History-making solar power show in Tianjin Binhai

Tianjin Binhai New Area will, among other things, accelerate R&D and commercialization of solar cells with an emphasis on multi-crystal silicon solar cells and thin-film amorphous silicon solar cells.

This is far, far more difficult and far, far more important than you might think.

The key is to get the cell to take in the solar energy — not reflect it — and convert it to useful energy.

Now a concentrator solar cell produced by Boeing-Spectrolab has recently achieved a world-record conversion efficiency of 40.7%. Which is totally astounding. True, this is in laboratory conditions but soon in the real world. Only a few years ago 4% was considered a major breakthrough.

This new breakthrough may lead to systems with an installation cost of only $3 per watt, producing electricity at a cost of 8-10 cents per kilowatt/hour, making solar electricity cost-competitive. In Australia the government subsidizes home installations and any excess energy is fed back into the national grid.

Thus the China International Solar Photovoltaic Industry Fair which will be held October 17-19 at Tianjin Binhai International Center will be important, exciting, possibly history making.

Average annual growth rate for the past three years has been an amazing 49.8%. The export value of China solar-PV modules was over $1.2 billion in 2006. This show will be major history in the making.
Source: China Trade Information