United Solar Installs Alcoa Power System
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070831/energy_conversion_devices_alcoa.html?.v=1



This could be good or this could suck. First the good, Aluminum is an expensive material to make. Aluminum is the most abundant material on earth, after silicon but it take a whole lot of electricity to separate it from its ore material. This is why Alcoa can be seen in the news bringing electricity to some 3rd world country, basically most of the electricity will go to the smelter and what is left will be used by the people of the town. Most power plant burn coal or petroleum, both are becoming expensive, so if these solar cells work out it will mean they will have to buy less energy, and thus slowing the increase in cost of product. The bad would be that these laminates show no dent in energy costs or not enough to notice, but hey it is only one plant if doesn’t work I’m sure they won’t install them on other plants
Of course if they work they’ll only be useful in certain locations. Solar cells seem to top out at 14%, that’s the new Amorphous Silicon Vapor type. Also, Solar Cells work best in non-cloudy environment, which means close to the equator. Sure there are solar cells that do work in cloudy environment, but at 14% I wouldn’t use it to power a plant.