Who Is This Guy
I had seen something about Stanford R. Ovshinsky on a PBS show about a hydrogen storage tank for vehicles. PBS also has an interesting interview with Stanford and his wife Iris. This article is about his invention to produce PV material “by the mile”.
“I said we are going to make it by the mile,” he said. “Nobody believed me, not even in my own company.”
The company’s mammoth machine extends the length of a football field. It runs much like a printing press, spooling out thin sheets of the PV material, …
He’s an interesting character and the article is worth the read. Stempel must be impresed, he’s now the chairman and CEO of Energy Conversion Devices Inc.
“His thinking is different than most of us,” said Robert Stempel, who was chairman of General Motors Corp. when he first became intrigued with Ovshinsky’s approach.
Education, he don’t need no stinking education. Determination seems to drive this guy.
Ovshinsky, a thin, nattily dressed inventor who never progressed beyond high school, is a big reason why the U.S. remains in this high-tech race. He has a six-month backlog of PV orders, …
Part of that six month backlog is a recent $15M order from BIOHAUS, a well-known PV distributor and system integrator located in Paderborn, Germany. This article has info about BIOHAUS and United Solar Ovonic (the subsidiary of Energy Conversion Devices Inc. that makes the PV).
United Solar Ovonic currently has 28MW of annual production capacity at its Auburn Hills 1 location. The company’s new 30MW Auburn Hills 2 facility, which is a duplicate of its Auburn Hills 1 facility, began commercial production in December 2006. United Solar Ovonic’s expansion plan increases its manufacturing capacity to 118MW, 178MW and over 300MW per annum by the end of calendar years 2007, 2008 and 2010, respectively.
If you want to know more about PV (and thin film PV specifically) this blog is a good read (and from where I got the picture above), lots of good links to learn more.
Whereas, in 2005, thin film PV accounted for only 6% of total PV production, more recently there has been greater use of solar laminates.
Now, what was that about Stanford R. Ovshinsky and hydrogen storage? Man, that’s a whole ‘nuther story.
- Posted in : Domestic, Environment, Pictures, Renewable Energy
- Author :Rt
Comments»
He is also in the “who killed the electric car?” movie, talking about how his battery invention was bought and then buried by big car and oil companies. Very interesting guy and in the movie he and his wife are super cute.
I saw him referred to as a “modern Edison” but I lost the link.
Interestingly, since you mention stealing the battery, the hydrogen storage idea is being developed in a joint venture with Texaco. I hope it doesn’t befall the same fate.
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