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Kyocera’s 315-watt, 80-cell solar module launches in the US

Kyocera Solar Inc. has announced the launch of its highest-output solar module, the 80-cell KD 315. The new module is ideal for large-scale installations like solar-covered parking, and is now available for US customers. Designed for high output, safety and ease of installation, the UL-certified KD 315 modules feature a UV stabilized, aesthetically pleasing black anodized frame; easily accessible ground points; proven junction box technology with 12 AWG PV wire to work with transformerless inverters and quality locking plug-in connectors for quick connections.

Morgan Thermal Ceramics showcases insulation and fire protection materials at AHR Expo 2012

MTC announces that it will be showcasing its FireMaster FastDoor and FastWrap material for HVAC and grease ducts, along with its Superwool Plus material for boilers, water heaters and boiler flues, at the AHR Expo 2012. MTC will also be showcasing its FireMaster FastDoor and FastWrap XL material for HVAC and grease ducts. FireMaster FastWrap XL is a flexible blanket composed of high temperature fibers classified for applications to 2,192°F (1,200°C) and is supplied fully encapsulated in durable glass fiber reinforced foil facing for easy handling and installation. It is a component in various UL firestop designs for fire resistance rated floors, ceilings and walls.

PPG glass helps health office earn first LEED Platinum certification in Tennessee

The Upper Cumberland Regional Health Facility in Cookeville has become the first building in Tennessee to earn LEED-NC (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-New Construction) certification at the platinum level, in part because of its use of Solarban 70XL and Solarban 60 solar control, low-emissivity (low-e) glasses by PPG Industries. Brian Templeton, a principal with Upland Design Group, the architect of record for the facility, said Solarban 70XL glass was specified for the structure’s large, translucent, daylighting panels, while Solarban 60 was selected as the vision glass for the entryway, work spaces and other surface-level applications.

The week in solar stocks: Impossible Germany

In the past week, “Germany to Kill Solar!” headlines hit the wires. This was, notably, one week after the “Germany Saves Solar!” headlines led solar stocks higher. To recap: German demand in the fourth quarter of 2011 wildly surpassed expectations, with a demand frenzy ahead of 2012 annual subsidy cuts and cheaper-than-ever solar panel prices leading to what would be a few years’ worth of installations for much of the world in a few months in Germany. That in turn led to bullish calls from Wall Street that the left-for-dead solar sector was back, and in Wall Street parlance, the shares oversold. And that’s not all.

Mantec Group Limited consolidates three specialist technical ceramics companies into one business

In January 2012, the businesses of Ceramic Gas Products Ltd. and Taylor Tunnicliff Ltd. were consolidated into Fairey Filtration Systems Ltd. Fairey Filtration Systems Ltd. was subsequently renamed Mantec Technical Ceramics Ltd. The three specialist technical ceramics companies have for many years had shared the same facilities and management. The strategic changes will help to maintain competitiveness and create a stronger business to help secure a profitable future.

Transforming old into new: The relaunch of the Fritsch homepage

During the times of the Web 2.0 era, today is yesterday and a constant optimization of an internet presence is a must. Besides “visible” constant updates and optimizations, Fritsch has worked simultaneously on the relaunch of our homepage. Now it is comprehensively designed and revised, and this in multiple regards: The tried and proven was upgraded and new features implemented. User friendliness was a must, so now there is a noticeably improved navigation on the entry page that assists visitors and new customers to quickly obtain the desired information or to specifically contact us. New and interesting topic areas with important information for Fritsch customers were also created, such as information centered on the topic of particle sizing and mechanochemistry.

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Spanish ceramic tile manufacturers are, once again, the largest presence at the trade fair

February 7-10 are the dates for the 30th edition of the International Ceramic Tile and Bathroom Equipment Fair, CEVISAMA at the Feria Valencia centre. The fair is already an international point of reference for the industry involved in coverings for interiors. Spain’s ceramic tile sector is once again the largest presence at the event, with a large number of ASCER member companies showcasing their products and latest developments.

North American tile industry establishes product sustainability certification program

The Tile Council of North America is pleased to announce the establishment of “Green Squared,” the world’s first consensus-based sustainability standard and certification program developed exclusively for tiles and tile installation materials. ”With the recent approval of ANSI A138.1, the standard upon which the Green Squared certification program is based, our industry now has a means by which to define and certify the environmental and social sustainability attributes of tiles and related installation materials,” remarked Bill Griese, TCNA standards development and Green Initiative manager.

Streaming continuous data at up to 96 MSamples per second

More and more applications require high sampling rates, but due to computer processing and bus limitations, in the past, special AD cards with large on board memories had to be used. And, with these ‘scope-like’ cards, only triggered blocks of data could be captured, so if the trigger was not set correctly the event could be lost forever. All Dewetron instruments are able to acquire 5GB per minute continuously, and dedicated Dewetron transient systems can capture up to 11GB per minute, where only the hard disk drive size is the limitation of your recording length.

Kyocera introduces new Megacoat cermet cutting tools in grade PV7025 for general machining of steel

Kyocera Industrial Ceramics Corporation’s Cutting Tool Division has introduced its new PV7025 PVD-coated cermet grade of indexable cutting tool inserts for general machining of steel. Featuring Kyocera’s new proprietary Megacoat PVD* coating technology, PV7025 offers extraordinary wear resistance and heat resistance, providing superior durability in high-speed machining. When combined with a super micrograin cermet substrate, the result is an exceptional cutting tool material for steel machining.

ECN grants Ceramiques Techniques Industrielles license on HybSi membrane technology

Ceramiques Techniques Industrielles, as one of the market leaders in inorganic membranes, has obtained a license for the commercialization of the HybSi membrane technology from ECN. The HybSi nanosieve allows the purification of various industrial solvents at a reduced cost and at an enhanced efficiency. It further combines an outstanding performance with unprecedented long term stability. Important fields of application can be found in the production of bio-fuels and in the separation of azeotropic mixtures. The HybSi membrane technology was originally developed by ECN, in collaboration with the Universities of Twente and Amsterdam.

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Here’s what we’re hearing (some info from news releases):

Kyocera Supplies 2MW of modules for solar power plant in France

Kyocera announced that is has supplied 8 solar modules for a new 2 megawatt solar power plant which sits over four acres of unused farmland in northwestern France. The plant was officially inaugurated on October 21 in Distré, in the French department of Maine-et-Loire. The large-scale installation is a flagship project in terms of sustainability, and the Kyocera solar modules produce an average total power output of 2,200,000-kW/hours per year—equal to the average annual energy consumption of 900 local households. The clean energy power plant will offset roughly 700 tons of CO₂ per year.

American Aerogel says New York’s high taxes are forcing relocation consideration

Earlier this year, Jay McHarg, president of the Rochester-based company American Aerogel, received a letter from the Department of Environmental Conservation that made his head spin. The agency was asking McHarg to pay thousands of dollars in fees on hazardous wastewater disposal, a by-product of his company’s production of custom-made packing material. But the fees were not from this year, or even the year before—but from three years ago.

Funding opportunity: SunShot concentrating solar power R&D

DOE has issued a Funding Opportunity Exchange solicitation for proposals to support applied research into technologies that have the potential to dramatically increase efficiency, lower costs, and deliver more reliable performance than existing commercial and near-commercial concentrating solar power systems. This FOE seeks to develop innovative concepts that could lead to performance breakthroughs like improving efficiency and temperature ranges, and demonstrate new approaches in the design of collectors, receivers, and power cycle equipment used in CSP systems.

Corning unveils Corning Lotus Glass for high-performance displays

Corning Inc. announced the commercial launch of Corning Lotus Glass, an environmentally friendly, high-performance display glass developed to enable cutting-edge technologies, including organic light-emitting diode displays and next generation liquid crystal displays. Corning Lotus Glass helps support the demanding manufacturing processes of both OLED and liquid crystal displays for high performance, portable devices such as smart phones, tablets, and notebook computers. Corning Lotus Glass is formulated to perform exceptionally well in low-temperature poly-silicon and oxide thin-film transistor backplane manufacturing environments.

Hydro-Québec and Technifin form partnership to license lithium titanate spinel oxide

Hydro-Québec (Canada) and Technifin (South Africa) have entered into an intellectual property collaboration agreement relating to the licensing of their respective intellectual property in lithium titanate spinel oxide technologies, notably for Li-ion battery applications. The Hydro-Québec/Technifin LTO patents comprise two groups of patent rights affording extensive worldwide protection for LTO technology. The first group, the Technifin patents, cover the basic use in Li-ion cells of the LTO anodes invented in 1994 by Michael Thackeray while at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa. The second group covers the potential of LTO that was recognized in 1995 by Karim Zaghib at Hydro-Québec’s research institute, IREQ.

Morgan Thermal Ceramics’ Superwool Plus insulating fiber offers up to 20% lower thermal conductivity

Morgan Thermal Ceramics now offers Superwool Plus high temperature fiber insulation. Used for repairing and lining aluminum furnaces, it reduces the frequency of relining operations when compared to the industry standard, and improved insulation efficiency results in decreased operating costs. Also, all Superwool insulating fibers are non-wetting to molten aluminum. This reduces the concerns about metal adherence and penetration into the fibers, which is particularly useful in aluminum smelting and casting operations where molten metal is present.

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Rubicon Technology Malaysian polishing facility earns key endorsements, begins volume production of large-diameter sapphire wafers

The company’s new Malaysia facility recently completed qualification of its six-inch wafers by a key customer, and also successfully completed an ISO certification audit. Both of these milestones enable the Malaysia facility to move into volume production of six-inch polished wafers, which are in high demand as LED chip manufacturers continue to migrate to larger diameter substrates to realize greater efficiencies. The facility also is capable of processing and polishing eight-inch wafers that Rubicon provides to customers in R&D volumes.

Aspen Aerogels Inc. files registration statement for proposed initial public offering

Aspen Aerogels Inc., an energy efficiency company that designs, develops and manufactures innovative, high-performance aerogel insulation, announced today that it has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of its common stock. Goldman, Sachs Co. and Morgan Stanley Co. LLC will act as joint book-running managers for the offering. The number of shares to be sold in the proposed offering and the price range of the proposed offering have not yet been determined.

MyGen US-made solar energy kits by Kyocera offer expanded domestically produced content

Kyocera Solar Inc. announced that MyGen US-made kits — domestically produced, all-inclusive kits for residential and light commercial solar energy installations — are available now. The MyGen solar energy kits are ideal for new entrants into the solar market and professionals in the electrical contractor industry interested in expanding into solar energy installations.

Schott to supply EPAs for world’s first commercial modular high-temperature gas-cooled nuclear reactor

Schott North America announced it will be the first company to supply all the required Electrical Penetration Assemblies, sealed with glass and metal, for a prototype nuclear reactor being built in China. The reactor is scheduled to go into operation in China in about four years time. These are currently the only EPAs in the world to be used in such advanced nuclear reactors.

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Getting a sneak preview of the displays at the soon-to-be dedicated Inamori Kyocera Museum of Fine Ceramics are Kate Wilkins and Susan Kowalczyk. Credit: Alfred Univ.

Recently I’ve covered a few stories related to exhibitions on technical ceramics (e.g., here and here), but these have been about exhibits that are part of much larger ceramic and glass art museums. But, today’s story is about a museum fully dedicated to the science and engineering aspects of ceramics.

Alfred University representatives have announced that they will be holding an official dedication ceremony May 10 for the Inamori Kyocera Museum of Fine Ceramics, in Alfred, N.Y., that will serve as the main showcase for ceramic research and technologies.

Inamori

(First, some semantics housekeeping: Some international ceramists, especially the Japanese, use the term “Fine Ceramics” as interchangeable with “High Tech Ceramics.” Obviously, this gets confusing because many North American and Europeans also use the term “Fine China” to refer to a high quality of ceramic dinnerware. But, the “Fine Ceramics” reference in the museum’s title is made in deference to the namesake, Kazuo Inamori, founder and chairman emeritus of Kyocera Corp. — one of the world’s largest manufacturers of high-tech ceramics — and a long-time supporter of Alfred’s programs.)

The dedication ceremony will be at 12:30 p.m. on May 10, in Binns-Merrill Hall on the AU campus.  The event is open to the public, and Inamori, himself, will be on hand for the dedication.

In an AU news release, the university’s president, Charles M. Edmondson, says the school is very honored to have Inamori at the event. “Dr. Inamori has been a valued friend to the University and in particular to our School of Engineering, so we are delighted he will be here as we dedicate this museum in his honor,” notes Edmondson.

Edmonson goes on to say that the museum “will play an important role in educating young people about the vital role of ceramics in the future economy — in areas ranging from information technology to medical devices, diagnostic systems, industrial equipment, renewable energy and environmental preservation.”

On the morning of the dedication, AU is holding a special symposium, ”Ceramics: Past, Present and Future,” organized in Inamori’s honor. The symposium will start at 9 a.m. on May 10 in the Nevins Theater located in the Powell Campus Center, and is open to the public, free of charge. (If you are planning to attend, AU asks that you email Marlene Wightman, director of continuing education, at Wightman@alfred.edu or to call her at 607-871-2425.

Inamori is expected to speak as part of the symposium. He will be joined by ACerS President Marina Pascucci, a 1977 AU alumna and president of CeraNova in Marlborough, Mass.; Terry Michalske (’75), director of the Savannah River National Lab; and Gary Messing (’73), head of the materials science and engineering department at Pennsylvania State University. Also among the speakers is Linda Jones, associate vice president and head of the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, who is an ACerS Fellow and a member of its board of directors.

The museum will offer information on ceramic materials and applications, including historical developments, technical breakthroughs and examples of how ceramics have become ubiquitous as enabling technology in everything from electronics to more specialized applications like fuel cells, solar panels and biomedical implants.

AU is also opening the Discovery Lab next to the Inamori Museum. School officials say the lab will be AU’s center for outreach activities involving students (and their teachers) from kindergarten through 12th grade. University faculty members are developing educational programming, including demonstrations and hand-on activities.

Doreen Edwards, dean of the school of engineering, says she anticipates visitors will include specialists and scientists. “People who are involved in the manufacture of ceramics and related technologies will find this of interest, but there is also plenty to draw the general public,” she says.

The artistic side of ceramics is not totally left out of the picture. The university notes that its Schein-Joseph Museum of Ceramics has an extensive collection of ceramic art and is located adjacent to the new museum in Binns-Merrill Hall. “This is an absolute reflection of the College of Ceramics that joins both the School of Art & Design and the Inamori School of Engineering,” says AU’s Linda Jones. “From the inception of the College, it was recognized that creativity and technical understanding are essential to address the challenges of our time.”

AU recalls that Inamori’s relationship with Alfred University dates back to the 1980s. The school awarded him an honorary Doctor of Science degree in 1988, recognizing his leadership in the field of advanced ceramic materials.  He created Alfred University’s Inamori Scholarships, which assist deserving students studying art or engineering.

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