DescentBB

this is the new generation solar-cells, which are easy to make.
[rant]another aussie made thing to be bought by a multinational company & the proceeds kept there by not making them here {but not yet fortunately}[end rant]

http://www.sta.com.au/webcontent4.htm

cheers
rij

but on the mainpage it says that it's a swiss tech, lisensed for manufacturing in australia:

Then in 1991 at EPFL in Switzerland, Michael Graetzel discovered that nanotechnology could overcome the problem.
...
The portfolio of Patents developed by Professor Graetzel and his team at EPFL has been licensed to a small group of corporations, who have teamed with EPFL to bring the technology to commercialisation. STI was granted a licensee in 1995, and following a $A12 million development program, set up the first manufacturing facility for DSC in the world in Australia in 2001.

it sure seems interesting
<-- reads on

seems slightly better than traditional solar cells in prettymuch every way. but the most striking difference is that this new solar cell is VERY easy and cheap to manufacture, requiring no vacumm equipment. it also uses significantly less power to manufacture*.

*this has always been an interesting thing about renewable energy. for example, years ago i remember hearing a user in a science newsgroup often say: traditional solar cells take more energy to MANUFACTURE than they ever themselves produce in their lifetimes, in otherwords making them nothing more than a rather interesting energy storage technique.

i'm not sure if he was accurate, i never looked into it. but if he was accurate, then this new tech seems to change that, happily.




edit:

November 2004

See us on television if you are in Australia. The ABC Science Program Catalyst will have an interesting segment on us on Thursday 18th at 8.00pm.

ARGH! i just missed it by HALF AN HOUR. maybe you can catch it riji.

edit2: hmm, guess not, you're an hour ahead of me.

i guess you posted this thread after watching Catalyst yourself eh?

correct, roid i did see it on catalyst & i thought it worthy of posting to a wider audience of my closet few hundred
cheers
rij