Harnessing Wind Power

University of Utah engineers have devised a new way to slice thin wafers of the chemical element germanium for use in the most efficient type of solar power cells. They say the new method should lower the cost of such cells by reducing the waste and breakage of the brittle semiconductor.

The expensive solar cells now are used mainly on spacecraft, but with the improved wafer-slicing method, the idea is to make it possible to use germanium-based, high-efficiency solar cells where cost now is a factor, particularly for solar power on earth, according to Eberhard ‘Ebbe’ Bambarg, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering.

Brass-coated, steel-wire saws now are used to slice round wafers of germanium from cylindrical single-crystal ingots. But the brittle chemical element cracks easily, requiring broken piece to be recycled, and the width of the saws means a significant amount of germanium is lost during the cutting process.

The new method for slicing solar cell wafers, known as WEDM (wire electrical discharge machining), wastes less germanium and produces more wafers by cutting even thinner wafers with less waste and cracking. The method uses an extremely thin molybdenum wire, an electrical current running through it.

Germanium serves as the bottom layer of the most efficient existing types of solar cells, but is used primarily on NASA, military, and commercial satellites because of the high expense as raw germanium costs about $680 per pound. Anything that can be done to lower this cost ultimately will lower the cost of solar power per kilowatt-hour, which is beneficial,’ and will encourage wider use of solar power.

It is claimed that Bamberg’s method would reduce the amount to be recycled thereby increasing the yield. It has the potential to give good savings, which helps enable this technology here on earth. A patent is pending on a way of using the new method so that multiple, parallel electrically charged wires are used to cut germanium wafers – a mass-production method that Bamberg compares with an egg slicer.

Global software piracy study reveals that Indian software industry lost around $2 billion due to software piracy last year. In a scenario like this, Intellectual Property (IP) protection is one step to encourage indigenous innovation and local software product development. “Innovation can only be facilitated if inventors and developers know that their intellectual property will be protected and the eco-system provides adequate checks and balances for innovators,” said Lizum Mishra, India Director, Business Software Alliance (BSA), an international association representing the global software industry.

BSA and Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) jointly publish a study annually which statistically proves the correlation of a nation’s IT competitiveness to levels of software piracy, legal protection offered and patent development. Innovation naturally facilitates competitiveness.

The need is to create an environment at a national level that facilitates and protects the process of creative thinking. Areas of improvement include IT infrastructure, R&D and legal environment in the country which are relatively low for India as stated in the BSA-EIU IT competitiveness index.

According to experts, the government’s role would help add to economic development through establishment of a robust local software ecosystem for the domestic market, generate employment and significant tax revenue for the domestic economy. “Strong IP adherence increases inflow of international capital and technical knowhow for the nation.

It is also felt that Indian companies and leading bodies like Nasscom, FICCI, CII and the government need to work together to address the growing menace of software piracy. The enforcement system too needs to be more stringent and effective. Greater awareness needs to be generated and training imparted among law enforcement officials and the judiciary on what constitutes copyright infringement and overall intellectual property violation.

At a recent World Health Organization (WHO) meeting in Germany, the Indian government reportedly succeeded in convincing the international community that as the new definition for fake drugs proposed by WTO could pose a threat to sale and export of legitimate generic drugs, it should be modified. The WHO-funded International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT) had earlier proposed a new definition of counterfeit drugs as medical products with a “false representation about their identify, history or source.”

Generics are usually the cheaper versions of drugs on which patents have expired. In India’s case, the earlier patent process allowed domestic companies to launch generics of drugs manufactured by multinational pharmaceutical companies even when the patent was still in place. India moved to the product patent regime in 2005 and generics of drugs still under patent protection were banned.

It is reported that WHO had agreed to reframe the definition. The word history, would be dropped in the final draft of the IMPACT definition. India has also voiced its concern regarding the commercial issues taken up in the definition and told WHO that intellectual property right (IPR) issues and trademark violations should not be part of it as it could be used as a market barrier by some countries.

WHO meeting held in Bonn, Germany, was attended by 24 countries, including the USA, the UK, Canada, Brazil and WHO representatives. According to Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), counterfeit drug will be redefined without use of the world ‘history’ and with clarity on the other words. The draft of the reframed definition will be presented in WHO’s next meeting in Tunisia. A final decision on the definition of counter offer was expected by May 2009 at a world health assembly meeting.

BASF Venture Capital GmbH has invested in the US startup company NanoMas Technologies Inc. NanoMas develops inks containing silver nanoparticles that are easily processed to electrical circuits in printed electronics, solar cells and special adhesives.

NanoMas raised US$3.2mn (about euro 2.35mn), with BASF Venture Capital contributing US$1.5 mn, (about euro 1.1 mn). Other investors include Earthrise Capital Partners, LLC and Nano Materials Investors, LLC. NanoMas will use the funds to expand its nanoparticle production capacity, invest further in research and development, and to support the marketing of its silver inks.

The US startup’s silver nanoparticles are suitable for use in transistors, conductors and semiconductors. Silver is highly conductive and functions better than other metals under oxidative conditions. The NanoMas chemical process enables the silver nanoparticles to be processed at low temperatures, thereby increasing efficiency and lowering cost. The process is also ideal for printing electronics on temperature-sensitive materials such as paper and plastics. Printed electronics is the basis for developing enhanced performance of printed labels which can be used for low cost labeling of consumer goods. The technology will enable RFID labels in the long term to replace the barcodes used by retailers today.

This investment strengthens company’s development work in nanotechnology. Besides, the NanoMas technology complements BASF’s activities in printed electronics.

Scientists working on Human Genome Project said that though they were working on development of medicines which would be more decisive and less toxic in treating disorders and various diseases, sound health financing from various governments was needed to take the benefits to the common man.

Greatest challenge faced is health financing in translating the huge amount of information and database findings of research into a product, mainly drug and diagnostic tools. Though it is well known that products are going to be effective and safer than the existing drugs and can be made available at offordable prices, yet important requirement is sound health financing in the world that would take care of all these steps. The human genome sequencing, detailed studies, interpretation and analysis of data is a multimillion dollar effort and is done mostly through multi-country collaboration.

India has launched its ambitious project on Open Source Drug Discovery (OSDD) but it is important to sustain it through a continuous health financing with appropriate science managers. The recent anti-malarial drug developed by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, which was given free to a pharmaceutical company on the condition that it was made available to people at a reasonable cost, was a unique approach in the pharmaceutical research history. Important thing is the will of the governments for health financing. Scientists hope to bring down the cost of human genome sequencing considerably over a period, especially for the poor in Asia.

Many researchers feel, it was important that individuals should be routinely sequenced either prenatal or neo-natal, to get a long term picture of their susceptibility to genetic and other diseases. Speaking at a seminar “Genomics, 20 years from now’, renowned scientist Charles Cantor, Founder, Chief Scientific Officer of Sequenom Inc, US, said that genetically engineered humans would be a reality of the future. He was confident that in 2028, DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) sequence information will play an important role in the management of individual healthcare.