New News From SERI's Science & Technology In Review Image a technology that can directly convert atmospheric carbon dioxide to commercially valuable fuel and chemicals. A process that turns municipal solid waste into ethanol, a clean burning liquid fuel. How about high efficiency PV's or insulation with an R-value of 150. These are all things that the Solar Energy Research Institute are working on right now. Good News For PVs "Photovoltaics are sometimes seen as a futuristic approach," says Jack Stone, director of SERI's Solar Electric Research Division. "Nothing could be further from the facts." In 1988, US manufactures sold enough PVs to provide more than 11 megawatts of electricity, at annualized energy costs of about 25¢/kWh. A SERI-patented cascade PV cell has achieved 25% efficiency, the highest ever recorded. In cost-shared research, ARCO Solar recently attained a record 11.1% efficiency with a one square foot, copper indium diselenide (CIS) cell. ARCO also developed a low-cost, large manufacturing process for CIS products. With continued successes such as these, the cost of PV- generated energy may reach 12¢/kWh by the mid-1990's and 6¢/kWh by the year 2000. Wind Energy Wind Energy Technology is advancing rapidly. In less than 10 years, the total US installed capacity has grown from virtually zero to about 1500 Mega Watts. That's the equivalent of a typical nuclear power plant or two coal fired plants. The electricity produced by these systems, located primarily in California and Hawaii, totals almost 6 billion kWh, displacing about 11 billion barrels of oil and avoiding more than 1 million tons of carbon emissions. Wind turbines do have reliability problems though. SERI researchers in conjunction with companies such as SeaWest Energy Group are working on specially shaped, strong, lightweight blades that would work at moderate winds. In The Works SERI researchers are working on a patented vacuum window with an R-value of 12, about three times the insulating value of conventional double pane windows. Another SERI invention uses a window that uses electrochromic coatings to automatically control the heat and light entering through windows by changing opacity. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are a potent atmospheric pollutant with the ability to aggravate global warming as well as deplete the Earth's protective ozone layer. This threat has sparked an international effort to ban CFCs, which are used as the working fluids in air conditioners and refrigerators, as a propellant in aerosols and as foam-blown agents in producing plastic foam and insulation. SERI researchers have invented a unique vacuum insulation, devoid of CFCs, that may revolutionize the appliance industry. The concept uses a sealed vacuum between two metal panels to create an R-value of 150 per inch of thickness - as much as 20 times the insulating value of conventional foams now used in refrigerators and freezers, it could reduce appliance energy use and also reduce CFC emissions in the US by 50% or more. SERI is also developing chemical methods of destroying CFCs. Well, I've just run out of room to say more about the incredible things under way at SERI. More next time! How about solar thermal to destroy certain hazardous wastes. Karen Perez