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kiwi
Sweden
661 Posts |
 Posted - 07 Dec 2009 : 14:59:43
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UN Climate meeting is about to start in Copenhagen today. One of the issues to be discussed is technology transfers – how can western companies help poor countries to acquire climate friendly technologies – should western companies donate their patents to poor countries?
In connection with that, the Swedish news paper Dagens Nyheter published an article that I found interesting as it actually is about second and third generation solar cells to half a price respective ¼ price compared to solar cells used today.
I thought it might interest at least some of you so I post it here. I let Google translator to translate the article. I can easily see that the translation fails now and then but I have not the time to correct it at the moment.
“Next Monday starts major UN climate meeting in Copenhagen. Negotiations take place in various tracks, and one of them is about "technology transfer".
This means that rich countries in one way or another to help poor countries to acquire new and climate friendly technologies.
The needs are enormous. The ministers at the EU summit agreed on a couple of weeks ago that the amount required is one hundred billion euros a year. That represents about one trillion Swedish kronor. A year!
Some of the money the EU is prepared to pay. By contrast, Sweden and the EU totally opposed to giving away free patents, which many third world countries are advocating.
- It's very positive that the market may be larger in the future, "says Sven Lindstrom, who is CEO of the company Midsummer.
Midsummer is working with second-generation solar cells. They are called thin-film CIGS solar cells or, for the elements copper, indium, gallium and selenium, which is part of the thin film covering the solar cell.
According to Sven Lindstrom midsummers technology can make electricity from solar cells at half the cost compared with today's silicon solar cells.
He came on the technology while working with machinery to produce DVDs.
The company has a patent, which is about CIGS cell crystals will use a greater share of sunlight. Other parts of the technology is not patented, but none hemligare.
- It can be fatal for a small company to reveal too much of a patent, "says Sven Lindstrom.
The secret portion of the production takes place behind the screens where DN absolutely not allowed to take photographs.
Sven Lindstrom would like to see his solar panels were used in poor countries with lots of sun.
- There are 1.7 billion people worldwide without access to electricity. They use kerosene as equivalent to half the Norwegian oil production. If they received microcredit to buy our solar cells, they would earn the cost of photo antigen in four years, "he says.
He envisages, for example, a person receiving a micro loan and hence can start a small business in order to download other people's cell phones with its environmentally-friendly solar electricity.
So far, liver Midsummer mainly on investments from venture capitalists. But their plans are to start cooperation with companies operating in Kenya.
Poor countries, however, would not be helpful for the Midsummer just gave away their patents, think Sven Lindstrom.
- It's not that simple. Even if they got all of our patents, they would not be able to do this anyway.
He thinks very well that even a very poor country could run the last steps in manufacturing, where the solar cells are assembled into modules. But the CIGS cells requires sophisticated equipment. The production think Sven Lindstrom is best in the country accustomed to high-tech industries. These include both China and India, who are developing countries in the climate context.
- One can imagine that they buy a full production orientation with licensed technology. Then the conclusion of service, much like when you buy a car.
Anders Hagfeldt the Ångström Laboratory is the head of a Swedish research network for third generation solar cells.
They called for Grätzelsolceller after its Swiss discoverer, Michael Grätzel.
Grätzelsolcellerna is still mainly at the research stage, but the first samples start coming onto the market now. One company in Ireland began to sell a product for a few weeks ago.
Finesse with Grätzelsolceller is that they are so easy and inexpensive to manufacture. They are so simple that a school student can put together one, with the help of a little white paint, dark red juice from blueberries, a few small pieces of glass and a little iodine from the pharmacy to manage the stream.
A layer of white titanium oxide on a substrate of glass or plastic and a dye that captures the sun's rays, harder than that is not the technology, although researchers are working with more sophisticated variants of titanium oxide and dyes.
Anders Hagfeldt has worked with Grätzelceller since the early 90s, always bearing in mind Third World countries, "he says.
- This technology is so cheap, and it fits really for communities that do not have an extensive electricity grid.
About CIGS technology can halve the cost of solar electricity compared to today's silicon cells, as is electricity from Grätzelcellerna only the fourth part so expensive.
Then we counted on Grätzelcellerna have slightly lower efficiency, the use of about 8 percent of the sun's rays.
Most of the researchers in the Swedish network involved in basic research. But there is one group in Mölndal, the Institute for engineering research, aiming towards products that can sell.
The project has three patents, all of which is to make solar cells even easier and cheaper.
Anders Hagfeldt wrinkling his forehead before the question of whether Sweden should donate their patents to third world.
- It's a difficult question.
He can see the problem first, as a human being and citizen of the world, and as the leader of a large research group.
- Of course I would like to see a positive development in the Third World. You do not want to be a bottleneck for development. But on the other hand, we have an expectation from the Energy Agency and VINNOVA Foundation which has provided us with research funding. They expect that our research will lead to business development for Sweden. When patents are important. It is tax money and they will benefit Sweden.
Anders Hagfeldt expressed cautious support for Western countries' approach to patent protection leads to technological development.
- It's a way to work on what has worked. But I can imagine that you look at it another way, for example, South America and southern Africa. “
Karin Bojs
karin.bojs @ dn.se
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kiwi |
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