Whatever posturing or politicking might go on here at ground level, the International Space Station stands as a beacon of community between the world’s spacefaring nations. That community, or at least the Netherlands’ role in it, has grown a bit with the recent signing of a deal that will see Dutch Space B.V. provide solar arrays for nine unmanned cargo ferries. The ferries will deliver supplies to the space station.

The deal is a feat of international collaboration here on earth as well. The shell of the cargo ships will be built by Thales Alenia Space of Italy. The solar arrays will be integrated, tested and constructed by Dutch Space. The cargo ferries themselves will be built by Orbital Sciences of Virginia, USA. Furthermore, Dutch Space will look to two other American companies, Alliant Techsystems and Emcore, to develop substrates and solar cells for the solar panels. (more…)

Popularity: 1% [?]

Japan recently made serious strides toward leading exploration and implementation of space-based solar power. While many countries (US excluded) have set goals for domestic renewable energy production, Japan has literally set loftier goals, announcing ambitions to collect solar power in space by 2030.

Photo Credit: Greenlaunches

That solar power would be harvested as part of Japan’s Space Solar Power System (SSPS), in which solar arrays several square miles in size would hover in a geosynchronous orbit above Japan and beam collected solar energy down to receivers on earth via lasers or microwave radiation. Intense, right?

Adding a notable level of seriousness to its plan, Japan has selected a consortium of industry giants to make their science-fiction plan a reality. These include Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Electric, NEC, Fujitsu and Sharp, led by researchers at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). (more…)

Popularity: 2% [?]

The solar industry took another blow last week. Evergreen Solar stocks were downgraded by major investment firms, and subsequently fell further to less than $1.50 per share. Evergreen’s fall may be having the most direct effect in its home state of Massachusetts, but this decline is representative of a wider fall in solar stock prices, leading to both cutbacks in solar jobs and lower panel prices.

For Evergreen Solar, a bastion of solar industry success in Massachusetts, the twin problems of lower prices and oversupply influenced a recent decision to shift assembly of its solar panels to China, where the company says it can produce for $1.50 per watt. It is as yet unclear how many jobs in Massachusetts will be lost, although of the 577 or so current full-time employees, over half are involved in manufacturing.

Oversupply and weakened demand have forced a scaling-down of U.S. operations by several solar industry players. In terms of manufacturing, China continues to gain momentum due to lower labor costs and less barriers to implementation. In terms of innovation, the United States continues to compete, even lead. But it nevertheless remains cheaper to manufacture overseas and have products shipped back to the States than to simply make them closer to the point of use. (more…)

Popularity: 2% [?]