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Solid State Power Boosts Renewable Prospects
Jul 16, 2014
SOLID STATE POWER BOOSTS RENEWABLE PROSPECTS
Christopher Jay
A solid new approach to photovoltaic technology for generation of local electrical power could have a noticeable impact on long-term government policy on renewable energy and future building codes depending on work over the next two years.
Government policy is in a state of flux, thanks to the political volatility in the Australian Senate over carbon pricing, renewable energy targets and whether the Coalition will succeed in efforts to abolish the Climate Change Authority, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
Against this background turbulence, a palace revolution at Australian photovoltaic solar energy developer Dyesol has installed a more focused research policy aimed at proving the economics of incorporating energy generation in basic building design.
Dyesol, located in Queanbeyan, just outside the ACT, specialises in a type of solar energy panel quite distinct from the normal silicon-based panels now being mass-produced in China.
A thin coating of layers of exotic materials overlaid on building panels, such as steel sheeting or glass generates electricity in a fashion analogous to natural photosynthesis in plants.
Its star feature, in comparison with conventional solar panels, is that its photovoltaic processes continue to work in low light conditions, at early morning and twilight, in overcast conditions, cloud and rain.
This gives more stable power generation, without being at the mercy of the clouds covering the sun, or the wind dropping.
MAKING THE MOST OF THE AMBIENT LIGHT
“We describe it as being ambient light rather than direct light, “says Chairman Richard Caldwell, who has been working to install a more commercially-focused culture in Dyesol, including specific R&D targets rather than general interest work.
“We’ve now got some strict internal rules on technology and research approaches. Our competitive advantage is at one-third of a sun. Places like Scaninavia, you can’t get economic payback on silicon solar.
“We expect to have a compelling economic argument which would transcend any political barriers. If we achieve our milestones in the next two years we’ll be a much larger company.”
What inspires the burst of confidence is a basic decision taken just under two years ago. The entrenched liquid electrolytes were replaced with solid state components, to gain longer life for coated building panels.
Liquids expand and contract with temperature shifts to a much more marked extent than solid materials with similar components. Over a building lifetime of exposure to tropical storms, wind chill, winter rain squalls, hot summer afternoons and cold nights, the effect is wear and tear.
“We swallowed humble pie to switch everything to solid state systems,” said Mr Caldwell. “With liquid the biggest problem is that the coefficient of thermal expansion and contraction is very high in hermetically sealed panels.
“This includes awnings, roof panels, wall cladding, view and non-view glass. Solid solar layers are translucent, to absorb light.
ULTRA-THIN LAYERS
“It’s about ultra-thin layers: translucency is easy to achieve with nanometres. It’s the fundamental breakthrough over the last two years.”
“Our objective is to have building materials last 20 years,” said Mr Caldwell. “Warrantable products are 15 to 40 years. Twenty years is the minimum criteria for credibility. The coatings are 100 to 150 nanometres thick.
“We are very expert at accelerated ageing and weathering. This takes 5000 hours at 85 degrees on liquid systems. We’re about to replicate this with solid-state – this is to ensure cost, efficiency and availability, by about 2017.
“At the end of the day, you’ll have to extrapolate.”
Spot cell efficiency in the laboratory is up to 17 per cent of incident sunlight output as electricity, but the practical production equivalent is around 9 per cent.
“Our ambition over the next 18 months is to get to an industrial efficiency of 12 per cent,” is the Caldwell prescription. “We at Dyesol regard 12 per cent as grid competitive. You could buy it, apply it, run it and your credits would be greater than your debits.
“Grid companies have levelised cost of electricity. In Australia it’s 15 cents to 25 cents a KwH for retail electricity. We will be able to produce at under 15 cents, approach 10 cents a kilowatt hour.”
“We are talking to Australian industry about commercially establishing large-scale manufacture of photovoltaic-enabled materials such as glass and steel. You have to work around insulators. They’re very scalable, economies of scale underpin the economics of photo voltaic power.”