Do you know why Google invested in Nanosolar?
What progress has since being achieved for this new technology?
Could we be daring enough to invite Nanosolar to roll out the technology and use the whole country as a Laboratory and a world show case of its products? Aren’t we blessed by the sun?
Imagine the solar house generating its own source of energy and even supplying the grid network with its surplus.A whole village could be developed along this same concept. There after a whole island could follow. Can you now dream of a clean energy efficient island country? Why not the Nanosolar Island?
Nanosolar’s vision:
At Nanosolar, we believe that energy should be clean, affordable, and abundant; and that the path to this is through innovation and technology.
In an age where carbon fuel scarcity is making peak-time electricity very valuable and where carbon fuels are driving global warming to unsafe levels, it is increasingly mandatory for electricity to be produced locally, clean, and in ways that reduce the peak-load burden on already overtaxed electricity grids.
At Nanosolar, we are working to make it possible to put A Solar Panel on Every Buildingâ„¢.
By setting the standard for solar technology with industry-leading cost efficiency and availability, we are planning to become the world’s largest solar energy technology company and thus contribute to creating a future based on inexhaustible, clean, affordable, and reliable energy.
Our revenue aspiration is to be the fastest company ever to go from $1 to $1 billion; and to sell $100 billion (in ’05 dollars) in PV panels by 2020.
For such a venture,we need our entrepreneurs to move and our politicians to buy in the dream and to set the proper regulatory frame for it to happen.
I invite you Mru Bloggers to start propagating this idea with your friends and the friends’ friends. Hopefully we would have created a loud enough “buzz” to get a spark. So the first step would be to Cut and paste this post to all your address book. The second step to arouse the mass media to this idea. The third step could be a write a petition letter to our Minister of Energy. Let us start off the NANOSolar Island!
What are your views?
9 comments ↓
Seems very good and ambitious idea. I’m willing to have one of these solar panels on my house but i guess it’s gonna cost me a lot, right?
Not as much as conventional PV panels; not as much by far. A full grid-tied PV conversion currently costs $15K – $35K, depending on labor costs, useage, and available tax credits. Payback on this investment from selling surplus electricity back to the power company is on the order of 20 years.
Nanosolar panels will cost about 1/10th as much when full production begins and the cost will drop from there as the technology matures. Panels are most of the cost of a PV conversion so using Nanosolar panels it will cost about 1/3rd what it does now, even though you’ll need a couple more of them (silicon wafer panels are ~18% efficient, Nanosolar panels are ~12% efficient). Payback will be on the order of about 5 years which makes solar a viable investment strategy for the first time in history.
Another factor to consider is the cost to deliver power to your house. Other than nuclear and hydroelectric the most efficient &envorinmentally friendly way to generate electricity is natural gas. This has to be drilled, pumped, compressed, and delivered to the power plants which itself costs energy. Estimates vary but a good rule of thumb is for every KW generated up to half a KW is spent delivering it to your house. Sunlight, otoh, delivers itself to your roof and costs practically nothing beyond the initial investment to convert into electricity. This is why the power companies are so keen to get grid-tied solar going: it’s MUCH cheaper to simply maintain the grid than build new powerplants or buy fuel for the existing ones.
Indeed. Sergey Brin and Larry page are individual investors in this venture.
The founders are from Stanford… college pals? I personally believe the energy industry has a bright future ahead.
How are legalities in mauritius around energy?
Thanks Guys for your contributions.I do hope that my idea to create a buzz and to push our Island forward in the world would be exciting. To be the first country to rely on a large extend on Solar powered energy could bring us economic benefits. As far as I know the law in Mauritius is still restrictive in sales of power energy, although companies have recently been set up to produce electricity from bagasse and be sold to CEB who in turn supply & resell through the Grid. Il est permis de rever!
I am anxious about nanosolar. I left my name for them as a buyer. do you have any idea when they will start offering product for sale?
I’ve been following Nanosolar with interest for a couple years. The projects by company president last fall that cost of panels would be 10 to 20% of current market is hugely encouraging – if they can do it. He also predicted that their factory would be operative by late spring. Other than news of the lease agreement on facilities and city subsidies, I haven’t seen any scheduling updates. Has anybody else? It’s also my understanding that production has been demonstrated on a reduced scale at their company headquarters. Does anybody know anything about the scaling up? Have the full size printing presses been manufactured or tested?
If Nanosolar succeeds at delivering its panels within the cited cost range, the world impact would be enormous. Since most power plants face peak usage when demand for air conditioning is highest, solar panels are a perfect match to counter these peak needs and reduce need for additional power plants. With adequate home storage devices (in the garage or a plug-in car or both) the expansion of the solar panel market would be huge. And that’s without the benefits of further increases in solar cell efficiencies, which would almost certainly follow?
Too good to be true? I hope not. Is it still possible we will begin to know the answer as early as this spring?
Thanks for your comments.I am avid waiting for some developments in this area. If Google in their wisdom sees opportunities in such ventures, I feel that we better keep watch.I gathered that Google forecast to produce in the first stage to self produce 20% of its energy needs thru Nanosolar.For the environment sake,I pray the dream turns into reality fast.
I have been watching Nanosolar’s webpage for the past three years. The updates they post are tantalizing, informative and encouraging for anyone wanting to buy Solar Power for their home, office, cabin in the woods, etc.
When do they plan to announce who is going to sell or provide the installation service. Will Nanosolar sell through local distributorships or the Electrician over on Main St.?
I’m ready to jump into PV for a grid-tied home system, but should I wait for Nanosolar to have product?
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