CCTEC eNews: January 2008

"Clean" solar energy cells could lower utility bills

RoseStreet Labs harnesses the strong sun
in Arizona to create electrical energy.

ARIZONA - Rose Street Labs Energy (RSL Energy), a Cornell startup based in Phoenix, Arizona, plans to release a product line of solar cells in the early part of 2008. Solar, or photovoltaic cells, are semiconductor devices that convert light (usually sunlight) into electricity. RSL Energy’s product is based on a licensed technology that was created jointly by Dr. Bill Schaff at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of Cornell University And researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a Department of Energy laboratory. RSL Energy is a joint venture between Rose Street Labs and Sumika Electronic Materials, the US subsidiary of Sumitomo of Japan.

The Arizona desert is the ideal place for solar energy research and product development. RSL Energy’s goal is to improve upon existing solar technology to commercialize a new generation of photovoltaic cells. Currently, solar cell technologies are about 25% efficient at converting light into power. RSL Energy believes that their photovoltaic cells could be as efficient as 48%. Development took place during 2007, with the first test prototypes due in 2008 for flat panel, space and architectural applications. "If it works as designed, the cost should be on the same order of magnitude as traffic lights," said Wladek Walukiewicz, Chief Technical Officer of RSL Energy. "Or maybe less""

A house with solar flat-plate
collectors. [Photograph]. Retrieved from
Encyclopedia Britannica

RSL Energy’s goal is to generate clean renewable energy that will replace current polluting energy sources used by utility companies. Bob Forcier, president and CEO of RSL Energy said, "We believe RSL Energy can provide a unique product solution for a broad range of renewable energy applications at a cost of ownership close to prevailing utility rates. Our technology has the potential to be applied on a variety of surfaces, enable applications in the architectural, wireless, automotive, and rooftop/shingle industries.”

Potential new source for stem cells

Stem cells

NEW YORK - Stem cells from testicles, or other organs, might someday be developed into working blood vessel cells and tissue, as well as cardiac cells and brain cells. By isolating spermatogonial precursor cells from a sample of an adult mouse's testicle, researchers demonstrated that these cells could be reprogrammed into multipotent stem cells that can regenerate a wide variety of tissues, sidestepping the need for embryonic stem cells for medical applications. The research team was led by Dr. Shahin Rafii of the Ansary Stem Cell Center for Regenerative Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. Rafii said "our achievement using these testes-derived cells has taken us over a decade of painstaking investigation to achieve. It points to the potential of this remarkable, but -- until no -- poorly accessed and understood stem cell."

Testicular stem cells have been difficult to identify. The research breakthrough was enabled by Rafii and team discovering that testicular steam cells expose a distinctive protein called GPR125 on their surface. A method to isolate these and other such tissue-specific stem cells by targeting this protein is available for licensing at the Cornell Center for Technology Enterprise and Commercialization. In the meantime, Dr. Rafii and team will be exploring the regenerative capabilities of cells with GPR125 isolated from human tissue samples.