We've written before about Honda's production of solar cells, but did you know that Mitsubishi actually ranks as the world's sixth-largest manufacturer of PV cells? Currently, Mitsubishi Electric cranks out about 120 megawatts worth of solar cells a year, although they have the capacity for 150 megawatts. They plan to increase production to 230 annual megawatts by April of 2009. Solar cells are a hot commodity these days as the power industry, just like the automotive industry, is in the process of "greening" their image. In fact, Mitsubishi believes that the worldwide demand for solar cells could quadruple to 10,000 megawatts as early as 2010. If demand remains high, Mitsubishi Electric could increase its output to 500 megawatts by 2012.

The Idaho National Laboratory, Microcontinuum, Inc. and Patrick Pinhero from the University of Missouri are developing an exciting new technology which uses "nano-antennas" to capture solar energy. What is especially cool about this new solar technology is that it would operate both during the day and at night by using the leftover radiation after the sun goes down. Each nano-antenna is a spiral as wide as 1/25 the diameter of a human hair, meaning that many of them can be fit into a tiny space, and may be as much as 80 percent efficient.

At this time, researchers have a ways to go before the technology is commercialized, but they are hoping that their finished product would be no more expensive as a coating than a cheap layer of carpeting.

[Source: Gizmag]

Zinc oxide coatings serve a variety of purposes, from LCD displays to contact lenses. For the purposes of green technology, they also could have significant impact on solar cells and even batteries. One potential problem is that in the past, the coatings were deposited at such high temperatures that they damaged the substrate they were being applied to. The University at Buffalo in New York believes that they may have found a solution to that problem by rapidly cooling the metal nanoparticles before applying them through a very small aperture. This could positively impact the efficiency of solar cells, making them much more efficient, and perhaps also cheaper to manufacture. We always make sure to keep an eye on solar breakthroughs, being that the sun's not going anywhere anytime soon and offers free power to those who can capture it. Not destroying your solar cells while creating them sounds like a step in the right direction, wouldn't you agree?

[Source: The University at Buffalo]