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Mar 24 2009 by Aled Blake, Western Mail

RESEARCHERS at Swansea University’s School of Engineering be obliged developed a low-cost solar enclosed space which they say could reduce energy costs.

Working with Pure Wafer International, the researchers have made a solar cell from reclaimed silicon, a by-product of the semiconductor assiduousness.

The cells can be incorporated into photovoltaic modules, which could be installed on the roofs of buildings or developed into a solar power electricity plant.

Photovoltaic technology, what one. converts sunlight into electricity, is developing rapidly and the collaboration with Swansea University is helping Pure Wafer’session venture into the expanding solar cell market.

Pure Wafer chief operating officer Keith Baker said: “Climate change and the limited provide of petrifaction and nuclear fuels demands urgent enacting to bring into existence renewable energy.

“This project is a shining illustration of to what extent the university and businesses can operate together to develop key technologies which will lead to high-skilled jobs, economic growth and a cleaner environment.”

The solar cell developed in Swansea is made from reclaimed silicon, a waste product from Pure Wafer’s core semiconductor wafer reclaim business. The silicon is usually shipped overseas to be reprocessed into lower-quality crystalline photovoltaic cells.

Several materials can be used to manufacture photovoltaic cells but crystalline silicon dominates the solar market with around 90% of cells being made from silicon.

The cells developed by Swansea and Pure Wafer have been incorporated into modules which are made up of around 90 connecting cells which be possible to generate a greater amount of electrical power than cells alone.

The technology could enable people to buy much lower cost and more efficient PV modules to fit to their houses.

Once the solar modules are fitted, they would provide free and clean electricity, so the value of the electricity generated would eventually outweigh the initial cost of the module.

Pure Wafer’s new technologies leader Simon Conway related: “The project consortium, which furthermore involves three other Welsh businesses aims to manufacture low-cost, high-efficiency PV modules in Wales by 2010.”

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Mar 24 2009 by Our Correspondent, Western Mail

AILING retailer JJB Sports could complete the sale of its fitness clubs today, according to reports.

A &comminute;70m sale to JJB founder and Wigan Athletic chairman Dave Whelan is likely to be completed before “Quarter Day” on Wednesday, when the company’s multi-million-pound rent exchange kisses and caresses is due.

This is despite fellow Premier League tycoon Mike Ashley’s reported attempts to poison the bestow by writing to JJB’s landlords and urging them not to do business with Mr Whelan.

The Newcastle United boss is understood to have asked the creditors to let him take over the leases in lieu, after he missed disclosed with a enjoin for the fitness clubs late last year.

Mr Ashley’s company Sports Direct International declined to comment yesterday.

Mr Whelan, who set up the Wigan-based retailer in the 1970s but sold his stake in 2007, is said to be planning to rebrand the gyms at the same time that DW Fitness.

Securing the sale of the 52 health clubs is vital to the future of JJB, that owes £60m to Barclays, HBOS and Kaupthing in a standstill arrangement that expires today.

JJB is believed to be taking into account entering into a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) with landlords, which would allow it to continue commercial while only paying posterior portion part of the rent.

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Mar 24 2009 by Aled Blake, Western Mail

MORE than 16,000 homes and dozens of businesses will be among the first in the UK to benefit from super-fast broadband existence installed by BT, it was announced yesterday.

The upgrade, in central parts of Cardiff and in Taffs Well, is part of a £1.6bn project deployed from in good season 2010 at 29 exchanges across the UK, bringing high speeds within make way to of 500,000 homes and businesses.

BT would not say what exact areas would be getting the broadband, but it is credible to cover the city centre, Canton, Roath and Cathays – rather than outlying areas such as Rumney or Ely.

The announcement is the next stage in the UK’s biggest ever investment programme in super- fast broadband.

BT has pledged to spend &levigate;1.5bn by 2012 to ensure that 40% of UK homes and businesses – some 10 million premises – can access fibre-based services.

Steve Robertson, chief executive of Openreach, the partition of BT responsible for the delivery of the plans, before-mentioned: “Super-fast broadband is essential to the UK’s coming and so it is great to announce this initial set of locations.

“The wider industry will after this be able to plan ahead as we will be making our services available on a wholesale basis. This approach will benefit customers as there will undoubtedly be fierce emulation on account of their business.

“We bear worked very closely with industry and with local and regional authorities to choose these sites and I would like to thank everyone who has worked with us to make this happen.

“We are in discussions with many other rulers so expect many similar announcements in the months to come.

“The regulatory paint is complex and, while Ofcom has given us a very welcome green light, we will require a small in number greater degree over the to come months. We remain confident though that Ofcom recognises the need for an environment that encourages investment.”

The so-called FTTC technology is substance piloted in advance of the wider roll-out, and gives customers enough speed to watch films, play games or toil with complex graphics at the same time.

Ieuan Wyn Jones, Deputy First Minister and Minister instead of the Economy and Transport, aforesaid: “It is important that the telecommunications infrastructure in Wales is versed to meet this challenge and this notice is a further proof of the important role that Wales wants to play at the forefront of the development of next- generation broadband services across the UK.”

The fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) technology will offer initial speeds of up to 40Mb/s with the prospect of those rising to up to 60Mb/s.

That behest accord. customers enough speed to let flow multiple bandwidth-hungry applications.

It step for example, some members of a family could be watching different high-definition movies while others were gaming or working on complex graphics or video projects.

As well as root able to download graphics and data much more quickly, users will behoof from improved upstream speeds of up to 10Mb/session – the highest in the UK.

Customers will be able to post videos, experience HD video conferencing and enjoy interactive HD gaming to the abounding.

Openreach will install fibre betwixt topical exchanges and the street cabinets that sit between those exchanges and the premises served by them.

The fibre will transform the speeds available even though the last link in the chain – from the street cabinet to the home or company – will remain copper.

Openreach is aware there are some premises that will not be able to be served by this technology and in like manner it is looking at alternative solutions for those.

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Mar 24 2009 by Aled Blake, Western Mail

INFLATION will enter some era of deflation with inflation figures released today likely to show a continuation of a downward trend in prices, economists are predicting.

The Office for National Statistics is due to release February’s inflation data this morning, and many analysts affirmation the UK now faces a year of deflation.

Projections suggest that the retail price index (RPI) will have fallen by 0.8% year-on-year – what one. marks the start of a period of deflation which could be crippling to the UK economy.

Rising unemployment, falling consumer ask, dropping domicile prices and weakening confidence are all impacting on the rate of inflation, economists saw.

The consumer price index (CPI) is, however, likely to stay above its 2% mark – grant that that is likely to come to destruction further from a level of around 2.5% in the coming months.

Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight, said: “The inflation data for February should show a continuation of the recent remarkable downward trend.”

Mr Archer declared that reflected the heightened pressure on retailers to price competitively, companies’ diminishing pricing power through the supply chain, sharply lower oil and commodity prices compared to 2008’sitting peak levels.

He is forecasting that CPI will go down to 2.5% from January’s 3% figure and last September’s crest of 5.2%.

Mr added: “Retail price inflation seems locate to see some pretty impetuous year-on-year falls from one side of to the other the coming months due to the mortgage effect.

“We expect annual consumer excellence inflation to fall in a backward direction. \ substantially further over the coming months and to briefly turn negative during the second half of the year.

“Furthermore, there is clearly a risk that deflation could persist with damaging repercussions for the thriftiness. However, we believe that this is improbable to happen.

“The rise back up in VAT due to happen nearest January will have an upward impact upon inflation while base effects will become less favourable in the latter months of this year. Sterling’s weakness should also limit the risk of sustained deflation occurring.”

Looking ahead, Mr Archer said that deflation would impact on profitability of companies.

Mr Archer said: “Meanwhile, sharply falling enlargement will provide a boost to the purchasing power of consumers, thereby providing some support to spending.

“However, we suspect that this base will be outweighed by means of the downward pressure increasingly coming from sharply rising unemployment and markedly lower bet growth.

“Indeed, sharply reduced conceitedness last will and testament reckon up to the downward pressure on wages already coming from soaring unemployment and companies’ deteriorating profitability.”

Capital Economics has also warned of a prolonged sink, with growing unemployment pushing down wage inflation and a “potentially huge amount of spare capacity in the economy” also providing downward pressure.

A risk of falling inflation expectations was too mooted, as the transparency of monetary policy was “muddied by dint of. the adoption of unconventional policy techniques”, like quantitative easing (QE).

Recent minutes from the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) showed rate-setters voted unanimously to create £75bn in new money and slash interest rates to 0.5% considered in the state of they try to abide the vain-gloriousness rate above target.

Under QE, the Bank is buying assets from banks and other institutions using newly-created coin. This is aimed at boosting the money supply in the light of banks’ continuing disinclination to lend.

“The upshot is that, after a brief commodity driven bout of deflation later this year, there is a clear risk of a broader and more prolonged period of falling prices further in advance which could ultimately prove extremely damaging for the wider economy,” Capital Economics said.

Philip Shaw, of Investec, said “The RPI looks set to clutch the headlines and we think this measure will continue in negative territory till 2010.”

Speaking at a seminar in Cardiff, Keith Steventon, head of study at Atisreal, argued that every period of inflation has been balanced by a period of deflation in the economy since industrialisation.

He said that it is only since 1945 that there has been a period of long-term self-importance and he described the current downward tend in prices as “dis-inflation”, rather than deflation – a process of correction in prices.

He said: “It is not at all unusual or unexpected that we should find ourselves having a period of dis-inflation.”

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Mar 23 2009 By WalesOnline

Media Wales’ new broadband television studio is up and running at its new headquarters at Six Park Street, Cardiff.

The facility offers customers the suitable to create on-line graphics-driven or video-driven advertising that complements their newsprint portfolio, or to film corporate video to either promote their business to customers or to give knowledge of facts or schooling to their staff.

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Filming with our commercial videographer can any one take place within the green-screen workshop – as demonstrated on the embedded video – or externally. This can then be enhanced end individually-designed virtual studios to create exciting professional sets.

Business Development Editor Simon Farrington said: “In the first few weeks of promoting the service, many Welsh businesses have taken the opportunity to look round the studio and already we are taking bookings for both corporate video and video adverts.

“With prices starting at smaller than £1,000 for the creation of video advertising, it is a cost-effective way of promoting your business in a multi-media age. Walesonline.co.uk has seen a 37 per cent growth in traffic over the past 12 months, now attracting almost one million unique users a month.

“Coupled with our print portfolio that includes the Western Mail, South Wales Echo, Wales on Sunday and nine valleys paid-for titles, video can play a key role in ensuring that our customers reach as broad an audience as in posse.”

For information about hiring the workshop, or creating video advertising or incorporated video, please call Simon Farrington on 029 2024 3671 or email simon.farrington@mediawales.co.uk

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