First Solar and Cadmium Hazards

The European Union is considering tightening a ban on hazardous chemicals. The ban would significantly cripple First Solar and other companies that make solar panels with cadmium as a key ingredient.

The Swedish government, which holds the EU presidency, has proposed to include all electronic products as part of an effort to update a law on hazardous chemicals. Cadmium is already considered a hazardous substance, but solar panels aren't covered under the current law.

In addition, a committee in the European Parliament is drafting a proposal that would nudge solar companies to stop using cadmium, reported the New York Times Monday. The proposal would require companies to apply for what amounts to a permit to use cadmium. The permit would last four years and could be renewed.

Tempe, Ariz.-based First Solar is one of the top 10 solar panel makers in the world and uses cadmium-telluride in its panels. Its success has helped to make cadmium-telluride panels competitive against the more widely available silicon-based solar panels.

As a result, rafts of cadmium-telluride solar companies have cropped up in recent years hoping to replicate First Solar's success. Some of these startups include Abound Solar, PrimeStar Solar and Xunlight 26.

PrimeStar has attracted investments from General Electric, which has decided to close its silicon solar panel factory in the United States and focus its solar strategy on selling thin-film solar panels like the ones under development by PrimeStar.

Europe is the largest solar market, so any move by the EU to restrict cadmium-telluride solar panel sales would cause a big problem not just for First Solar.

First Solar wants the EU to specifically exclude solar panels from being added to the revised hazards materials law. Aggressive goals by European countries to cut emissions and embrace renewable energy could help First Solar's cause.

ECD’s Solar Thin-Film Biz Posts Quarterly Loss

Energy Conversion Devices (NSDQ: ENER) saw a revenue decline and a flat net loss for its first fiscal quarter of 2010 that ended Sept. 30, the company said Monday.

Rochester Hills, Mich.-based ECD, whose primary business is to manufacturer amorphous-silicon thin films through its subsidiary, United Solar Ovonic, reported $42.9 million for the first fiscal quarter, a 55 percent drop from $95.8 million in the year-ago period. In the fourth fiscal quarter of 2009, the company generated 51.4 million in revenue.

Net loss in the first fiscal quarter reached $11.8 million, or 28 cents per share, compared with a net income of $11. 8 million, or 27 cents per share, from a year ago. ECD posted a net loss of $17.6 million, or 41 cents per share, in the fourth fiscal quarter.

The company was able to turn a profit for the first two fiscal quarters of 2009. But the recession, and in particularly its impact on the roofing material market, has hit ECD hard, the company said.

The company markets its products as a thin and flexible alternative to conventional glass-covered solar panels for residential and commercial rooftops. The thin films aren't as efficient at converting sunlight into electricity, however.

ECD is facing more competition these days. More companies are now building flexible thin films with higher efficiencies, and they also are marketing products to roofing material makers and distributors.

Dow Chemical, for one, plans to launch roofing shingles embedded with Global Solar Energy's copper-indium-gallium-selenide cells next year.

ECD's shares fell about 3.5 percent to reach $11.1 per share in recent trading.

Japan Maps Out Space Solar Project

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has lined up tech companies and set out steps to build a large-scale solar energy system in space that could beam power down to Earth.

JAXA has been researching the possibility of a space solar power plant since 1998, but it recently recruited companies such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, NEC, Fujitsu and Sharp to work on getting a full-blown power station by 2030.

The overall plan is to build giant solar panels that orbit above the Earth's atmosphere to collect sunlight and generate electricity. The system would use the power to run a microwave radiation emitter or laser for beaming the energy down to Earth, where receivers would grab it and return it to electricity.

In space, the system won't be subject to the weather elements that affect the performances of terrestrial systems.

As you can imagine, there are several major challenges to make this work. Sending equipment up to space is one. Operating and maintaining the system cost effectively is another. How about minimizing losses during conversion and transmission of energy? Then there are safety issues with beaming microwave radiation to the earth (and convincing the public that it's not going to pose serious hazards to the people and environment).

But the concept is plausible enough for public and private enterprises to explore it. Pacific Gas and Electric in California, for example, has signed a power purchase agreement with a solar power developer, Solaren Corp. in Manhattan Beach, Calif.

JAXA aims to build a 1-gigawatt station up in space that would produce electricity at 8 yen per kilowatt hour. That price would be six times cheaper than the current electricity cost in Japan, according to Reuters.

The agency wants to have a 10-megawatt test system in space by 2020.

Britain Ramps Up on Nuclear; What Will Scotland Do?

The U.K. today approved 10 sites for the possible construction of nuclear plants that could be deployed before the end of 2025, according to Power Engineering among others. The country also outllined an improved strategy for deployment. Nothing is set in stone and the approval does not take into account environmental factors, etc. It is just a starting poing.

Like the U.S., the U.K. gets around 20 percent of its electric power from nuclear but hasn't constructed new nuclear plants in ages. Instead, much of the activity in recent years has focused on wind and biomass.

It will be interesting to see how the Scotland reacts. Earlier this year, the government, which will likely seek a vote on autonomy in the relatively near future, placed a ban on future nuclear. In part, the ban exists to help get the local wind and wave industries off the ground, Jim Mather, Scotland's energy minister, told us.

Intel Home Networking Connection, Part III

Here's an interesting tidbit buried in a release from People Power, a latecomer to the home and building energy management market.

Some of the networking technology comes from U.C. Berkeley professor Dave Culler. In the early part of the decade, Culler ran a lablet for Intel on the U.C. Berkeley campus that concentrated in part on open-source sensor networks. It was part of a push toward pervasive or extroverted computing where computers would gather data from the outside world and then use it to concoct computer commands. Back then, people talked about these sensor networks to help take care of elderly people at home (Dad hasn't sat in his chair yet or taken his meds. Tell the computer to call 911) or for observing animals in the wild. With energy now a paramount concern, it looks like they might have retrofitted the sensor systems. (Adura Technologies, which is already on its way, also came out of Berkeley.)

Intel does not appear to be directly involved in the company, but some off the research it funded might.

The chip giant in the last few months has signaled that it is interested in getting its silicon and other products into the home management market. Energy management is the Trojan Horse to wider applications for home automation.

Fiat and Chrysler Pull Back on Electric Cars; Bad News for A123 Systems?

Fiat, the new owners of Chrysler, has apparently pushed back the effort to release an electric car, according to Reuters. Fiat has scrapped the Dodge Circuit, a two-seater electric sports car, as well as a plan to make a fleet of 220 electric and hybrid cars. The Department of Energy gave the company $70 million in grants in August to develop that fleet. Not sure if we get the money back.

The Envi electric car group has been absorbed into the regular car making group, Reuters said.

That could be bad news for battery-maker A123 Systems. A123 lost the deal to supply batteries to General Motors for the Volt earlier this year (although the two companies publicly vowed to remain friends). The Chrysler deal in April helped A123 rebound. The battery maker subsequently pulled off a successful IPO.

Will the changes at Fiat/Chrysler hurt? It's hard to say, but it's not great news. On one hand, Fiat and Chrysler still plan to come out with electric cars. Lou Rhodes, who headed up Envi, will head up electric car development for Fiat and Chrysler.

On the other hand, it sounds like electric cars are going to come out of the combined company later and at a slower pace. Chrysler earlier said it wanted to have an electric car out by 2010. On Friday, Fiat CEO Sergio "Marchionne told reporters and analysts electric cars would only represent "one to two percent" of Chrysler's sales by 2014, equivalent to less than 60,000 vehicles," Reuters wrote. The company is considering a delivery van in the U.S. Will they put some out in 2010 or will it be later? Hopefully more clarity comes next week.

"Until the [battery] storage gets resolved, I think electric vehicles are going to struggle," Marchionne was quoted as saying.