Third quarter 2006
State Secretary Van Geel first user hydrogen filling station
On Friday 27th October State Secretary Van Geel of the Ministry of the Environment set the ECN Hydrogen Filling Station into use. This unique filling station will be used for the HydroGEM, the first hydrogen-powered fuel cell car built in the Netherlands. [more...]
Passive building: progressive insight into energy-saving building
The future lies in passive building. Passive building means maximum comfort with minimal energy consumption. Passive building is a method of building that can reduce energy consumption even further than it is today. A passive house can be heated using a maximum of 15 kWh per square meter of floor area per year. This represents a saving of at least fifty percent. [more...]
Unique PECVD machine delivered to ECN
The Roll-to-Roll PECVD machine developed by ECN, in collaboration with its German partner Roth & Rau, was delivered last spring. This pilot machine is being used to develop thin-film silicon solar cells and modules. Six metres long, it will eventually be able to provide continuous deposition of thin-film n-i-p silicon layers on hundreds of metres of steel foil, which can then be made into solar cell modules. [more...]
Highly localised and extreme climate changes
For some time now ECN has had two climate chambers, a small chamber and a large one. The purchase of a third, new thermal shock chamber makes it possible to carry out extreme climate tests for third parties as well. Bringing an object from -65°C to +200°C in a very short time, now lies within the broad spectrum of research at ECN. [more...]
Solar Cell Day 2006 very inspiring
In the Netherlands, there is hardly any market for photovoltaic solar energy due to the lack of governmental financial incentives, yet in recent years various factories have established production lines for solar cells and modules. The presence of a well-organized PV research infrastructure in the Netherlands is essential to this. [more...]
First Roadmap for PV-Thermal systems
The first broad-based European roadmap for PVT provides a unique overview of the current state of technology and commercially available products. The Roadmap also identifies a number of interesting markets for PVT: the residential market – both new construction and renovation – is the most important market, but hospitals, public swimming pools and air heating for offices are important markets as well. [more...]
Scientific publications
The research results at the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands are published as reports or as articles in scientific journals like Nature and Science. Presentations, given at international conferences and symposia, are freely available and downloadable from our website. [more...]
