Advent Solar, a New Mexico solar power system developer, is set on partnering with Arizona State University to find ways to improve the efficiency of solar panels. They will also be hiring a team of engineers for this project.
President and CEO Peter Green, of Advent Solar, states that their partnership with ASU at their Skysong center in Scottsdale will give the needed boost on their quest for the lowest cost-per-watt of power. This will make solar power cheaper than present prices.
ASU officials like this team-up, because it benefits the university in more ways than one. To start with, they can use the university’s solar panel testing facility. This facility is made available, courtesy of ASU’s partnership with German TUV Rheinland Group.
To date, Advent Solar has only six employees at Skysong, and around 45 employees at a small research and manufacturing facility in Albuquerque. This will swell in the near future, as the company will be hiring experienced engineers and new graduates for this project.
I think this is in response to the Obama administration’s goal of generating more green jobs. But the number of employees in the manufacturing sector is still low, and Sramana Mitra, a technology entrepreneur, concludes that job opportunities cannot be found in manufacturing, but in the services sector.
She takes Premiere Power, a California-based solar systems company, into account. It has around 85 employees and has no plans of expanding its workforce. Their 2008 net sales is stated to be $42 million. CEO Dean Marks shares his company key to success:
We do not go out and buy a ton of modules and put them in our warehouse because they are being sold at a good price. Other companies have done that, and now component costs have dropped. They now have to sell those components at a loss. We bring it in and try to get it out of our warehouse right away.
To go back to Advent Solar, their Ventura Technology can provide high performance solar modules at a low cost. Typical photovoltaic manufacturing is hampered by old processes, both at the cell and module levels. Advent Solar changed all this by breaking conventional thinking, and hopes that this can move solar technology forward.
Hopefully something good will result from this partnership. Breakthroughs in the solar power technology are needed for a greener future.
For more information, can can view the full article by Sramana Mitra at Forbes.com.
Tags: Advent Solar, Arizona State University, efficiency, photovoltaic, solar, solar panel, Solar Panel Development, solar panels, Solar Power, solar power system, solar systems, solar technology
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Source Article: Advent Solar Teams Up with ASU on Solar Panel Development
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