telluride

First Solar touts record-setting cell efficiency

First Solar today said a test cell using its cadmium telluride solar technology set a new world record of 17.3 percent efficiency.

The world's most valuable solar company said the cell's performance, confirmed by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Lab, topped the previous world record of 16.7 percent set in 2001.

A solar cell's efficiency is the percentage of sunlight that ends up being converted to electricity.

The announcement by First Solar, which rarely trumpets the performance of its test cells, comes a few months after rising competitor General Electric … Read more

Abound Solar nails DOE loan for thin-film factory

Abound Solar has secured $510 million to ramp up production of its thin-film solar panels and compete in the cut-throat pricing of the global solar photovoltaics industry.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu is scheduled to host a conference call today with Abound Solar CEO Tom Tiller to announce that the Fort Collins, Colo.-based company has finalized a $400 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy. It also raised $110 million in equity from existing private investors, one of the requirements for getting the loan.

With the money, Abound Solar can boost production to 200 megawatts a year by 2012 … Read more

Ride and Drive: 2011 Range Rover and LR4 tackle the San Juan Mountains

We recently got a chance to go on the most amazing off-road adventure in the 2011 Range Rover and the 2011 LR4. Both vehicles have had minor tuning to their engines to make them more efficient, and a bit of a face lift on the body. But where judgment really stands is how well the Range Rover and LR4 do in the great outdoors.

Beauty and the Beast

On the first day of our wild adventure, we went from Telluride over Imogene pass in the San Juan Mountain Range--to an elevation of 13,000ft.

The 6,000-lb Range Rover is a beast, but climbs up the rocky trailways like a mountain goat. With a 5.0-liter, 510hp supercharged V8, we weren't concerned with setting 0-60 mph records; although the Range Rover can do 0-60 in 5.9 seconds.

The Colorado mountainside provided the best place for us to try out the Range Rover's new features: Gradient Acceleration Control and Hill Start Assist. Hill Start Assist keeps the initial driver-generated brake pressure long enough for your foot to move from brake to accelerator without the car rolling backward on the rocky trails.… Read more

Solexant funded to print thin-film solar cells

Silicon Valley solar company Solexant has raised $41.5 million to pursue technology it says can slice the costs of solar power with a printing-like manufacturing process.

The company's technology, which was developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, takes raw semiconductor material and creates nanoparticles which, once dissolved in a solvent, creates an ink that can be printed.

Initially, it plans to use cadmium telluride to make solar cells, but in the future it hopes to use materials more efficient at converting sunlight into electrical energy, said CEO Damoder Reddy on Friday.

Solexant has been operating a pilot facility … Read more

GE places solar bets on thin-film cells

General Electric, which has long made solar panels using traditional silicon, is converting to thin-film cells, using the same material as industry cost leader First Solar.

The company's research organization on Thursday detailed its activities with cadmium telluride solar cells, which the company has determined offers the most potential to lower solar power costs.

As first reported by CNET, GE's next-generation solar panels are based on technology from PrimeStar Solar, a Denver, Colo.-based company where GE is the majority owner. GE executives are bullish that by lowering costs, solar can grow rapidly, as its wind business has … Read more