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Solar goes Hyper in the U.S.
HyperSolar magnifying film can increase solar panel efficiency by up to 300%, making solar competitive with fossil fuels.
Wed, Feb 09 2011 at 3:08 PM
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Image courtesy of HyperSolar
As the U.S. government continues to heap billions in subsidies to the world's wealthiest coal and oil companies, the solar industry has been struggling to make it in the United States. This is sad for many reasons, not the least of which is that we're missing out on one of the biggest growth industries in the world.
Currently there are 16 gigawatts of installed solar power globally. That number will grow to about 1,800 gigawatts in the next 20 years, making it one of the best job creators. U.S. engineers invented the solar panel, and the U.S. should be dominating that market. Instead, foreign manufacturers (particularly in China) have taken our IP and run with it, as we become increasingly dependent on foreign oil and dirty coal operations to meet our power needs.
Fortunately HyperSolar, a new U.S. company, offers a ray of sunny hope on the clean energy frontier.
The company does not manufacture solar panels. It makes them ultra-efficient using a field of science called photonics. Similar to a microchip that moves individual bits of data around at hyperspeed, HyperSolar's thin magnifying film routes and separates specific light spectrums, delivering them exactly where they're needed to make an array of PV solar cells ultra-efficient.
I saw an early prototype for such a magnifying optical layer a few years back, but the company was "dark" at the time, so I couldn't write about the innovation. But I'm as excited now as I was then for good reason — HyperSolar's optical layer can increase PV efficiency by up to 300 percent!
Theoretically that means cutting the installation cost of a solar array in half. Instead of a home solar system costing $30,000 (or more) it would only cost $15,000 (or less), making the upfront investment much lower and payback periods much quicker.
This is a great example of a disruptive technology that could get us to the holy grail of "grid parity" — meaning that solar would be as affordable as other sources of energy like coal and natural gas. And no more polluting coal mines or fracking for natural gas! The sun (for at least the next 5 billion years) will provide free and abundant energy. It's up to us whether we want to invest in that technology or continue to destroy our beautiful landscapes for a few more years of "cheap" (i.e. heavily subsidized) coal.
Innovations like this make several recent reports ring true. If we have the political will to overcome the stranglehold of the fossil fuel industry on our nation's energy policy, we could become 100 percent renewably powered in a 2030-2050 time frame. Check out these two reports and a new study by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) about how large-scale wind power is now cost-competitive with natural gas:
- Physorg.com: 100 percent renewables by 2030
- WWF: 100 percent renewables (no nuclear) by 2050
- AWEA: Wind cost-competitive with gas
So, what do you think? Can we kick the fossil fuel habit?
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As someone who appraises commercial properties in NYC, I am puzzled by your comment that there is "no room" on the roofs of "skyscrapers". I have walked the roofs of hundreds of buildings in NYC, and there is plenty of room for solar units. The problem is that the units would be stolen or vandalized, not that they wouldn't fit.
Solar panels are no longer required to be on the roof. Integrated into glass, exteriors, building features.
The only reason that solar "appears" to not be cost effective is because people like you support the Trillion $+ subsidies that go into oil and the like through all the direct and indirect channels. Do you really think we are in the middle east for humanitarian reasons? How ignorant!
I don't support oil subsidies, I'm speaking from professional experience that solar energy is not cost effective. Now who's the ignorant one?
is because big oil & other entrenched interests have for decades lobbied against any federal funding for solar research. Many promising concepts such as the one mentioned above have been shown effective in the lab, but the lack of support has prevented them from becoming a reality. Also as several other people have said, oil & gas get HUGE governmental subsidies which artificially reduces their cost compared to other options such as solar and wind.
I still can't believe we as a country are dumb enough to get cheated of our hard earned money so it can be thrown at solar. To all of the people that have installed solar at your homes without using incentives, I am proud of that. But to those using incentives and other TAXPAYER moneys I'm ashamed to live in the same country as you. This is just one reason in a long list of reasons why our country is bankrupt.
Big Oil, King Coal and nukes are subsidized, too. Japan, Germany, Spain, Italy, China, India and the U.S. are all getting into to solar because as long as the sun continues to rise its power is there for the taking--FREE! You don't need to drill for it, mine it or split an atom to get it. Get it?
He's setting the stage for Ron Paul. Ignore him. Idiot extremists.
Again, do you really not understand that approximately Trillion plus a year that we spend on so-called war in the middle east and all the other "admitted" subsidies are the only reason that solar appears to be more expensive. At least solar has a payback. oil / coal, etc. has NO payback, makes greedy people richer and HAS already destroyed our environment. I hope your house is near sea level.
If your company goes overseas and takes American jobs with it, the company should thereby be forced to remove itself overseas as well. All employees are expatriots, by definition and lose citizenship after just 3 years. Oh, the penalty for removing jobs overseas is that said company cannot return to the USA for 5 yrs. That'll fix 'em...
It's really not a bad country. I've been there, thank you. I'll trust my own experience. But since it appears you haven't been there before, I suggest you take the soonest flight over there to not only change your world view but to realize China is outpacing us and we're complaining more than we're picking ourselves up to face the challenge.
Your missing the point Jonno. Oil will cost more in the future (probably a lot more). At that point, solar, wind, nuclear, geothermal will all make a lot of economice sense. But if you wait until the day you need a plan B, to develop your plan B, then you're hosed. A smart country, like a smart business, will use the resources available today and invest some of their money in the future.
Umm that's what Clean Coal is for. Take that money everyone is throwing at solar and put it there and we're in much better shape than now. That's my reply. I'll keep it simple for you.
Jonno - it close minded people like you that make looking at the future so discouraging. There is NO such thing as clean burning coal - maybe less dirty, but defnitely not clean.
We will flat out NEED these techs in the future when the oil, coal and gas are all GONE!! And lets not IGNORE who we pay for most of our oil (can you say 9/11 ??)
China seems to be able to "steal" anything they want by appealing to the greed factor of businesses. This too will be Chinese before it's over and any jobs and money gained will be theirs.
This is fantastic news for electrical power. Parity with the grid is a game changer! Now, if we can just forget about the obsession on ethanol, and move on to the next thing: HMA's. HMAs you ask? Higher Mixed Alcohols...like E4(r) Envirolene..
I does look less expensive. However these savings rarely get passed all the way to the consumer. I usually means more profit for the company and the CEO gets another vacation home.
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