Die beiden im Folgenden auszugsweise wiedergegebenen Firmenmeldungen sind PR-Artikel wie Tausende andere. Und doch sorgen sie für Aufsehen. Sie zeigen, dass sich immer mehr herkömmliche Grossunternehmen Gedanken darüber machen, wie sie auf den anfahrenden Solarzug aufspringen können. Lassen Sie sich überraschen mit solaren Dachschindeln und solarem Reisegepäck.
Dow Chemical says it is ready for its thin-film solar roofing shingles to go on sale next year — one of the first technologies to make solar panels and roofs one and the same, and a step toward increasing the affordability and physical appeal of going solar for residential consumers. Dubbed the “Powerhouse” line, the shingles do for rooftop solar what Apple has done for mobile phones: make functional look sexy.But not so fast. The shingles are still being put through rigorous tests. Dow wants to ensure that the shingles it churns out can live up to the 25-year warranty it plans to offer (standard for the roofing industry). The shingles themselves are pretty pricey, covering 4 square feet and carrying a price tag of $40 each after government subsidies.
The shingles have the same structure as most thin-film solar material. Made out of copper, indium, gallium and selenium, the modules are coated in a proprietary plastic and convert about 13 percent of the sunlight absorbed into usable electricity. This is pretty good, considering that most thin-film panels in use today top out at 11 percent.
Dow says the key to its technology is the plastic coating, making the thin-film cells more durable and efficient than most of its competitors. Dow also has the manufacturing muscle to scale production faster than any startup or venture-backed solar enterprise could hope to. The company is so confident in its shingles that it estimates the solar roofing market could reach $5 billion in size in just five years.
Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc., a developer of flexible thin-film solar modules, announced today that Samsonite, the worldwide leader in travel solutions, has selected flexible light-weight CIGS modules from Ascent Solar to be integrated into its new line of solar consumer products being initially rolled out this summer. The two companies have been working together through product development and today’s development symbolizes the progress and innovation from both companies to make portable power a part of an everyday product from a global leader in its industry. Lynne Berard, Samsonite VP Sales & Marketing stated, “As our lives depend more and more on mobile electronics and the need to power and carry such devices, we believe that integrating solar panels into our carrying case solutions will be a game changer in the industry. By utilizing the unique, flexible, lightweight and subtle modules from Ascent, we are able to provide our customers with power on the go, while not compromising our stringent standards for quality and style.”
© Solarmedia / Quellen: GlobalSolar, GreenBeat
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