COP21: Conergy to send 10 ‘future solar leaders’ to Paris climate talks
Global solar company Conergy is to send 10 American students to the COP21 climate change negotiations in Paris this December as part of its newly launched Future Solar Leaders programme.
The students chosen are Eric Beeler (George Washington University, Washington D.C.), Zach Bielak (Rice University, Houston, Texas), Rohith Desikan (Stanford University, Palo Alto, California), Emma Hutchinson (Stanford University, Palo Alto, California), Christina Cilento (Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois), Shana Gallagher (Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts), Jake Kornack (Willamette University, Salem, Oregon), Caroline Saunders (Vanderbilt, Nashville, Tennesse), Salwa Shameem (University of Chicago, Illinois), Kyle Sundman (University of Denver, Colorado).
BLP forms JV with Norway’s Statkraft for distributed solar in India
India-based renewable energy company, Bharat Light and Power (BLP), and Norwegian state-owned electricity company Statkraft have formed a 50:50 joint venture to provide distributed solar in India.
In September, Italian-based renewable energy developer Enel Green Power (EGP) entered the Indian market by acquiring a majority stake in utility-scale wind and solar operator BLP Energy, a subsidiary of BLP, for around EUR30 million (US$32.7 million).
Laser light treatment may make the flu shot more effective
Scientists at the Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have found that pre-treating the site of intradermal vaccinations (vaccines delivered into the skin rather than the muscles beneath) with a specific wavelength of light can dramatically improve the effectiveness of flu shots.
After more than a year of testing a series of laser light pretreatments and vaccines on mice, as well as different strengths of laser light on humans, researchers found that a low-power near-infrared laser was very good at increasing the vaccine's potency.
The flu caused nearly 400,000 hospitalizations in the U.S. last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Though influenza is very contagious, there are steps you can take to prevent a mid-season bout of the flu. The easiest is getting a flu shot. The CDC reported that last year flu shots prevented nearly 80,000 hospitalizations and more than 6.5 million cases of the flu in the U.S.
Shining a Light on the Flu Virus
Some vaccines can be made more effective by adding adjuvants. Adjuvants are additions to a vaccine that amplify the body's natural immune response, causing it to release more antibodies to fight the flu virus.
Some chemical adjuvants can produce negative side effects, including soreness or tenderness at the site of the vaccine injection.
Laser light, however, is different.
“The key thing is that it’s transient. Chemical adjuvants hang around in your skin and cause pain,” says study author Mark Poznansky, Ph.D., director of the Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center. “If you can mitigate those side effects of a chemical adjuvant, that’s a big deal.”
Poznansky and his team have found that a laser produces ample immune responses within 24-hours, which is a much shorter time than the residual effects of chemical or biological adjuvants last. Ideally, Poznansky says, a hand-held laser device could be used by anyone administering a flu shot.
The researchers got the idea for a laser light adjuvant from Russian scientists after another investigator at the Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center saw Russian physicians using lasers to treat advanced kidney cancer.
“Technologies were coming out of Russia, and they needed to be validated. That’s really how we got into lasers in the first place,” Poznansky says.
Choosing a Laser Light
Researchers identified the strongest near-infrared laser that did not cause tissue damage and worked well on people of all skin tones.
They tested the laser on human volunteers who reported no discomfort after two minutes of exposure. They employed the same type of laser used for tattoo and hair removal, but at much lower power.
Seven-week old mice were given a short pre-treatment with the laser light, followed by a flu shot. Researchers found that a one-minute exposure to near-infrared light greatly improved the vaccine's performance.
Ideally, researchers want to get the 60-second exposure time down to 30, or even 15 seconds, Poznansky says.
Moving forward, researchers hope to explore laser-light treatments for other illnesses, such as hepatitis and cancer, Poznansky says. “The key thing we’re going to look at is how to accelerate vaccines and immunotherapy,” he says.
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GTM: Cost-cutting module-level power electronics market to exceed 1GW by 2020
By 2020, shipments of module-level power electronics will more than double from today’s levels in an increasingly competitive space, according to a new report from GTM Research.
Further impetus to activity in the module-level market could come from a revision to fire safety codes in the US: proposed changes to the US National Electric Code around PV systems are widely expected to include requirements that PV systems must be capable of being shut down at module level, rather than central inverter level.
Shunfeng launches O&M firm in Germany
Shunfeng International Clean Energy (SFCE), the owner of module maker Suntech, has launched a new O&M company in Germany named Raising Power.
TSMC management shake-up shocks industry
Steve Tso (left) will succeed Rick Tsai (right) as the chairman and CEO for TSMC Solar and TSMC Solid State.
TSMC revealed two astonishing personnel changes on the same day. After its senior VP of Worldwide Sales and Marketing Jason Chen resigned to be appointed as ACER's corporate president and CEO from, Rick Tsai, the chairman and CEO for TSMC Solar and TSMC Solid State Lighting was reported to leave his job to take up the post of chairman of Chunghwa Telecom, the news shocked the industry. TSMC confirmed that Steve Tso, TSMC's chief information officer was expected to be Tsai's successor, and the change of personnel would be completed before the end of January next year.
TSMC chairman Morris Chang once pointed out that TSMC's solar and solid state lighting business were an "ace in the hole" of the company.
Panasonic to donate 100,000 solar lanterns worldwide
The company seeks to involve people around the world in the project and to make those participants aware of issues in the regions without electricity.
LDK Solar collapses into bankruptcy in China
China-based polysilicon and PV module manufacturer LDK Solar has been forced into bankruptcy proceedings in China soon after it had exited bankruptcy proceedings of its parent holding company that was once listed in the US.
Debts owed amounted to over US$44 million Rmb 281,581,675 and US$8.3 million to electricity charges due Ganxi Power.
Can I use ni-mh batteries in my garden solar lights?
I have heard that these batteries are not so good for the environment because they contain toxic chemicals (see Wikipedia). I would like to use Ni-MH batteries instead.
Would this be recommended or will slowly charging these batteries using solar panels shorten its life span?
Akcome to use Huawei’s ‘Smart PV’ O&M technology
PV utility-scale project developer and back-end PV components producer Akcome is to deploy Huawei’s ‘Smart PV’ O&M technology on gigawatts of PV power plant projects.
Currently, Akcome is building a new O&M centre to monitor and manage all of its PV power assets, which are expected to reach around 1GW in 2015.
Softbank and Mitsui prepare to activate 111MW Japan PV array
SB Energy, the offshoot of telecoms group Softbank, and conglomerate Mitsui are close to flipping the switch on a 111MW PV array in northern Japan.
Mitsui and SB Energy are collaborating on a number of other utility PV projects in Japan.
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