Is the Sun Setting on the UK Solar Industry?

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Solar power is the shining beacon of the renewable energy world. Increasing fossil fuel prices alongside anthropogenic global warming are seeing a fresh drive to explore whether solar power could be the answer to the fuel crisis. Enough sunlight hits the earth’s surface in a single hour to match the world’s energy demands for an entire year, yet current technologies are simply failing to match this incredible potential. Today there exist two main techniques to convert sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics, or indirectly using concentrated solar power.

Photovoltaics (PV) rely on semiconductor solar cells, which, when exposed to light generate electrons and create a current. PV is one of the fastest-growing energy technologies, with an estimated turnover of EUR 10 billion in 2007. The most widely used and well developed solar cells employ crystalline silicon, but these are quickly reaching their theoretical efficiency limit of 29%. Other functionalities are being investigated for use in solar cells –a particularly successful example being multijunction PV cells, which consist of multiple thin films of semiconducting materials. With this design, a new world record for sunlight-to-electricity conversion efficiency was set in 2010 by ‘Spire Semiconductor’, a solar technology company based out of Massachusetts USA, whose triple junction gallium arsenide solar cell achieved conversion with 42.3% efficiency.

Alternatively, concentrated solar power (CSP) systems use large lenses or mirrors to focus and concentrate sunlight onto a small area. The focused light creates incredibly high temperatures which are used to drive steam turbines in a similar way to conventional power plants. The process is highly efficient and a study by Greenpeace International estimated that CSP could account for 25% of the world’s energy demands by 2050.

Despite these sunny figures, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) announced £34 million worth of cuts to low carbon and renewable energy spending last July. When it comes to energy, it seems the government’s persuasions are not so green. Britain lags sorrowfully behind many of its EU counterparts in terms of renewable energy usage; a mere 5.1% of the total energy usage came from renewable sources in 2007 compared to 15.1%, 20% and a staggering 52% from Germany, Spain and Sweden respectively. Britain will see a long road to reach the EU agreed generation of 15% of energy from renewables by 2020.

The achievement of this goal was further hampered last week when a formal review on the feed-in tariff (FIT) system put in place just 10 months ago was announced. FITs provide government guaranteed price for electricity sold to the National Grid by renewable electricity generators. The system, which was originally introduced to the EU by Germany, has seen much success outside of Britain, particularly in Spain. FITs here saw the development of the world’s first commercial solar tower using CSP technology. It is predicted the plant will be able to generate enough electricity to power 200,000 homes. So what prompted the change in heart from the British government?

Numerous field-based solar arrays have recently emerged, threatening to leave FIT funds unavailable for the home owners, businesses and local communities for whom they were intended. The government have subsequently implemented a 50 kW cap on any projects, the size of which will include commercial and community building installations. With the promise of further cuts to come, there are concerns that the PV industry will be put in jeopardy. Instead of making cuts in a ‘knee-jerk’ fashion, the government should embrace these developments and attempt to stimulate growth in the UK PV industry. Many investors will undoubtedly be shelving projects for the manufacture and installation of solar cells -investors who would have otherwise been injecting some much needed cash into the market. With cuts to both the FIT scheme and to research and development funding, it seems Britain’s solar industry is destined to be left in the dark.

2011: The International Year of Chemistry

Scientists everywhere rejoice, 2011 has been officially proclaimed the International Year of Chemistry. The announcement came from the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), the governing body of all things chemistry. With further endorsement from the UN's Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), it looks to be an exciting year indeed. The British festivities kicked off at the Houses of Parliament, as the Royal Society of Chemistry president Professor David Phillips emphasised “science is not just theoretical, but also practical”. A series of bangs and flashes followed as the first ever science experiments were performed in Parliament by Professor Hal Sosabowski, of the University of Brighton, who put on a thoroughly good show of mad science, with a tie dye lab coat to boot.

The principle aim of the Year of Chemistry is to raise awareness of the subject and its role in society among the general public, as well as to attract young people into the field. This will be carried out with a number of events open to the public, as well as through participation in schools. A heavy onus will also be placed on the role of women in science, and in particular, to honour Marie Curie and her work. Especially pertinent as this year sees the centenary of Curie being awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry.  Not only the first woman to claim the prize, she was also the first ever person to be awarded two (several years earlier she and her husband had received the shared prize in physics). She remains an aspirational figure, a viewpoint clearly shared by the chemistry department at the University of Bristol, who are hoping to put on a lecture in her honour sometime this year.

Whilst Bristol and the surrounding areas have their fair share of activities planned, the event schedule is somewhat poorly advertised, as with the Year of Chemistry itself. If IUPAC do intend on enticing members of the public to show an interest in chemistry, perhaps they ought to consider publicising to a wider audience than just the readers of the Royal Society of Chemistry website. Despite this, it is still early in the year and it seems momentum will be gained, as there are certainly some attention-grabbing events to come. Take for example the world’s largest experiment, aptly named the ‘Global Experiment’. School children across the globe will participate in four different experiments, all based on water and its role in society and the environment.

In spite of its few teething problems, the Year of Chemistry presents a fantastic opportunity for scientists and non-scientists alike to become involved and have fun with the subject. Bristol boasts a plethora of science based activities able to excite anyone. Head down to the At Bristol science museum where you will rediscover your inner child (and maybe learn something too!) With over 300 interactive exhibits there is plenty to keep you amused, but be warned, unless you visit on a week day, be prepared to wrestle with a hoard of grabby children and toddlers to have a turn on any of the exhibits. If you can’t spare the hours during the week, you would be wise to visit an hour and a half before closing time on the weekend, as not only have the stream of small competitors filtered away, you also get half price entry; bonus. At Bristol is also a regular host of the Science Cafe, where you can come face to face with expert scientists from a number of different fields, hear them speak about their subject, then give them a grilling. Science cafe meets during the evenings of every second Tuesday of the month, and best of all is free.

Getting interactive at the 'At Bristol' Science Museum

But why should we be celebrating the discipline of chemistry with such fervour? When the head of the University of Bristol chemistry department Professor Tim Gallagher asked what had drawn him to the subject, he replied “Crudely, blowing things up. I was a pyromaniac as a child. However I’m against the stereotype of chemistry being explosions and bangs and fires. What really hooked me was the role of chemistry in healthcare and pharmaceuticals, which has made a profound impact on quality of life.” And indeed, we have much to thank chemistry for. The world would be a very different one, a much worse one, without people tirelessly studying chemistry, and that certainly is worth celebrating. Happy New Year of Chemistry.

Some resources;

·         www.chemistry2011.org the homepage for the IYC

·         http://www.rsc.org/ConferencesAndEvents/conference/ database of events happening for the year of chemistry. For local events just choose your area in the ‘RSC Local and International Sections’ box

·         www.sciencecafe.co.uk information about upcoming Science Cafe evenings

·         https://communities.acs.org/message/6699 a video put out by the American Chemical Society considering a world without chemistry