‘It is an innovative solution for true wirelesspower, especially if one realizes that the standardsilicon solar cells produce only 0.6 V of output,’claims Dr Nathan Zommer, CEO of Clare’sparent company, IXYS Corporation in California.‘This one solar IC product is indeed revolution-ary since it produces more than 7 V and thus cancharge batteries directly, and naturally weenvision it in any battery-powered product.’

The solar cell SOI technology is scalable. Asa result, Clare is currently developingadditional solar cell products for highervoltages and currents required by differentapplications. An entire family of parts, rangingfrom 2 V to 30 V with a variety of outputcurrents, will be introduced shortly. Inaddition, since there is excellent electricalisolation between circuit elements on the PVdie, it is possible to add other powermanagement circuitry or logic control optionswith minimal added cost to the product.

Evaluation samples of the CPC1810 wereexpected to be available by the end of October,with production scheduled for the first quarterof 2004.

FFoorr mmoorree iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn oonn CCllaarree IInncc,, ggoo ttoo::www.clare.com

Carmanah order forUSAF in IraqCanadian-based Carmanah TechnologiesCorporation has received another order for itsaviation lights from a US Air Force base in Kirkuk, Iraq. The company will supply120 Model 702 PV-powered LED lights to be used for obstruction lighting and helipadperimeter lighting.

The value of the new USAF order isapproximately C$146 000 (US$112 000),bringing the total for this air base up to 520units of Model 702 and Model 601, valued atapproximately C$297 000 (US$227 000).

Since introducing its aviation lightingproducts last December, Carmanah now hasmore than 2600 units – valued at C$1.1m(US$840 000) – in the Middle East, southwestAsia and the US for permanent, temporaryand/or expedited airfield lighting at militaryinstallations.

The new contract ‘represents the firstsignificant reorder for our aviation lighting, andprovides confirmation from end-users that ourlights are an ideal alternative to hardwiredsystems,’ says Art Aylesworth, Carmanah’s CEO.

Carmanah’s ability to provide permanentand/or temporary airfield lighting that requiresno cabling or external power infrastructure has

enabled air bases to install high-performance,reliable airfield lighting at a fraction of the costof hardwired systems. The bases are also able toeliminate significant installation and labor costs,as well as any ongoing maintenance.

FFoorr mmoorree iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn oonn CCaarrmmaannaahh TTeecchhnnoollooggiieess,, ggoo ttoo:: www.carmanah.com

FFoorr mmoorree iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn oonn tthheessee pprroodduuccttss,, ggoo ttoo::www.solarairportlights.com

Konarka deal withworld’s largest utilityMassachusetts-based Konarka Technologieshas begun a cooperation with Electricité deFrance, the world’s largest utility company.Working through EdF’s Easenergy teambased in the Silicon Valley, the companieswill collaborate to develop and launchKonarka’s polymer PV products into theglobal market to provide a source ofrenewable power in a variety of form factorsfor commercial, industrial, government andconsumer applications.

Konarka’s PV nanotechnology is focused ondelivering lightweight, flexible, scalable andmanufacturable products. The company usesunique, proprietary low-temperature productionmethods to put its PV cells onto flexible,lightweight plastics.

Under the terms of the agreement withKonarka, EdF will contribute expertise from itsEuropean operations to accelerate thedevelopment and roll-out of Konarka’s polymerPV products.

‘Our relationship with EdF will serve toaccelerate knowledge transfer, technologydevelopment and to better position the companyto enter the global market, as will Konarka’scurrent partnerships with ChevronTexaco andEastman Chemical,’ says Dr Bill Beckenbaugh,Konarka’s president/CEO.

FFoorr mmoorree iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn oonn KKoonnaarrkkaa TTeecchhnnoollooggiieess,, ggoo ttoo:: www.konarkatech.com

MicroFab award forsolar inkjet processTexas-based MicroFab Technologies has beenawarded a National Science Foundation SmallBusiness Innovation Research (SBIR)program for fabrication of organic PV solarpanels using inkjet technology.

The program’s objective is to develop low-cost, high-volume flexible solar cells using the

company’s patented drop-on-demand inkjettechnology. Specifically, this project will enableprinting of solar cells of any size on any type of substrates including plastics, making it alower-cost alternative to conventional inorganicsemiconductor-based solar cells.

The MicroFab team, under principal invest-igator Dr David Wallace, will develop polymersolutions, and their printing processes todemonstrate the fabrication of plastic solar cellsby inkjet microdeposition techniques.

‘This is an area of considerable research anddevelopment, but unfortunately there is nomanufacturing technology suitable for makingthem in volume at lowest cost,’ says Wallace, the company’s vice president for technologydevelopment. ‘Our inkjet microdepositiontechnology will demonstrate, for the first time,the unlimited potential of printing solar cells onflexible plastics.’

MicroFab will commercialize the organicplastic solar cell printing technology by licensingand/or through the sale of manufacturingsystems to major corporations that wouldmanufacture them in volume.

FFoorr mmoorree iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn oonn MMiiccrrooFFaabb TTeecchhnnoollooggiieess,, ggoottoo:: www.microfab.com

STMicroelectronicsresearch targets low-cost solar cellsItalian-based STMicroelectronics – one of theworld’s leading manufacturers ofsemiconductor devices – has released detailsof an advanced research program that it hopeswill substantially reduce the cost ofgenerating electricity from solar power. ST ispursuing alternative approaches in which the aim is to produce solar cells that may have lower efficiencies (e.g. 10% instead of15–20%) but which are much cheaper tomanufacture.

The research team, based in Catania andNaples, is focusing on applying ST’s expertise innanotechnology to the development of new solarcell technologies that will eventually be able tocompete commercially with conventionalelectricity generation methods.

The ST team is following two approaches.The first, invented in 1990 by ProfessorMichael Graetzel of the Swiss Federal Instituteof Technology in Lausanne, uses a similarprinciple to photosynthesis. In a conventionalsolar cell, a single material such as siliconperforms all three of the essential functions:absorbing sunlight (converting photons intoelectrons and holes), withstanding the electric

7November 2003 Photovoltaics Bulletin

NEWS