The Next Evolution Of Solar

By Jeff Siegel

In the past, we've discussed potential moves in the field of organic photovoltaics.

This is what many researchers are looking to as the next evolution of solar.

But after attending the Organic Photovoltaics conference in Philadelphia last week, I suspect it might be some time before we see any solid plays in this area.

Organic photovoltaics (OPV) offers the promise of significant disruption in pricing and aesthetics, as well as impressive efficiencies in low light conditions. OPV materials are also flexible and form-fitting. This stuff can potentially be wrapped around or even painted onto various materials.

By Nick Hodge

Hundreds of millions of years ago, the earth was covered with shallow oceans filled with algae and other simple critters.

As landmasses shifted and grew, water was displaced, leaving thick masses of algal residue that were eventually buried and compressed.

Skip forward a few eons, throw in some heat and pressure and ta da . . . oil.

Then, in 1859, Colonel Drake drilled the first oil well in Titusville, PA, unleashing not only oil, but an economic juggernaut that would dictate our way of life for years to come.

The world began to use oil for everything from fuel to waterproofing, and since then has consumed over a trillion barrels. With such furious consumption - and no way to make more - world oil reserves are set to dwindle.

Interview with Renewable Energy Expert and Advocate Aldo Iacomelli

Source: BioNano Insider

If Aldo Iacomelli had his way, there would be a solar panel on ever rooftop in Italy. Long before it became stylish, the 42-year old chemical engineer dedicated his career to tackling environmental challenges around the globe. As general secretary of the Italian branch of the International Solar Energy Society (ISES), he is among Italy's most outspoken advocates for sustainable development, particularly when it comes to alternative energy.
Mr. Iacomelli recently spoke with the Bio-Nano Insider about the future of solar power, and his optimism for Italy's emergence as a leader in the clean energy movement.

The view the entire article, click here.

They’ll Give Your Portfolio a Jolt

By Nick Hodge

We all know that large amounts of electricity are now being produced via renewable resources like wind and solar.

And as great as that may be, wide-scale deployment of these technologies has been hindered by a litany of hurdles--one of which is energy storage.

You see, there are several steps that renewably-produced electricity must go through before it can be introduced to the grid or into a home. This has led to the creation of a robust market for advanced electronic products like inverters, converters, generators and batteries.

We’ve been playing this trend for little while at both Green Chip Stocks and the Alternative Energy Speculator through a variety of inverter and demand-response companies.

Source: Environmental News Network

The new cell technology combines nanoparticles and organic dyes that can be produced in any number of colors and designs.

The key component of the new modules is an organic dye which in combination with nanoparticles converts sunlight into electricity. Due to the small size of the nanoparticles, the modules are semi-transparent. This aspect makes them well suited for facade integration. The new solar cells are being developed by members of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, who will be presenting their new technology in Tokyo at Nanotech 2008, the world’s largest trade fair for nanotechnology.

Embracing the move towards renewable energy sources, Kyosemi have revolutionized the design of the traditional solar cell, increasing it's power generation efficiency and paving the way for innovative applications and a more economical use of raw materials. Sphelar is a spherical micro solar cell, which unlike traditional flat solar cells, can effectively harness reflected and diffused solar light as well as direct light from all directions. Each cell, is 1 to 1.5 mm and can be connected in parallel or in series, allowing for a limitless range of shapes and uses including flexible solar cells, round solar cells, or power-generating windows for buildings or offices while maintaining a certain level of transparency.

A Silver Lining to Solar

By Nick Hodge

Solar stocks may go down in the short-term. There, I said it.

With that out of the way, let’s analyze how lingering recession fears and an arsenal of overpriced solar stocks in a recession could provide savvy investors with a huge long-term upside.

The solar market, as a whole, has been on a joyride for the past year or so, with many stocks gaining value in the face of lackluster earnings and, in some cases, with lackluster products.

It seemed any company with solar or sun in the name was a sure bet. But now, all bets are off.

This year will undoubtedly turn out to be a transitional year for the solar industry. It will be the year when clear winners are chosen and losers are exiled.

A solar cell or photovoltaic cell is a device that converts light energy into electrical energy by the photovoltaic effect. Photovoltaics is the field of technology and research related to the application of solar cells as solar energy. Sometimes the term solar cell is reserved for devices intended specifically to capture energy from sunlight, while the term photovoltaic cell is used when the source is unspecified.

A solar cell fulfills only two functions: photogeneration of charge carriers (electrons and holes) in a light-absorbing material, and separation of the charge carriers to a conductive contact that will transmit the electricity (simply put, carrying electrons off through a metal contact into a wire or other circuit).

To kill cancer cells using Kanzius RF Therapy, cancer cells are first tagged with tiny objects known as nanoparticles, such as SWNTs and GNPs. When the RF (radio frequency) transceiver apparatus exposes the nanoparticles to the radio frequency signal they heat up, destroying the cancer cells, but don't damage healthy cells nearby.

As of 2007-04-23, preliminary research using the Kanzius RF device at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston (by Dr. Steven A. Curley, Professor in Surgical Oncology) and The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (by Dr. David A. Geller, co-director of the Liver Cancer Center) has shown promising results. If federal approval is granted, testing on human patients would be the next step.

Source: Metaefficient

North America’s largest solar photovoltaic system is now running and generating power — about 30 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. The 14 megawatt power plant is at the Nellis Air Force Base in the sunny desert of southern Nevada. It’s expected to save about $1 million in power costs annually, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 24,000 tons each year.

High Oil Prices Nudge Alternatives Higher

By Nick Hodge

I hope everyone had a fun and fulfilling holiday, with lots of quality time with family and friends. But, of course, there's no rest for the weary, and it's time to get back to the daily grind-at least for a few days.

With a new year upon us, maybe a look back at the year past can provide some insight about coming troubles and ways to capitalize on them via market-based solutions.

Xethanol Corporation (AMEX: XNL - News), a renewable energy company, today announced that its subsidiary Southeast Biofuels LLC has filed a grant application with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to expand the company’s work on converting waste to energy, using citrus waste as the raw material and converting it into ethanol. Only about 50 percent of a citrus fruit is used to produce juice and related products. Currently, most citrus waste is turned into low-value animal feed.

$100 Billion Strong, and Growing

By Nick Hodge

For the first time, global investment in renewable energy investments will spill over $100 billion in 2007, according to a report released over the weekend at the Bali Climate Conference.

Investments in wind power led the way, surpassing hydropower, which, more times than not, isn’t considered a renewable energy source anyway.

Also in 2007, electricity produced from renewable resources grew to 240 gigawatts (GW)--excluding hydropower--and accounted for about 6% of worldwide capacity. That’s a significant amount, considering renewables accounted for just 2.1% of global electricity in 2004--a growth of over 185%!

Their mission: to deliver cost-efficient solar electricity. The Nanosolar company was founded in 2002 and is working to build the world’s largest solar cell factory in California and the world’s largest panel-assembly factory in Germany. They have successfully created a solar coating that is the most cost-efficient solar energy source ever. Their PowerSheet cells contrast the current solar technology systems by reducing the cost of production from $3 a watt to a mere 30 cents per watt. This makes, for the first time in history, solar power cheaper than burning coal.

Xethanol Corporation (XNL), a renewable energy company, announces that on November 28, 2007, the company agreed in principle to settle the seven consolidated putative class action lawsuits pending against it captioned as In re Xethanol Corporation Securities Litigation, 06 Civ. 10234 (HB) (S.D.N.Y.). The agreement was reached during a mediation overseen by a retired United States District Court Judge in West Palm Beach, Florida, and attended by counsel for plaintiffs, counsel for the company and the individual defendants and counsel for the company's insurance carriers. The agreement remains subject to final negotiated writings executed by the parties and approval by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Green Chip Stocks managing editor Jeff Siegel kicks off Green Week discussing his top alternative energy sectors for 2008 and beyond. (November 5th, 2007)

Jeff Siegel is the managing editor of Green Chip Stocks, an investment advisory service that focuses on stocks in the renewable energies markets and emerging and lucrative organic and natural foods industry. An environmentalist and self-professed health nut, Jeff is also a raging capitalist, and believes the dawn of the LOHAS market (lifestyles of health and sustainability) will usher in a new way of life... as well as a new generation of wealth.

A Most Profitable Montage
By: Nick Hodge

Every week my web browser gets bombarded with news stories about energy. Some news is financial, some scientific, but each has its place in the evolving world of green energy.

A good chunk of that news is press releases, summoned to the top of the ticker by savvy PR firms and in-house marketing departments. But every now and then, a barrage of news floods the scene that is too large and relevant to ignore.

With so much going on in the past few weeks, I thought it was high time we had a green news montage that indicated not only how fast the industry is growing, but also how much money stands to be made.

Climate Change is Investment Megatrend

Xethanol Corporation (AMEX: XNL - News), a renewable energy company, today reported financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2007.

For the second quarter of 2007, the company reported a net loss of $6.6 million, or ($0.23) per share, as compared to a $5.9 million net loss, or ($0.24) per share, for the same period of the prior year. The increase in the net loss was primarily related to $4.5 million in non-cash charges including a $2.8 million impairment charge on property held for development. For the three months ended June 30, 2007, the weighted average number of shares outstanding was 28.6 million as compared to 24.2 million weighted average shares for the comparable period in 2006.

By Nick Hodge

This year’s Solar Power 2007 conference in Long Beach, California, offered abundant information on every aspect of the current market. Current market size, opportunities, problems, incentives and what to expect in the coming year were just a few of the topics discussed at the industry insiders’ foremost event.

The following is an abbreviated version of the details.

Producing fuel from corn and other crops could be good for the planet–if only the process didn't take a significant environmental toll. New breakthroughs could make a difference.

When Dario Franchitti steered his sleek, 670-horsepower, orange-and-black Indy car to victory at this year's Indianapolis 500, the ebullient Scotsman chalked up an odd footnote in sports history. He became the first driver ever to win the iconic American auto race on pure ethanol–the gin-clear, high-octane corn hooch that supporters from midwestern farmers to high-ranking politicians hope will soon replace gasoline as America's favorite motor fuel.