Taiwan’s ITRI Introduces Award-Winning Green Tech, Including Low-Cost, High-Efficiency Concentrating Solar PV Film/Panel
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Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) is on a bit of a roll when it comes to winning awards for new, innovative green technology that reduces carbon emissions and energy consumption. ITRI in recent years has focused its efforts on developing new “green” technologies.
The Hsinchu-based non-profit applied technology research organization on Oct. 16 introduced its three latest award-winning innovations: Light&Light, the first A19 all-plastic LED light bulb; a low-cost, easy-to-use voltage and current meter called AVA-Clamp; and SideLighter, billed as “the first low-cost, high-performance, transparent concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar panel” that can be used both as a structural panel or window and to generate clean, renewable electricity.
As the institute states, “The greenhouse effect continues to be a serious issue. The only way to curb this trend is to actively reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions…. ITRI is commited to developing technologies that are environmentally sustainable across all phases of development—innovation, design, function and manufacturing processes.”
R&D 100 Award-Winning PV Film/Panel, LED Lighting, and Household Energy Monitoring
All three of ITRI’s latest green technology innovations have been chosen to receive 2012 R&D 100 Awards from R&D Magazine.
A ‘light-guiding solar concentrator film/panel,’ ITRI’s SideLighter can be incorporated into windows and building and roofing materials, as well as solar power systems. “A light-guiding solar concentrator panel/film can be integrated with a small number of solar cells to develop a rooftop solar system with building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems that can save the cost of silicon cells substantially and is also transparent,” ITRI explains in a press release.
Sidelighter’s solar PV cells cost 93% less to produce than current PV cells, which contributes to a 46% reduction in building CPV solar panels, according to ITRI. The institute is already working with Infinite Solar Optics Enterprise and Chi Lin Technology to mass produce SideLighter for some applications. ITRI has posted a video showing and describing SideLighter’s applications and performance on YouTube.
Similarly, at less than 100 grams, the Light&Light A19 all-plastic LED light bulb is small and highly efficient. According to ITRI, it uses less than 10 watts to produce the same amount of light as a 60-watt incandescent light bulb, with an illumination angle of 300 degrees at a price that’s 10-20% that of competing LED light bulbs. That can save 85% on light bulb power consumption.
Finally, as the name indicates, the AVA-Clamp is a clamp-on voltage and current meter that can be easily attached to typical household or commercial appliances, such as a microwave or TV, or an industrial machine to measure and display the electric current being used. Employing the micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) metering technology to monitor and manage their electricity consumption, users can save up to 10% on energy bills, ITRI says.
Photo Credit: ITRI, Hsinchu, Taiwan
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