To access the Fuels from Sunlight FOA (reference number DE-FOA-0000214) please direct your browser to: https://www.fedconnect.net/FedConnect/PublicPages/PublicSearch/Public_Opportunities.aspx and search for “Fuels from Sunlight” in the search box (note that the search flag should be set to “Title” or “Title/Description”).

After nearly 3 billion years of evolution, nature can effectively convert sunlight into energy-rich chemical fuels using the abundant feedstocks of water and carbon dioxide.  All fuels used today to power vehicles and create electricity, whether from fossil or biomass resources, are ultimately derived from photosynthesis.  While biofuels are renewable resources that avoid the environmental consequences of burning the sequestered carbon of fossil fuels, their scalability and sustainability remain a concern.   Furthermore, the overall energy efficiency of converting sunlight to plant material and then converting biomass into fuels is low.

The natural photosynthetic apparatus is a remarkable machine, but plants and photosynthetic microbes were not designed to meet human energy needs – much of the energy captured from the sun is necessarily devoted to the life processes of the plants.  Imagine the potential energy benefits if we could generate fuels directly from sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water in a manner analogous to the natural system, but without the need to maintain life processes.  The impact of replacing fossil fuels with fuels generated directly by sunlight would be immediate and revolutionary.  Recognizing this, the Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (BESAC) report, New Science for a Secure and Sustainable Energy Future, lists the production of fuels directly from sunlight as one its three strategic goals for which transformational science breakthroughs are urgently needed.

Basic research has already provided enormous advances in our understanding of the subtle and complex photochemistry associated with the natural photosynthetic system.  Similar advances have occurred using inorganic photo-catalytic methods to split water or reduce carbon dioxide.  Yet, we still lack sufficient knowledge to design solar fuel generation systems with the required efficiency and sustainability for economic viability.  The Fuels from Sunlight Hub will develop an effective solar energy to chemical fuel conversion system.  The system should operate at an overall efficiency and produce fuel of sufficient energy content to enable transition from bench-top discovery to proof-of-concept prototyping.  The magnitude of this challenge is daunting, but not insurmountable, and will require that the successful Hub draw expertise and premier scientific talent from the disciplines of chemistry, physics, materials sciences, biology, and engineering.

Critical issues for the Fuels from Sunlight Hub include the following:

Understanding and designing catalytic complexes or solids that generate chemical fuel from carbon dioxide and/or water.  This research would necessarily be coordinated with complementary efforts to comprehend and design other essential elements required for the overall conversion of solar energy into chemical fuels.  These include solar photon capture, energy transfer, charge separation and electron transport.  A fundamental concern is the design and discovery of materials that will be cost effective and sustainable in the future economy.

Integration of all essential elements from light capture to fuel formation into an effective solar fuel generation system.   This would require research and methodology that seek to understand complex issues of the system as an operating unit.  Unlike natural photosynthesis, successful systems within the scope of this FOA should function efficiently at full solar flux; hence, the efficacy of system components should be evaluated in consideration of such a demanding environment.

Pragmatic evaluation of the solar fuel system under development.  While a robust solar fuels industry does not presently exist for deployment of resulting technologies, the Hub should have the capacity to determine the practicality of a solar fuel system as a prototype and as a potential product in the marketplace.

More detailed information regarding research needs for the production of fuels from sunlight can be found in two of the Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES) Basic Research Needs workshop reports: Basic Research Needs for Solar Energy Utilization and Basic Research Needs: Catalysis for Energy. In addition, the conversion of sunlight into chemical fuels requires significant progress in meeting the scientific grand challenges described in the BESAC report, Directing Matter and Energy: Five Challenges for Science and the Imagination. All of these reports can be found at: http://www.sc.doe.gov/bes/reports/list.html.

More than references, these reports are the end product of a process that defined the scope of the Fuels from Sunlight Hub. Through these Basic Research Needs workshops, BES solicited extensive input from the scientific and technical community, including professionals from universities, national laboratories, industry, and non-profits, on the specific barriers to radical progress towards artificial photosynthesis. A description of this process and the broad nature of the input collected is also available at http://www.sc.doe.gov/bes/reports/files/BRN_workshops.pdf.

Energy Efficient Building Systems Design

via Department of Energy – Research Areas.

Solar Patents Part of Upward Trend in Clean Energy

By Victor A. Cardona

Albany, NY

Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti P.C. is pleased to announce the Shine-On Solar edition of the Clean Energy Patent Growth Index (CEPGI) by the firm’s Cleantech Group. The CEPGI tracks the granting of patents in the Clean Energy sector and monitors important technological breakthroughs in this field. Victor Cardona, Co-chair of the firm’s Cleantech Group stated, “We have drilled down into our solar patent data and have found some interesting results. Solar photovoltaic patents lead those of solar thermal by a wide margin. Within solar thermal, indirect technologies, such as those directed to generating electricity, are the leaders with Boeing having the most patents in this sector. Solar PV is dominated by first generation PV technologies and led by Canon.”

Victor Cardona, Co-chair of the firm’s Cleantech Group stated, “We have drilled down into our solar patent data and have found some interesting results. Solar photovoltaic patents lead those of solar thermal by a wide margin. Within solar thermal, indirect technologies, such as those directed to generating electricity, are the leaders with Boeing having the most patents in this sector. Solar PV is dominated by first generation PV technologies and led by Canon.”

The Clean Energy Patent Growth Index (CEPGI) provides an indication of the trend of innovative activity in the Clean Energy sector since 2002 in the U.S., along with leading patent owners and leading country and state information.  As depicted below, solar technology patents have trended upwardly for the last four quarters and are beginning to regain ground lost since 2002, when tracking of the CEPGI began.

As depicted in the figure, on an annual basis, granted patents in photovoltaic technology dropped sharply from 2002-2005 before flattening out and rising slightly, and jumping significantly in the most recent four quarters.  The number of granted U.S. patents on the thermal technology side of solar energy increased slightly from 2002 to 2005 before slowly declining.

The top patent owners in the solar thermal area since 2002 are dominated by Boeing (14), which has patents directed to indirect solar thermal technologies including aspects of generating electricity via the heating of fluids and solar molten salt technologies.  Canon is far and away the leader in Solar PV patents with over 2.5 times Sharp, its closest competitor.  Canon has patents in almost all PV categories led by enabling (60), second generation (19), and first generation (9) technology patents.  Sharp spreads its patents out among various subcategories including enabling (15), first (4), second (8), third (5) and enhancement (5).

Of the top fifteen (15) PV patent holders, seven (7) are based in Japan while the rest are based in the United States.  However, Japanese patent holders dominate the top fifteen (15) in absolute numbers of patents.  In fact, the top three patent holders, all from Japan, hold over 17% of all PV patents.

Further information regarding the CEPGI and a more detailed report of the Shine-on Solar Edition is available at www.cleanenergypatentgrowthindex.com.

Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti P.C. is dedicated exclusively to representing clients in the protection and commercialization of intellectual property, both domestic and foreign, including patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. The firm has gained national recognition in the area of Intellectual Property Law and was listed among the “Top Patent Firms” and “Top Trademark Firms” in Intellectual Property Law Today.

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CLEAN ENERGY PATENT GROWTH INDEX – Shine-On Solar Edition | HESLIN ROTHENBERG FARLEY & MESITI P.C..

Sharp, Enel Green Power and ST Microelectronics Establish Thin-film Joint Venture

Rome, Italy [RenewableEnergyWorld.com]

Sharp, Enel Green Power (EGP) and STMicroelectronics (STM) have signed a joint venture agreement for the production of thin-film solar cells. Sharp and EGP also signed a joint venture agreement for independent power producer business. Following expected approval of the joint ventures by the EU Commission the three companies will establish joint venture companies respectively by the end of March 2010.

The cells produced in this plant will be marketed mainly in Europe and the Mediterranean area through the sales networks of Sharp and EGP.

Sharp, EGP and STM plan to start the production of thin-film solar cells in 2011, by utilizing an existing STM facility in Catania Province, Italy.

The thin-film solar cell plant will start operation with an initial annual production capacity of 160 megawatts (MW), which is scheduled to be expanded to an annual production capacity of 480MW in the future. In addition to financing from the banks, this project will be funded by investments from each company of approximately €70 million each.

The cells produced in this plant will be marketed mainly in Europe and the Mediterranean area through the sales networks of Sharp and EGP. The two companies will establish power generation plants with a total power generation capacity of more than 500 MW by the end of December 2016.

via Sharp, Enel Green Power and ST Microelectronics Establish Thin-film Joint Venture – Renewable Energy World.

Senator: Cap and Trade a No-Go in 2010

As went the Copenhagen climate talks, so goes U.S. cap-and-trade legislation. Or so it would seem from the comments of Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Bingaman on Jan. 5 said that without consensus on the final form of a cap-and-trade system, he sees little chance of Congress passing legislation this year, according to ABCNews, via AP.

Still, he said that both the House and the Senate are likely to pass some sort of energy related bills that would include curbs on pollution, especially as legislators worry that the EPA may force reductions under the Clean Air Act without Congressional action.

Either scenario is likely to drive up utility rates, he said, adding that he wanted to determine which would drive up rates the least.

In place of immediate cap-and-trade legislation, Bingaman would like to see more incentives passed to encourage renewable energy technologies, such as the American Clean Technology Manufacturing Leadership Act.

With dissent among legislators, President Obama must take a stronger lead role if he expects cap-and-trade to pass, according to an editorial that originally ran in the San Jose Mercury News but was reprinted in the Salt Lake Tribune.

“Accomplishing this will require President Barack Obama to do what he does best: explain and inspire, capitalizing on hopes and not fears,” according to the editorial.

When the National Journal posed the question of what the Senate would do to curb greenhouse gas emissions, several prominent business and association leaders responded.

Alan Oxley, Chairman of World Growth, said, “The cap and trade system at the heart both the House and Senate bills would saddle Americans with severe economic consequences. Just consider that the E.U. carbon trading market has experienced volatile price swings, widespread incidence of fraud and abuse, and the development of securitized financial products (similar to the ones which contributed to the recent mortgage crisis).”

Daniel Weiss, Senior Fellow and Director of Climate Strategy, Center for American Progress, expressed optimism about passage of energy legislation. He wrote: “The mainstream media has written the obituary for comprehensive clean energy legislation at every step of the process. Such nay saying occurred after House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-CA) and House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming introduced the American Clean Energy and Security Act, before the House Energy Committee passed the bill, and before the full House of Representatives passed it in June. Chair Waxman noted that ‘On every issue that I’ve worked on this year, people have said it can’t happen and it’s dead for the year.’ Claims about the death of the Senate global warming bill are also greatly exaggerated. The Senate is on track for a spring debate and passage of legislation to create jobs, increase American energy independence and cut pollution.”

Robert Shapiro, Chairman and Founder, Sonecon, and a member of the U.S. Climate Task Force, said that a revenue-neutral, carbon-based tax was more likely than the current version of cap-and-trade. “Carbon taxes are … an approach that’s sharply cut emissions in Scandinavia, one that the EU is actively exploring following the disappointments of its cap-and-trade-based European Trading Scheme, and it’s even the plan that Al Gore has long favored. A real public discussion and debate about a carbon tax, tied to offsetting cuts in payroll or other taxes, could be the best news for the climate in a very long time.”

via Senator: Cap and Trade a No-Go in 2010 · Environmental Leader · Green Business, Sustainable Business, and Green Strategy News for Corporate Sustainability Executives.

]]> http://www.smartpowerinternational.com/2010/01/06/senator-cap-and-trade-a-no-go-in-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.smartpowerinternational.com/2010/01/06/xsunx-completes-hybrid-cigs-solar-device/ http://www.smartpowerinternational.com/2010/01/06/xsunx-completes-hybrid-cigs-solar-device/#comments Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:25:30 +0000 admin http://www.smartpowercommunity.com/?p=245 January 6, 2010

XsunX Completes Hybrid CIGS Solar Device

California, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com]

XsunX Inc. said that it has completed a fully-functional CIGS (Copper indium gallium diselenide) thin-film solar device. The company is developing a hybrid solar cell technology that adapts manufacturing processes from the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) industry to produce CIGS solar cells deposited onto stainless steel substrate with “pseudo square” configuration.

“With this completed sample we have reached a critical milestone in our development process, achieved through the vigilant efforts of our engineers and trusted business partner,” said Tom Djokovich, CEO of XsunX Inc. “This initial achievement illustrates a realistic set of company goals and demonstrates the strength of our relationships with the business and technical expertise that kept us on track.”

In addition to being sized to match with existing HDD manufacturing processes, XsunX's new breed of TFPV manufacturing techniques will produce an appropriately proportioned cell that can be used on existing solar module production lines by manufacturers looking for a direct substitute for increasingly controversial silicon cells. In the next stage of development, XsunX  said that it will be evaluating technical data concerning performance, conversion efficiency and engineering designs.

RenewableEnergyWorld.com caught up with Tom Djokovich at Solar Power International 2009 to hear about the company's progress and future plans. Watch the video below to hear more.

via XsunX Completes Hybrid CIGS Solar Device – Renewable Energy World.