The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has released the draft guidelines for PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana which is aimed at installing rooftop solar (RTS) plants in one crore (10 million) households
TIMELY MOVE: The Corporation plans to install timer switches to prevent streetlights from burning much after dawn, as seen on the Poonamallee High Road on Sunday. CHENNAI: The Chennai Corporation has taken up energy efficiency as a priority
Tokyo Electron, a leading maker of semiconductor equipment, is set to develop solar cell manufacturing equipment through a joint venture with Sharp in an effort to capitalise on demand for clean energy. The two Japanese companies plan to develop production equipment for thin-film solar cells. Tokyo Electron will produce and sell the equipment, starting next year. Thin-film solar cells use just 1 per cent of the silicon needed in conventional solar cells. The technology is attractive because, as a result of scarcity, the price of silicon has rocketed to as much as $350 a kilogramme. Japanese companies are at the forefront of thin-film solar cell technology, with Sharp, Kaneka and Sanyo the three big manufacturers. Sharp, the world's leading maker of solar cells, is set to boost output capacity for thin-film solar cells more than tenfold this year, by investing Y22bn ($203m). In western Japan, Sharp, which also makes LCD televisions, is constructing the world's biggest solar cell plant. It will be dedicated primarily to thin-film solar cells and is expected to start operations by March 2010. The joint venture will be capitalised at Y50m, with 51 per cent held by Tokyo Electron and the remainder by Sharp. For Tokyo Electron, it is an attempt to diversify and capitalise on a sector with a growing demand. Thin-film solar cells are more versatile than conventional crystalline solar cells because they are transparent and so can be used as walls that allow light to shine through. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
Japan's Sharp Corporation and Tokyo Electron will establish a joint venture to develop production equipment for solar cells, the Nikkei business daily reports. The venture will develop equipment for thin-film solar cells, which need less silicon than conventional solar cells, at Tokyo Electron's production site in Yamanashi Prefecture west of Tokyo. Sharp is investing heavily in the solar cell market and is building a 100 billion yen factory for thin-film solar cells in Osaka Prefecture. Tokyo Electron is the world's second-largest chip equipment maker. The venture will be capitalised at about 100 million yen. Tokyo Electron will take a 60% stake while Sharp takes the remaining 40%. REUTERS
United Arab Emirates's Masdar city will soon be the world's first zero-carbon, zero-waste and car-free city. Designed in accordance with wwf's
The solar power plant installed by Power Development Board (PDB) at Baghachola village under Barkal upazila in Rangamati at a cost of Tk 8 lakhs is virtually of no use because of lack of proper maintenance. It was set up there about one year ago under Chittagong Hill Tracts Solar Photovoltaic Electrification Project (CHTSPVEP) to supply power and safe water among households. The technology does not benefit the villagers allegedly due to lack of maintenance by PDB officials, locals told this correspondent during a visit.
In the fourth quarter of 2007 the clean energy sector saw a sharp increase in the use of private equity expansion capital, but investment in buyouts evaporated in the face of the credit crisis. Venture capital investment, meanwhile, maintained the high levels seen in the previous two quarters.
<p>India is faced with the challenge of sustaining its rapid economic growth while dealing with the global threat of climate change. This threat emanates from accumulated greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, anthropogenically generated through long-term and intensive industrial growth and high consumption lifestyles in developed countries.</p>
Is it possible for the world to reinvent its energy systems?
It would seem that India is quick to jump on a boat and then even quicker to sink it.
It is estimated that by 2015 roughly 20-30 per cent of the Chinese population will be using the sun to heat their domestic water. The country has built a huge manufacturing base for these systems and its suppliers even offer 10-15-year guarantees on them. Chinese solar water heater exports are booming going from 200,000 sq m of collecter area in 1999 to 2 million sq m in 2006.
