Silicon Solar Cells

T.J. Rogers gave the keynote address at a communication Design Conference in January of 2006 in which he described the customer base for his company Solar Power Corp, a subsiderary of Cypress Semiconductors. He gave the rather amazing statistic that in 2005 more semiconductor grade silicon was turned into photovoltaic cells (solar electric cells) than into semiconductor devices.

This amazed me. It would have amazed me equally if he has said that as much as half as much semiconductor grade silicon made its way into solar cells as into integrated circuits.

What was almost equally interesting was that most of those silicon solar cells were going into solar power installations in western Europe. Rogers said the reason was that the European community had a serious commitment to alternative energy. They were pursuing wind, tidal, photovoltaic and other alternative sources of energy that were not greenhouse gas contributors.

Of course Europe doesn't have the solar resource that the US has in California, Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona where the sun is brutal much of the year.

Some standards can be better implemented on a national basis than on a regional basis. What will the legacy of our generation be when viewed by future generations? Enron, Tyco, Arthur Anderson and Halliburton or ?