Cheaper solar ink
SOLAR POWER - SILICON INK:WICKLOW native Conrad Burke's solar-ink technology company has crossed a hurdle in the race to make solar power cheaper and more efficient.
The US Department of Energy and Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems both confirmed Innovalight's product has achieved 18 per cent efficiency, a record for solar inks and better than the average figure of 12 per cent for conventional solar panels.
The California-based company intends to further improve its conversion efficiency to 20 per cent - a figure solar power competitor SunPower claims it has already passed, having developed solar cells that are 22 per cent efficient.
Using ink means not as much silicon material is needed to manufacture a solar panel, making the process cheaper and faster. Innovalight ultimately aims to sell its silicon ink and license its precision inkjet manufacturing technology to larger solar manufacturers.
Irish firm joins forces with IBM and DCU
TECHNOLOGY - WATER TREATMENTA LIMERICK-BASED developer of wireless sensors is currently partnering with DCU and IT giant IBM to develop solutions for monitoring water quality and detecting phosphate pollution.
EpiSensor's technology is already used for monitoring energy consumption and to control the temperature in buildings. It is combining this technology with an autonomous phosphate analyser for water quality monitoring that was developed by professor Dermot Diamond (pictured) at DCU.
Further collaboration with IBM at its Environmental Solutions Centre of Excellence in Dublin will see the two firms develop real-time environmental monitoring solutions for energy, water and carbon management.
IBM in particular is making headway on the software side of this partnership and last month launched Websphere Sensor Events, a software application designed to analyse data from interconnected sensors.
This data is then relayed to a company's operations system, meaning the flow of water could be restricted or shut off in the event of contamination by fertiliser run-off - or crypto-sporidium, as occurred in Galway in recent years.
"IBM's expertise in research, developing software and networking applications in complex enterprise environments will boost our ability to bring turnkey solutions to the market more quickly," said Gary Carroll, chairman of EpiSensor.
"Sensors serve as an instrument for giving a voice to physical objects, allowing them to communicate important information in an increasingly interconnected world," said Martin Wildberger, vice-president of IBM Sensor Solutions. "By capturing and analysing information from sensors, clients are infusing their operations with unprecedented levels of intelligence and agility."
IBM and EpiSensor are likely to benefit as both public utilities and commercial manufacturers are increasingly focusing on water-management issues and also on how they can reduce their water footprints.
To date EpiSensor has raised €1.5m in funding from various Irish investors. In September it was one of 12 Irish cleantech firms to visit potential investors, partners, clients and other key influencers in Silicon Valley as part of an Enterprise Ireland mission to promote Irish green technology innovation.
Cheaper, cleaner plastics on the way
CARBON - GREEN PLASTICS:
A US PLASTICS company has developed catalysts to transform carbon dioxide (CO2) and carbon monoxide into green plastics and marketable chemicals.
Novomer, a university spinout based in the US city of Boston, has just raised $14m in second-round venture funding to scale its technology, which could see its material replace more expensive and more environmentally harmful oil-based plastics.
In theory, all the carbon from a coal-fired power station could be permanently sequestered in consumer products, according to chief executive Jim Mahoney. "We also think these materials will be cheaper because we can make materials that are thinner," he adds.
The company is currently generating revenue by licensing its technology to polymer manufacturers and by producing materials such as NB-180, a colourless thermoplastic polymer that decomposes into environmentally friendly by-products.
As large retailers such as Tesco apply carbon accounting to their supply chains, they will increasingly stock products with greener plastics and packaging. Given it has the potential to both divert CO2 into a manufacturing process and reduce oil-based plastic consumption, Novomer stands to benefit twice from carbon being priced through cap-and-trade legislation or a carbon tax.
NEWS IN BRIEF
AL GORE'S Generation Investment Management has built up a stake of almost 12 per cent in Irish company Kingspan
IRISH TIDAL POWER firm Openhydro plans to raise €30m in new financing
LIMERICK BIN firm AMCS has signed a European contract worth €10m
US START-UP Solar Roadways plans to pave roads with solar panels
KHOSLA VENTURES has created two cleantech funds totalling $1.1bn
SOUTH KOREA is to build the world's first landfill- powered hydrogen station
SHELL has linked up with the Shenhua Group, a Chinese firm, to develop clean coal technology
SIX OF Japan's biggest electronics companies are working on a solar-powered CPU computer chip
LOS ANGELES' LAX airport has signed a deal to buy 1.5m gallons of biofuel made from sewage and organic waste
WAVEBOB will be the first tenant in an Irish Innovation Centre in Silicon Valley
THE NUMBER of cleantech patents filed in the US hit a record high in Q2, 2009
GOOGLE is working to reduce the cost of building solar thermal plants using mirror technology
EVENT DIARY OCTOBER
6: Brussels Carbon Capture and Storage Summit; Brussels; ccsconference.eu
7: Energy Ireland Energy Prices Seminar 2009; Crowne Plaza Hotel, Santry, Dublin; energyireland.ie
11-14: Solar World Congress 2009; Johannesburg, South Africa; swc2009.co.za
