----- Original Message ----- 
From: Lienesch, Gary W. (BP Solar) 
To: 'Cathy Colwell' 
Sent: Monday, February 19, 2001 8:35 AM
Subject: RE: Mainland High School Project (Round #5)


Hi Cathy.
-----Original Message-----
From: Cathy Colwell [mailto:colwell@mindspring.com]
Sent: Saturday, February 17, 2001 4:22 PM
To: Lienesch, Gary W. (BP Solar)
Subject: Re: Mainland High School Project (Round #5)
Importance: High


Ok, Gary - I found PowerView. It is the product we were conceiving! We wanted our windows to be translucent (transparent), to have thermal insultation and to produce electricity from PV cells so that the windows would no longer be an energy drain but an energy source. Is this product  commerically available yet?
[Gary Lienesch] It doesn't have a part number yet.  You can't order one today.  It's real close to being a commercial product.  I have working samples here. 

http://www.solarex.com/4th-Commercial-costvspower.html

I never found anything specific about Milennia - only PDF files with product numbers - we had no idea which one was the one to study. Does your PowerView product use Milennia solar cells? Are Milennia solar cells amorphous silicon films? where does cadmium telluride come in?
[Gary Lienesch] Our data sheets contain everything you need to design a system using the module. PowerView is a Millennia laminate with laser cut slots in the active material.  Millennia is amorphous silicon which is thin film.  Cadmium Telluride is also thin film.  It has no silicon.

http://www.solarex.com/3rd-Silicon.html

Regardless, I need your help now more than ever. For the contest, we need to be able to have a twist ... an angle that differs slightly from what your company has already proposed. 
[Gary Lienesch] How about a method to economically and simply tilt the panels to get more energy from the sun while attached to the building.  BIPV rarely uses a desirable tilt angle.  And a good tilt angle changes with the season and latitude. 

We wanted buildings to use these energy windows instead of normal windows. I understand about the south windows (for FL) being the best location, that only small amounts of light are required to generate a voltage, that on average FL receives 4.5-5 ESH (Equivalent Sun Hours), and that the tilt of the window towards the sun is critical. You only said yes to the question about minimum wavelengths and light intensity - no specifics.
[Gary Lienesch] As I recall, the questions were vague.  I didn't understand what you were asking.  Perhaps you could clarify. I'll do my best to answer them.  

Obviously, windows that are part of the frame of a building cannot be tilted. So the sun light will strike different sections of the building during different hours. Also during the course of the day (early morning and late evenings) the light frequencies that strike the building will differ (more towards the red and IR). Are your cells tolerant of temperature changes? Will they operate equally well in hot summer and cold winters? Is there a possibility that different composition or types of "powerView / energy windows" could be placed on different floors to maximize differing sunlight factors to offset not being able to "tilt" the windows?
[Gary Lienesch] Thin film does better when it is hot.  Crystalline does better when it is cold.   Designing and manufacturing a different composition module would incur significant additional expense to compete with and reduce sales of an existing product of ours.  It would be a foolish business move.  :-)

Gotta go -- just got an email from Cathy.

Help!
Cathy