polymer) solar cells are much cheaper to produce than 
> conventional silicon solar cells and have the potential to be produced in 
> large quantities. 
> 
> Dr Andrew Parnell of the University of Sheffield said, "Our results give 
> important insights into how ultra-cheap solar energy panels for domestic 
> and industrial use can be manufactured on a large scale. 
> 
> Rather than using complex and expensive fabrication methods to create a 
> specific semiconductor nanostructure, high volume printing could be used 
> to produce nano-scale (60 nano-meters) films of solar cells that are over 
> a thousand times thinner than the width of a human hair. 
> 
> These films could then be used to make cost-effective, light and easily 
> transportable plastic solar cell devices such as solar panels."  
> 
> "Over the next fifty years society is going to need to supply the growing 
> energy demands of the world's population without using fossil fuels, and 
> the only renewable energy source that can do this is the Sun", said 
> Professor Richard Jones of the University of Sheffield. 
> 
> "In a couple of hours enough energy from sunlight falls on the Earth to 
> satisfy the energy needs of the Earth for a whole year, but we need to be 
> able to harness this on a much bigger scale than we can do now. Cheap and 
> efficient polymer solar cells that can cover huge areas could help move 
> us into a new age of renewable energy."
> 
> --
> 
> Cheers,
> Stephen
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-- 
Marghanita da Cruz
http://ramin.com.au
Tel: 0414-869202