Solar Cells

Spectrolab said last week that it has produced more than 25,000 of its high-efficiency solar cells that convert sunlight into electrical power for satellites and other spacecraft. The solar cells will be used in space for the first time when Citizen Explorer 1--a small Earth-orbiting satellite that will be used by students--is launched in December. Spectrolab's triple-junction gallium-arsenide solar cells have an average conversion efficiency of 24.

We have all heard stories about how solar energy will someday provide a cheap, inexhaustible supply of electricity that might free us from monthly utility bills while making the world a cleaner place to live. We've been told how one day a collection of solar cells, perhaps designed to look like a tile roof, could supply enough juice to keep any homeowner happy.

A 206-foot-long unmanned flying wing driven by 14 electrically powered propellers climbed into the sky Thursday on a flight to test technology intended to allow it to climb to 100,000 feet on the sun's energy. The flight of the robotic Centurion, directed by a pilot on the ground, went very well, said Pete Jacobs, a spokesman for the builder, AeroVironment. It was in the air about two hours and climbed to an altitude of a few hundred feet.

Solar power is one of those things that's always just around the corner. Just a few more technical advances over here, and a little government help over there, and we'll have solved all our energy and pollution problems once and for all. It seems like we've been hearing that for 30 years now. So, at the risk of ridicule, I'm here to tell you that widespread use of solar power is just around the corner. Rooftops across California will be turned into power plants by the hundreds of thousands.

Siemens Solar Industries, based in Camarillo, has begun shipping solar cells to Argentina from a newly opened office in Boca Raton, Fla. Siemens is shipping the cells as part of a $2.4-million project to power rural schools in Argentina. The Florida unit will support a growing demand for solar products throughout Latin America. According to Siemens, the area is ranked by analysts as the solar industry's fastest growing market.

Camarillo-based Siemens Solar Industries, a major solar energy concern, has opened a new facility for mass production of crystal solar cells. Siemens Solar said the "clean room," part of a $3-million plant improvement, is a first in the industry and will produce 30,000 to 40,000 silicon wafers a day. Clean rooms are designed to provide a factory environment free of airborne contaminants.

A surprising proposal by Enron Corp. to produce photovoltaic electric power for a quarter of the cost of existing technologies has refocused attention on the steadily improving solar cell. After more than 15 years of development, photovoltaic cells are commonplace on hand-held calculators, satellites and in remote locations. But photovoltaic energy will have to be as cheap or cheaper than the 5.

Two Ventura County firms--Siemens Solar Industries and GTE California--have joined in installing North America's first solar-powered telephone routing switch. The unit, called a digital loop carrier, will bring phone service to a remote cluster of 20 homes in San Bernardino County. The community has no commercial electrical service and no available telephone lines.

High above Earth, more and more satellites are being powered by gallium arsenide solar cells--cells that are lighter, longer-lasting and more efficient than any made from silicon, the industry standard. Ninety-nine percent of the market for gallium arsenide solar cells belongs to Applied Solar Energy Corp., a solar and optical technologies firm based in the City of Industry, which has placed its business future behind the compound semiconductor material.