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CNN WORLD REPORT
Swiss Company Finds a Way to Make Solar Energy Cost-Efficient
Aired August 19, 2001 - 14:48 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ASIEH NAMDAR, CNN ANCHOR: While the sun is a great source of energy, it can be costly.
SHIHAB RATTANSI, CNN ANCHOR: But recently a small Swiss startup company announced it's on to something that may make the cost of solar energy very competitive. Mike McMahon looks to the skies above the small town of Le Locle, the center of Switzerland's watchmaking region.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE MCMAHON, SWISS TELEVISION REPORTER (voice-over): The tail of this airborne tadpole may be the thing our energy-hungry world needs. It's a thin-film solar cell, and Professor Herbert Keppner thinks it's great.
DR. HERBERT KEPPNER (through interpreter): I'm convinced that silicon technology can be useful. It has enormous potential compared to the old technology.
MCMAHON: Energy from classic solar cells is expensive. In Switzerland it costs four times as much as electricity from fossil fuels. But with thin-film technology, the price reduction in Switzerland could well compete with oil and gas. Fifteen years in development at the University of Neufchatel, this smart energy converter now is being industrialized and personalized. Its first application will be as a panel for a high-tech vest. Just one way to use a chemical element that's part of our every day world. VHF is a small startup that intends to take it out of the sand box. CEO is Diego Fischer.
DIEGO FISCHER, CEO, VHF (through interpreter): At this point we actually have very little money at our disposal, but thanks to the success which now has been recognized and confirmed, we have a good chance of raising several million this year. Now if that should happen, it would really get our enterprise moving in the right way.
MCMAHON: And that way is up. Thin-film silicon cells for solar power that's much cheaper. This is Mike McMahon of Swiss Television and Swiss Radio International for CNN WORLD REPORT.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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