Company description

Idalia Solar Technologies is an early-stage startup developing dye sensitized solar cell technology. Our goal is nothing less than to increase accessibility to clean energy around the globe. We will accomplish this through the design of new cells that will be lower in material and processing costs than traditional silicon solar cells.

The focus of our company and recruitment efforts is strong science. We invite bright and creative minds to consider becoming part of the early team.

Idalia labs are located in Stony Brook, NY.

Job Description

Idalia is seeking a well-organized Laboratory Manager to implement current experiments and contribute to the design of future processes, establish and maintain test capabilities and processes, maintain and improve lab practices and procedures necessary to validate and qualify new products, and to stay current and comply with all certification requirements; adherence to strict safety standards to be maintained throughout.

Duties will include development of trial formulations, facilitating scale up from lab to pilot trials, and contributing to design of new products from concept to launch.

This position reports directly to the VP of Research and Development.

We seek a motivated individual with the following

Required Education/Experience

MS/PhD in Chemistry, Material Science, or closely related field.
4-6 years relevant solar industry experience preferred

Competencies

-Chemical synthesis
-Vacuum depositon
-Optical and electrical characterization
-Durability testing
-Grant writing
-Management experience a plus.

Idalia is an Equal Opportunity Employer

• Location: Stony Brook, NY
• Compensation: Competitive, with benefits. Commensurate with experience.

Source: Jobs In Solar: Laboratory Manager (Solar Lab) (Stony Brook, NY)

After a competitive bidding process, REC Solar was awarded the new project as part of the Veterans Affairs’ commitment to utilizing renewable energy at their facilities. The combined PV systems will significantly offset energy demand from the local utility grid for the more than 900,000 square foot medical center – generating over 5,200,000 kWh annually, the equivalent of the carbon dioxide emissions from consuming over 420,000 gallons of gasoline.

“As a top national solar integrator, we have time and again demonstrated our capacity to accurately design and install custom systems for a wide range of customers,” said Kam Mofid, president of REC Solar. “REC Solar is one of the few solar companies that can meet and exceed the rigorous standards required by our customers. We're pleased to support our customers in their efforts to advance solar integration across the nation."

Both projects by REC Solar represent the application of cutting edge system design and engineering. The existing 302 kW single-axis tracker system increases overall production by changing its orientation to directly face sun throughout the day, a first for the VA facilities nationwide. The 2.9 MW carport will cover seven separate parking areas to become, in aggregate, the largest carport solar system in the country.

“solar power is a natural fit for our home state. This installation offers a tremendous opportunity for Arizona, and acts as a model for the rest of America. It is becoming more and more evident that solar addresses some of the largest challenges we currently face, and SAVAHCS is proactively addressing these issues,” said Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords regarding Southern Arizona VA and REC Solar’s project.

Source: REC Solar Announces Largest U.S. Carport Solar Installation for Arizona VA

In three easy steps, homeowners can log onto Sungevity.com, receive a firm “iQuote,” see what the solar panels will look like on their roof using a mash-up of satellite and aerial imagery, sign a contract using electronic signatures and schedule an installation – all paid for with a no-money-down lease.

By using solar energy, Sungevity estimates that most homeowners can save 15 percent off their electricity bills from day one and have a new residential solar panel system on their roofs, giving owners the satisfaction of using clean energy. Sungevity pioneered the ability to accurately engineer and design a solar system for the home without making a site visit. The Sungevity approach uses satellite and aerial photos to size and design the solar system within 24 hours. Solar consultants from Sungevity are available to speak to potential customers from 9 a.m. - 9 p.m., seven days a week, toll-free at 866.SUN4ALL. Finally, local contractors that Sungevity has partnered with then perform the installation.

“We believe that homeowners in Colorado will enjoy the benefits of ‘going solar’ at home,” said Neal Lurie, Director of the Colorado solar energy Industries Association. “Coloradans are savvy when it comes to solar, and through the trend of democratizing solar energy, we welcome this helpful service that will make it easy for homeowners to take that next step.”

“The time is right to bring the simple, pain-free approach to getting a solar solution for your home to the Denver and Boulder areas,” said Sungevity Founder, Danny Kennedy. “The online approach is an ideal way for people who are thinking about – but never wanted to be hassled with – the planning of a solar home solution. Sungevity makes it as easy as a click-of-the-mouse to secure the best lease for solar energy in the market.”

Sungevity processes all the paperwork and takes all the hassle out of going solar, with an operating lease that includes a performance guarantee for the system plus complete maintenance including cleaning and insurance. Moreover, Sungevity will soon be offering it’s hassle-free iQuote service online in a Spanish-language format designed to meet the needs of Hispanic homeowners in the Denver and Boulder communities.

Source: Residential Solar Power Now Available With the Click of a Mouse in Colorado

Source: Major hurdle cleared for organic solar cells

There is a new entrant to the realm of solar panel accessories that are said to increase panel performance while decreasing costs. Joining solar trackers and microinverters is a new polymer film called FUSION by Genie Lens Technologies. The film, embossed with microstructures that bend sunlight, may be installed like a sticker on panels already in use, improving by up to 10 percent the amount of sunlight that solar panels convert into electricity.

Furthermore, the technology is cheap and could lower the cost per watt of solar power. Genie Lens says it will increase costs of a solar panel between 1 and 10 percent, but that increase in power output more than makes up for the added costs. Installing the film on panels in the factory is optimal for ensuring the most output at the most reasonable price, but adding the lens aftermarket still has a significant benefit.

Tests at the National renewable Energy Laboratory show that the film increases panel output on average between 4 and 12.5 percent. Interestingly, the best results came under cloudy conditions when incident light is diffuse, a testament to how the film works.

According to Genie Lens CEO and co-founder Seth Weiss, the polymer film does three things to improve solar panel performance:

• Prevents sunlight from reflecting off the panel's surface.
• Traps light inside the semiconductor materials within each solar cell that absorb light and convert it to electric current.
• Redirects incoming light so that it travels along the surface of the panel rather than passing through, increasing the chances that it will be absorbed.

In addition to lowering costs per watt by improving panel output, the film could also lower shipping and installation costs by reducing the amount of solar panels needed for a given installation. Also, this film, as opposed to similar products being developed by the likes of Innovalight, can be used on any solar panel, be it the traditional crystalline silicon model or new thin-film technologies.

However, one very important unanswered question about the film is durability. If the cover starts to break down, it could actually inhibit solar electricity generation and hurt rather than help panel performance. Genie Lens Technologies says their product will last 20 years — a time frame comparable to most solar panel warranties — but that assertion has yet to be independently validated.

The film is being developed by Genie Lens subsidiary, SolOptics.

Source: MIT Technology Review

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Source: New Stickers Increase Solar Panel Performance By 10 Percent

Researchers at Stanford University have developed a process to simultaneously convert solar heat and light directly into usable electricity. Recent tests proved that the concept, known as photon enhanced thermionic emission, or PETE, was in fact, reality. The effect of PETE on the efficiency of solar power generating systems is unprecedented.

Conventional photovoltaic (PV) systems use a semiconductor, typically silicon, to convert incident light directly into electric current. Today's market-ready PV systems peak at about 20 percent conversion efficiency (the percentage of sunlight striking a solar cell that is converted to usable electricity), with the remaining energy lost as waste heat. Moreover, the efficiency of these systems decreases as temperature increases.

Meanwhile, heat-based solar energy systems, or solar thermal electric generators, rely on very high temperatures to create steam to run an electricity-generating turbine. This opposition has prevented anyone from successfully marrying the two technologies… until now.

With PETE, Stanford researchers have found a way to redefine the relationship between solar thermal and photovoltaic processes. By converting both heat and light into electricity, the PETE process actually increases in efficiency as temperature rises, and researchers believe that PETE could reach up to 60-percent conversion efficiency– more than triple the average solar electric product on the market today.

PETE is different from other solar innovations in that it is not an incremental improvement on an existing technology. It is an entirely new process. The Stanford research team, led by Nick Melosh, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, found that when they coated a semiconductor material (gallium nitride for the initial tests), with the metal cesium, the material developed the ability to generate electricity from both heat and light.

“This is really a conceptual breakthrough, a new energy conversion process, not just a new material or a slightly different tweak,” said Melosh. “It is actually something fundamentally different about how you can harvest energy.”

The materials needed to build the device are cheap, readily available and sufficient in small amounts for each PETE system. Furthermore, Stanford scientists are initially aiming for the device to be easily integrated into existing solar thermal power plants, where farms of parabolic dishes focus sunlight onto black tubes full of fluid. These farms already utilize a thermal conversion process to create electricity. PETE, researchers say, would integrate nicely into that scenario.

“The light would come in and hit our PETE device first, where we would take advantage of both the incident light and the heat that it produces,” Melosh said. “And then we would dump the waste heat to their existing thermal conversion systems. So the PETE process has two really big benefits in energy production over normal technology.”

He added that a PETE device could reach up to 50 percent efficiency under solar concentration but could get even higher (up to 60 percent) when used in tandem with a thermal process.

The initial testing proved their technology worked, but efficiency was well below that stated goal of 50 to 60 percent, which researchers have calculated should be PETE's high end. Much of that has to do with the semiconductor material. They used gallium nitride in the tests because it was the only material that appeared able to handle the high temperature. With the right material, possibly gallium arsenide, efficiency should spike.

The Stanford team's findings were published on August 1st in Nature Materials.

Via PhysOrg

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Source: Stanford's “PETE” Technology Could Triple Solar Power Efficiency

More from Mike Lieberman at Urban Organic Gardener.

Source: Summer Project-Make Herb Garden Out of Soda Bottles

Petra Solar designs and manufactures the first smart grid interactive solar electric system specifically designed for installation on utility distribution poles, Utility Grade SunWave™ UP Series. The systems, which operate as individual power generation stations, combine solar power, smart grid and power management technologies to enable utilities to improve power quality and grid management. Petra Solar's systems operate on streetlight and utility poles, connecting directly to the grid's secondary voltage lines at the pole.

Last July the N.J. Board of Public Utilities approved a contract between Petra Solar and New Jersey's largest utility, PSE&G, to generate 40MW of power through SunWave solar systems

installed on up to 200,000 poles in New Jersey. The intelligent photovoltaic solar units are currently being installed throughout the state's six largest cities and 300 suburban communities and will be running on the AT&T wireless network.

"This program, which is part of our Solar 4 All™ initiative, brings the benefits of solar energy to every community we serve, while also creating much needed green jobs in manufacturing and installation. PSE&G's programs to promote energy efficiency, develop renewables and accelerate infrastructure investments are putting hundreds of New Jersey residents to work at this critical time," said Ralph LaRossa, PSE&G President and COO.

"By harnessing the scale of the AT&T network to deliver more sustainable solutions, we enable wireless connections across people and businesses helping to increase efficiency," said Michael Antieri, President, Advanced Enterprise Mobility Solutions, AT&T Business Solutions. "This new relationship with Petra Solar marks another step into integrating our wireless network capabilities with the benefits of smart grid technology and the leading-edge renewable energy solutions available today."

"We're proud to team up with AT&T to fully utilize the intelligence of our solution," said Dr. Shihab Kuran, President and CEO of Petra Solar. "SunWave™ units are mounted on utility poles and connected directly to the grid at the pole. This creates a highly efficient distributed solar generation system that also provides smart grid capabilities to our customers through real-time communications between the systems in the field and the utility control center. In addition, our systems enhance electric distribution grid reliability and help stabilize the grid during periods of increased load." Kuran also noted that "PSE&G's clean energy project with Petra Solar's SunWave solution is the largest solar electric project under construction in the country."

AT&T's suite of M2M pricing plans designed specifically for smart grids makes this solution an economical choice for utilities. In addition, AT&T offers a range of strategic mobility products and services to the utility industry, including wireless solutions for field service workers, outage detection and remote monitoring for automated metering infrastructure. AT&T's dedicated team of industry specialists understands the business process from end to end and translates technical solutions into meaningful business value for customers.

Today's announcement complements AT&T's own commitment to support renewable energy resources and help foster a more energy-efficient economy. AT&T's commitment is exemplified in the 2009 recommendations by AT&T to the U.S. Department of Energy, the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recommendations for a regulatory framework that will accelerate smart grid deployment.

The joint solution offered by AT&T and Petra Solar is immediately available throughout North America.

For more information on AT&T's smart grid solutions, visit www.att.com/utilities.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

Source: AT&T and Petra Solar Team to Offer Smart Grid Solar System Technology

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Source: Natural Gas: The New King Of Electric Power

Campbell California based Coulomb Technologies has developed a worldwide network of electric vehicle charging stations called the ChargePoint Network. The stations can be located at independent retailers, municipalities, and private homes.

Owners of electric vehicles who have internet access or can download their charging station finder APP can find out where charging stations are located using their site map.

In order to use Coulomb's ChargePoint Network you must purchase a ChargePass Card. One type of station allows you to bring your cord and plug it into a charging station. Another allows you to use the cord the charging station provides. Either way you pass the ChargePass Card over the station's "lock image" icon and that reads your card data, allowing the charging to begin.

The station detects if the cord is fully plugged in or else charging will not begin. Customers have access to text messages warning of a failure to recharge and 24/7 customer support. Firmware updates will be available for all stations as technological upgrades occur.

Coulomb Technologies and other charging station providers are forecasting millions of electric vehicles will be on the road in the next five years all over the world.

Here is the site for Coulomb Technologies.

Here's the page illustrating how to use their Charging Stations:

Pole Mounted Charging Station Photo courtesy of Coulomb Technologies.

Source: Coulomb Technologies ChargePoint Network