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Renewable Energy Stocks Close-Up; The Carbon Footprint of Solar Stocks
"PV Technologies Generate Far Less Life-Cycle Air Emissions Than Conventional Fossil-Fuel-Based Electricity Generation Technologies"
| Source: Investorideas.com; RenewableEnergyStocks.com; XsunX
POINT ROBERTS, WA and DELTA, BC--(Marketwire - June 12, 2008) - www.RenewableEnergyStocks.com, a leading investor news and research portal
for the renewable energy sector within Investorideas.com, presents a sector
close-up on solar stocks and their environmental impact.
With the controversy faced over Ethanol stocks, investors can gain insight
into their green portfolio of solar stocks.
RenewableEnergyStocks.com reports on environmental concerns associated with
solar technology and how the industry is responding, featuring XsunX, Inc.
(OTCBB : XSNX ) and First Solar.
The US Department of Energy reports, "Modern solar electric
power-generation systems such as photovoltaics (or PV) are some of the most
elegant and environmentally benign energy systems ever invented."
Quoting a report published in January 2008, 'Emissions from Photovoltaic
Life Cycles,' "Photovoltaic (PV) technologies have shown remarkable
progress recently in terms of annual production capacity and life-cycle
environmental performances, which necessitate timely updates of
environmental indicators." The report further states, "Overall, all PV
technologies generate far less life-cycle air emissions per GWh than
conventional fossil-fuel-based electricity generation technologies. At
least 89% of air emissions associated with electricity generation could be
prevented if electricity from photovoltaics displaces electricity from the
grid."
Source:
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/esthag/2008/42/i06/abs/es071763q.html
Keeping tabs on life-cycle emissions of carbon, chemicals and heavy metals
used in products is nothing new, but the trend now appears to be
accelerating which may force some "Green" technologies such as solar PV to
revisit their environmental impact and overall carbon and environmental
footprint.
Tom Djokovich, CEO, of XsunX, Inc. (OTCBB : XSNX ), a solar technology company
engaged in the build-out of its multi-megawatt amorphous silicon thin film
photovoltaic (TFPV) solar module manufacturing facilities, reports,
"There's a growing interest within the sustainable energy industry in
developing green credentials across the entire footprint of your brand.
Here at XsunX we're working to balance our industrial manufacturing needs
and product designs to minimize our impact on the environment we're working
to improve."
He continued, "With XsunX, about half of the power our new 25 mega watt
solar module manufacturing plant will use comes from renewable energy in
the Pacific Northwest, we are recycling an existing building and numerous
pieces of support equipment so as not to waste resources and the design of
our thin film amorphous solar module does not transfer any toxic materials
into the product or environment unlike the heavy metal concerns addressing
some of the other module manufacturers in the industry."
As evidence of the growth in accessing long term environmental impact
between various solar technologies the January 2008, 'Emissions from
Photovoltaic Life Cycles,' report presents a comparative analysis
between four PV technologies, "Based on PV production data of 2004-2006,
this study presents the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, criteria
pollutant emissions, and heavy metal emissions from four types of major
commercial PV systems: multicrystalline silicon, monocrystalline silicon,
ribbon silicon, and thin-film cadmium telluride. Life-cycle emissions were
determined by employing average electricity mixtures in Europe and the
United States during the materials and module production for each PV
system. Among the current vintage of PV technologies, thin-film cadmium
telluride (CdTe) PV emits the least amount of harmful air emissions as it
requires the least amount of energy during the module production. However,
the differences in the emissions between different PV technologies are very
small in comparison to the emissions from conventional energy technologies
that PV could displace."
Companies that make cadmium-telluride solar cells include Q-Cells and First
Solar. According to First Solar's website, "First Solar's advanced CdTe
technology is instrumental in accomplishing our environmental mission. CdTe
is uniquely capable of producing low cost solar modules, making widespread,
cost-effective solar electricity a reality. Its physical properties are
optimal for converting sunlight into electricity, resulting in highly
efficient photovoltaics with thin (< 3 micron) semiconductor layers. CdTe
is a robust material with the demonstrated capacity for high volume, low
cost production."
Policies related to the introduction of heavy metals and other hazardous
chemicals into the environment differ from region to region with the
European Union adopting some of the most stringent guidelines. The
Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) effective in July
2006, in the European Union has attracted concern about its impact on some
of the companies in the sector. The restriction mandates a maximum content
of 0.1wt % lead (Pb) and 0.01 wt % cadmium (Cd) is allowed in homogeneous
materials. The restrictions currently exempt the solar industry but there
is a push for the reduction or substitution of the heavy-metal content in
the Photovoltaic market in the EU to maintain its green image.
Investors following solar stocks can research the sector using the
Renewableenergystocks.com stock directory and also read recent and past
columns by on-site solar expert, J. Peter Lynch.
Featured Solar Showcase Company:
Solar Company XsunX, (OTCBB : XSNX ) is developing amorphous silicon thin
film photovoltaic (TFPV) solar cell manufacturing processes to produce TFPV
solar modules. Visit Media showcase:
http://www.investorideas.com/co/xsnx/default.asp or http://www.xsunx.com
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