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It's on the Breaking News Sidebar
Posted on 07/07/2003 5:06:51 PM PDT by PeaceBeWithYou
Camarillo, California - Shell Solar will introduce two new lines of monocrystalline photovoltaic (PV) modules in Europe starting this Autumn. According to the company, each new offering will have a power output capacity six percent higher than its predecessors despite the surface areas remaining unchanged.The greater power output is the result of a change in design. Whereas the solar cells in the lines being replaced have rounded corners, those in the new modules are almost square. The unoccupied spaces between the cells are smaller so that the end-user obtains more power for the area covered. The new modules are called the Shell SQ line, with SQ standing for square.
Shell SQ modules will gradually replace the existing SP product line. Shell SQ80 (80 watts peak power) will replace Shell SP75 (75 watts peak power). Shell SQ160-C (160 watts peak power) will supercede Shell SP150 (150 watts peak power). Both will be covered by 25 year power warranties.
According to the company, the SQ80 is particularly well suited for off grid 12-volt industrial applications where power has to be generated at a high rate by a limited module surface area. The Shell SQ80's compact dimensions enable it to be readily transported to and set up at remote locations.
The company said the SQ160-C is their most cost-effective product, and well-suited for operation in commercial grid-connected applications with system voltages of up to 1,000 volts. When mounted on residential or industrial rooftops, where power has to be generated at the highest possible rate from a limited module surface area, the Shell SQ160-C provides consistently high energy outputs. Shell SQ160-C modules are supplied with fitted cables and MultiContact plugs making installation quicker and cheaper.
In other Shell Solar news, the company has announced they will supply 2,400 CIS (copper, indium, selenium) thin film PV modules to a major construction project in St Asaph, North Wales. According to their company, the order is Shell's largest yet since they joined the solar industry.
The panels will be installed by Welsh company PV Systems on the south-facing main façade of the OpTIC Technium, an innovation and business support center for the opto-electronics industry being constructed by the Welsh Development Agency. They will provide peak power of 84 kW, enough to supply 60 typical homes. The project is being supported under the United Kingdom's Large-Scale Field Trial for Public Buildings, a Department of Trade and Industry initiative to promote solar power through its use in government buildings.
CIS thin film is a new way of making a solar cell. Copper, indium and selenium are applied in minutely-thin layers to glass through a vacuum process. This vacuum technique is widely-used for coating window glass but is relatively new in the solar industry. The current mainstream crystalline silicon solar technology involves sawing, chemically etching and baking thin wafers from rods of highly-purified silicon in a high temperature process. The main benefit of CIS thin film technology is anticipated lower manufacturing costs and a more competitive kWhr price, said the company.
Shell Solar was the first company in the world to begin series production of CIS solar modules, five years ago in Camarillo, California. The company said their CIS thin film modules offer exceptional performance in low-light, adverse and high temperature environments, making them ideal for locations where there are changeable weather conditions. With a uniform appearance, CIS thin film modules are also suitable for use in projects where aesthetics are an important consideration.
Conversion efficiency sucks.
Transmission sucks.
Storage sucks.
It sucks.
Go nuclear !!!
They must be excluding electrically heated houses in this calculation. That represents one third of the houses.
http://www.nwpwr.com/shell.htm
Are any solar panels made with Lexan covers? Otherwise, they wouldn't last through a single spring hailstorm in Texas.
Careful, now is the peak power enough to supply 60 homes or the average power enough?
Gee, what's the diffence between the peak and the *average* power? Usually, its huge.
Furthermore, since the sun doesn't always shine and storage is very messy and expensive, you will ALWAYS HAVE TO BUILD THE SAME NUMBER OF *REAL* POWER PLANTS to get reliable power.
That's right the exact same number of natural gas, coal, and nuke plants will have to constructed with or without this feel good nonsense.
This stuff adds power NOT capacity.
The SP75's are 16 for $5k. If they keep the SQ80's priced the same, then your best possible under ideal circumstances power cost would be: 16*80*12 hours = 15.4 kwh per dayTimes 365 (must be good weather somewhere) days = 553kwh per year or 110.6 kwh per Dollar (about $.01 per kwh).
Which would be cheap enough if you got that much peak Sunlight. With no rain. No clouds.
Somebody out in Arizona is going to love these things. Somebody in London is never even going to get to use them.
If you're off the grid, wind and solar aren't unreasonable options.
They are not solutions for an advancing civilization. Both transmission and storage are nightmares.
Let's see 7X the volume of gasoline for the same energy, oh, and what are you going to store it in?
You purify hydrogen by filtering it through a metal plate.
I love solar, but I'm about telling the truth to customers so that they expect what they will get.
That's an overstatement. Peak periods, where we need all the capacity we can get, are when it is the hottest--in other words, when the sun is out and air conditioners are working overtime. Which is also when solar systems are at or near peak.
But does PG&E declare this "gift" on their tax returns.
If not, then they are setting themselves up for an IRS finANciAL exam.
How do you synchronize to the grid?
The BP panels I have at the farm have been in place for five years and have suffered no damage. I don't know what they are made of, but they must be tough.
The DC to AC converter handles that. A 3 kW converter is about half the size of a suitcase.
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