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(update 11/7/09)
Legal Disclaimer
        All comments and opinions in this essay are to be understood in the context of, and as a response to, claims by several entities that they invented, tested, have for sale, or are otherwise in possession of solar panel(s) whose power out claims vs their size imply that they are operating with an efficiency greater than 100%. Commercial solar panels at the present time have efficiency in the 8% to 23% range. Much work is being done to improve solar panel efficiency, but is there a theoretical upper limit?  Well even without knowledge of solar panel design it's possible to state one upper limit with confidence --- No solar panel has, or will ever have, an efficiency greater than 100%.

        The 100% upper limit on efficiency is firmly grounded in physics, but it is also easily explained on a common sense basis. The technical reason that efficiency cannot exceed 100% rests on a bedrock principle of physics called Conservation of Energy. Almost all real power devices operate with an efficiency less than 100%, meaning the output power is less than the input power because some of the input power is lost, usually as heat. At 100% efficiency we have a perfect device with losses reduced to zero, meaning the output power equals the input power. At efficiency greater than 100% we have an imaginary device where output power exceeds input power. This sounds unreasonable, and it is! Conservation of Energy forbids power from being 'manufactured', so there is no source for the 'extra' power in the output.

        In the case of solar panels the input power comes only from the sunlight hitting the panel. To calculate the power in sunlight requires knowing two things: solar spectrum from infrared to ultraviolet, i.e. the brightness of the sun at each color, and knowledge of how the power carried by light varies with color. The power of light and how it varies with color was figured out by Einstein and others top scientists more than 100 years ago. The power in sunlight and the nature of the solar spectrum are extremely well known because the sun has been monitored by satellites for years. Satellites looking directly at the sun above the earth's atmosphere measure the average power in sunlight as 1,370 w/m^2 (watts per square meter). When losses in the atmosphere are accounted for, the power in bright sunlight on the earth's surface is about 1,000 w/m^2.

        1,000 w/m^2 is a value well known in the solar photovoltaic industry. It appears on every solar panel data sheet and is the standard light intensity at which solar panels are tested and rated. In fact the patent application of Darry Boyd, CEO of DBK Solar, Photovoltaic Cell A Solar Amplification Device, filed Mar 2, 2006, demonstrates he too knows that 1,000 w/m^2. His patent application says, "The sunlight wavelength spectrum can produce up to 1,000 watts of energy per square meter when striking the earth's surface." (paragraph 0003, emphasis added)

        For a 5 ft x 3 ft solar panel with a collection area of 1.4 m^2 the power coming in from bright sunlight at the earth's surface, assuming mirrors or lens are not used to concentrate the light, is thus  [1.4 m^2 x 1,000 w/m^2] = 1,400 watts. Any claim of more than 1,400 watts out of a 5 x 3 ft solar panel is thus equivalent to claiming that more power comes out than comes in! It is a claim the efficiency of the solar panel is greater than 100%. This simply cannot be true according to the law of the conservation of energy. (For reference, a typical commercial 5 x 3 ft solar panel puts out about 200 watts, meaning its efficiency is about 14%.)

        The use the work 'Scam' in the title of this essay, and other comments and opinions in this vein, are thus, I believe, fully justified when applied to businesses or individuals that represent themselves to be in the solar business and who claim to have invented, tested, have for sale, or are otherwise in possession of 5 x 3 ft solar panel(s) that can output more than 1,400 watts (as DBK Solar and other entities have repeatedly done). This is achievable only by solar panel(s) with efficiencies greater than 100%, which is impossible. Further justification for rejection of such patently false power claims is that invariably there is no mention that for a 5 x 3 ft solar panel to output more than 1,400 watts it must be operating with an efficiency greater than 100%, nor is any explanation ever offered as to how the laws of physics have been circumvented to achieve this!

        My only purpose in writing this essay for my home page has been to document and expose how non-existent 5 x 3 ft solar panels with claimed power outputs of 1,400 watts and higher (equivalent to claiming efficiency greater than 100%) are fraudulently marketed to potential customers, dealers and investors.
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(update 11/5/09)

How to build a perpetual power source using a 3,000 watt (1.4 m^2) solar panel
       Below a simple proof as to why a 5 x 3 ft solar panel with 3,000 watts output (claimed by DBK Solar and other entities) cannot exist. If  a 3,000 watt 5 x 3 ft solar panel did exist it could in principle be converted into a perpetual power source.  The key is to recognize that any device claiming to output more power than it needs in input power to run can in principle power itself. A fraction of the output power can be fed back to the input with the remaining fraction available to do useful work. Here are the steps in detail to make a perpetual power source from a 3,000 watt 5x3 ft solar panel.

Need a 50% efficient lights with a solar spectrum. (50% efficient lights don't now exist, but there are no
theoretical reasons why they can't be built someday.)

1) Put panel in sun. It puts out 3,000 watts
2) Take 2,800 watts and feed into 50% efficient lights, which put out 1,400 watts in photon energy
            (Solar equivalent, same optical power as sunlight falling on 1.4 square meter)
3) 200 watts are available to do useful work
4) Substitute lights for sun

Once it starts sunlight is no longer needed, the solar panel is self powered and will run forever!
Presto/chango a perpetual power source. Power comes out of nowhere, the world's power problems are solved!!
Hang a motor on it you have a perpetual motion machine too!

        Here is the true story of how I stumbled onto a million dollar solar scam/fraud, and how I pried open a look at the underlying crackpot physics when I discovered a recently published patent application by the DBK president.

        Over the two years I have followed this scam the fraudulent 3,000 watt solar panel has mutated from an internet scam (DBK Solar => Lassen Energy), both run by the same man, into the public domain in the form of SEC registered penny stocks (Natco International => P2Solar, OTC symbol 'ptos'). This is a fraud that the law somehow does not seem to be able to shut down.

Beginning
        I stumbled upon DBK Solar, a manufacturer of solar panels for homes, quite by accident. A local solar installer had a booth at a local fair in the fall of 2007. In their booth they had a large solar panel (5 ft x 3 ft, approx) that was marked 3,000 watts. At the time I basically knew nothing about solar panels, but as a power engineer I knew 3,000 watts was quite a bit of power, so being curious I dropped in and asked, "How many amps and volts?"  The man in the booth said he didn't know, saying the technical guy had just stepped out, so I picked up a sheet on the 3,000 watt panel and left. Unfortunately I did not really look at the panel.

What, 3,000 watts?
        It didn't take too long to realize that DBK's 3,000 watt panel was barely believable. Technology almost always evolves incrementally. If a new panel to the market can put out 10%-15% more power than competing products, then it's a significant technical advance and should be a strong product. DBK was claiming their panel puts out x18 (1,800% !) more power than competing panels the same size. Maybe a misprint, did they mean 300 watts? Nope, they state flat out you can replace 18 competing panels with one of theirs. DBK's web site on first glance looked real and (sort of) impressive. I was puzzled. This was either a world class breakthrough or a major scam.

Beyond the laws of physics
        The clincher that this was a scam soon came from physics. Having previously studied up on global warming, I knew that the total power of sunlight at the earth in space (above the atmosphere) is 1,370 w/m^2. When losses in the atmosphere are accounted for, the max solar power at the earth's surface (sun overhead, no clouds) is roughly 1,000 w/m^2. A little math showed the collecting area of the DBK's 3,000 watt panel is about 1.3 m^2 = (1.74 yd  x 0.90 yd x 0.836 m^2/yd^2).

        Hence even if every single photon from the sun (at every wavelength) was captured and converted to electricity (an impossibility), the most power the DBK panel could put out, assuming mirrors are not used to concentrate the sunlight, is 1,300 watts = (1,000 w/m^2 x 1.3 m^2). This would be for a panel that's 100% efficient. Most commercial solar panels this size put out about 200 watts (or a little less) for an efficiency of (200 w/1,300 w x 100%) = 15%, only a little better than solar cells of 40 years ago.

        Doing a little web surfing I found that what I had figured out about DBK Solar in fall 2007 others had figured out a year earlier. Goggling DBK Solar and scam brings up a bunch of hits. Anyone who knew anything about solar panels knew something wasn't right here. One guy was so upset he started a web site called Solar Scam.

Scam to fraud
        A claim of 3,000 watts indicates it is clearly a scam, but it's not a minor scam of the Ginsue knife variety. Each of these panels sells for $22,000! They are pieces of capital equipment. It would be more accurate to call this a major fraud.

        A further conclusion is that these 3,000 watt panels do not exist. You cannot make what the laws of physics forbid, and you cannot deliver what you cannot make. DBK in their two years of existence has obviously not manufactured or delivered a single 3,000 watt panel. Nor has the panel been photographed, tested, or approved by anyone, contrary to their claims.

How does this scam work?
        If your stupid enough, or gullible enough, you can order panels direct from DBK, and they will take your money. Of course, they demand 10% of the final cost up front, that's $2,200 up front per panel folks, to get put on a (so called) "waiting list". Not to worry though, the 10% deposit is labeled as "refundable". Good luck on getting a firm delivery date!

        From DBK's web site (see screen captures below) it appears that what DBK is primarily doing is selling dealerships. DBK is the scammer, the dealers are the scammees. My local DBK dealer (as of fall 2007) had his own web site (Solar Edison LLC) and the only panels that he indicated that he sold were make by DBK Solar. His site said he had been active at fairs and shows for months (pushing DBK panels), which appeared to be true. Rechecking his web site in March 2008, I find all mention of DBK Solar is gone. Now under products on his site I find only this, "Solar Edison represents a number of PV component manufacturers". (I had advised him months earlier via email that DBK Solar was a scam.)

        I've had email correspondence with another DBK dealer, who had been to DBK in Calif for training and told me some interesting stores. I tried to convince both DBK dealers that DBK panels could not possibly put out 3,000 watts hence DBK must be a scam, but clearly failed with my email correspondent. He is a true believer, hoping to make a million dollars (a week!) and promising to send me newspaper clipping when the technology hits the papers. Big bucks must be involved here, because DBK dealerships are being sold worldwide. I found a web site of a DBK solar dealer in Kuala Lumpur, Indonesia.

Dealer demo story
        One DBK Solar dealer with whom I communicated via email told me about his trip to DBK Solar headquarters in Calif where he went for training. He said most of the time was spent discussing contracts, but he and the other dealers were taken to see the factory, and what they were all waiting for, a demo of the 3,000 watt panel.

        First, the factory. They were driven, he said, to a large, impressive factory building and looked inside. It was empty. This they were told was the building that DBK Solar was negotiating to rent to make the production panels. (Everything with DBK Solar is either planned, proposed, will be or coming real soon!)

        Second, the demo. I was very curious as to how they could demo something that can't exist. Here is the story I was told by the DBK dealer.

        He said they rolled the panel out on a push cart in a warehouse under a skylight, and while still inside the warehouse under the skylight panel power output was already about 2 to 3 thousand watts. Wow! They then rolled it outside, and even though it was cloudy day and they made no effort to orient it toward the sun, the power output increased to 4 to 5 thousand watts. All the dealers were incredulous, he said!  Why, the dealers asked, are you rating this panel at only 3,000 watts? We want to be conservative, DBK told them.

        I asked in a followup email if the panel during the demo was connected to anything (a load). The answer was no, they just used meters to measure the power. Some of the dealers he said had even brought along their own power meters.

How did they do it?
        Assuming the DBK dealer was telling me the truth, and I think he was, then the question is how did they do it? How did they convince these new dealers that the panel was either putting out thousands of watts, or was capable of putting out thousands of watts? I have two ideas.

No load power measurement
       If the panel was not connected to resistors or light bulbs (a 'load'), then the panel was not actually putting out any power at all. For a panel to put out power there must be someplace for the power to go. A bare panel will have a voltage, but no load means no current, hence no power coming out (P = I x V). However, even without a load there is a way to get a rough measurement of the panel's power capability.

        To measure power (capability) without a load the voltage is measured (unloaded), and then the panel output wires are shorted and the current is measured. You get power by multiplying the voltage times the short circuit current. Typically this power number will be a little on the high side, but it is in the ballpark. A 200 watt GE solar panel, when measured this way, yields 266 watts (see spec below), 33% higher than the 200 watts it can actually put out.

First idea -- thin batteries
        I was told the panel was pretty thin with a bottom covered in plywood. The simplest way I can think of to fake high power is to hide some thin batteries under the panel. Typically the leads only need be shorted for a second or two to read the current, so it wouldn't take too much battery to get high current for a reading. High voltage batteries might also have been switched in to boost the open circuit voltage reading. Some skill, and likely additional (hidden) switches to switch batteries in and out, would probably be required to make it appear that the panel power was responding to the illumination.

Second idea --- Series/parallel switching
        Another idea I had was to add switches (hidden in back) to modify a conventional panel by changing its cells back and forth between series wired and parallel wired. In a normal solar panel the 60 to 72 silicon diode cells are all in series. The same current (5A to 8A) flows in all the cells and voltages of all the cells add up. However, it might be possible to modify a conventional panel so that groups of its cells could be switched back and forth from series to parallel.

        The idea would be to measure the voltage with the cells switched in series, and measure the current with the cells switched in parallel. In parallel mode the current of the cells will add. DBK claims their panel puts out x18 the power of a conventional panel. Looking at the online pictures of their test panel it looks like it has 72 cells. Suppose they hid 18 miniature series/parallel toggle switches in the back that were each wired to groups of four cells. Switching groups of four cells into parallel would increase the panel output current x18. (Of course it also reduces the output voltage by 1/18, but in parallel mode the voltage is not measured.)

        If each group of four cells was putting out, say 5A, then in parallel mode the meter would measure 90 A = (5 A x 18). Mirabile dictu, the power reading of the panel appears to have been increased by a factor of 18, just like DBK claims! A further advantage of this approach would be that the panel power would appear to change in a natural manner as panel illumination changed, but with all the power readings x18 higher than normal. Just an idea. I have no evidence that this is how it was done, but the integer relationship between 72 and 18 is suggestive.
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(update 11/09)
Replace the x18 mechanical switches with transistors
        The more I think about the series/parallel trick the more I like it. What really makes it clean is to replace the 18 mechanical switches with electronic switches mounted on small PC boards. The PC boards would be hidden under the panel and would be totally quiet. All that is needed to switch the panel from series to parallel mode is a single pressure sensitive mechanical switch under the backing. It would toggle all the electronic switches together. As long as the back of the panel remained hidden, this trick would be virtually impossible to detect.

        Making a little PC board is not difficult. Most technicians (or a talented HS student) can do it using kits you buy at Radio Shack. What's needed here is the same circuit x18, so it could be implemented with 18 identical little boards. A mechanical DPDT switch can be replaced by a quad optical coupler that controls four small, high current MOSFET transistors that do the actual switching of the 5A from the cells. Small batteries are needed to power the MOSFET gates, but these batteries have virtually no load so they are small and can be mounted on the PC boards.
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Third idea ---- Use a capacitor (4/5/08)
        A poster in 2006 on the Energy Portal (see below) suggested another, quite simple, way the power reading could have been faked. If a large capacitor was connected to the panel output, it would be (slowly) charged to the voltage of the panel. When the panel (with parallel connected capacitor) is shorted to get the current reading, there will be high current pulse for a fraction of a second as the capacitor discharges. Most meters can be set to measure peak currents and 'hold' the value. When such a high peak current reading (mostly from the capacitor discharge) is combined with the open circuit panel voltage, the result will be a greatly increased (and erroneous) power capability for the panel.

Perfect scam?
        How can such a fraud continue for two years in the USA? It's very disturbing that the law has not shut this down. (I myself field a complaint with the state attorney general, but never even received confirmation that it had been received, much less acted on.)

        What bothers me is that these DBK scammers may make a clean getaway. They delay and delay making any deliveries, raking in as much money as they can from dealerships and wait-list fees, and then they will probably just declare 'bankruptcy', closing the scam and leaving everyone holding the bag.

DBK blog postings
        I found the following three blog postings (on two different sites) about DBK dealer relationships that are very revealing.

        I sent DBK my $4000 and then asked for my money back. The president Darry L Boyd Sr. put in writing that I would have my money back in 10-12 days. That was 4 months ago. They will not return my money and I know that they do not have any solar panels that work. (posted Dec 2007)

       New Solar Photovoltaic Cell Efficiency Record: 42.8%. The engineers at DBK Engineering www.dbksolar.com have proclaimed a FIL 3000 watt solar panel that is 70% efficient since 2005. They have stated that they don't care if anyone believes them or not, they perform demonstrations for interested investors that walk away unshakeable in their beliefs in these 50 lb. 1.3 sq.ft. meter panels. At their last demonstration the panels powered two 1850 watt hairdryers with the panel propped up in the shade of the afternoon. The watt meters showed they were producing 2800 watts plus with out any loading. Two of my partners flew from the east coast to California to attend this demonstration and are convinced that the Company and the panels are real. They are prepared to order one (since one replaces 18 of the nearest competitor's panels) at the cost of over $10,000.00. Also the franchise fees are $4,000.00 to reserve an area code and then $100,000.00 when you have sold $1,000,000.00 worth of systems. I will give anyone that can prove to me, so that I can prove to my partners, a $1,000.00 (One thousand dollars) that these panels and the company are a scam. If no one can do it, then I will join them and laugh all the way to the bank. If they are proven to be real then I will eat a dead crow live on U Tube after a public announcement and apology. ps. I am building a website this weekend with all the research that I have done so far. www.solarscams.com but none of it is definitive proof one way or the other. OH yea! They stated they are not interested in the Nobel Prize. George W. Penington

Michael Flynn said at September 12, 2007 08:26 AM:

        I visited DBK Solar in Carlsbad for a training session. They didn't get into the technical aspects of the product. They didn't get into the installation aspects either. They did show us a panel that produced 4100W indoors under a skylight and 5100W outdoors in the parking lot on a cloudy day. They downplay the output, encouraging us to stay conservatively at 3000W. I brought my own meter just for my own piece of mind. I'm not an expert, but don't you need a load to get an accurate reading of the power generated? We visited a very impressive facility that they were negotiating a lease on but they have not moved into it yet, after 6 months. I did purchase a dealership, on a gamble, and have kept in touch since. They have applied for certification in California and Florida has agreed to rubberstamp whatever California does. I can't sell the systems in Florida without the approvals, you can't apply for the rebates without approvals. The company is very secretive and odd, but I haven't given up yet. ndxtrader7@aol.com

        Yikes, this is a patent application describing DBK's 3,000 watt panel! I have downloaded it and read it. This patent application is self filed by the inventor (Boyd) without a patent attorney. It was filed on March 2, 2006, which is the month DBK announced their 3,000 watt panel. Here is the US patent office link to it.

            US Patent Application No 20070204899
         Photovoltaic cell solar amplification device

         It starts by showing (prior art) a conventional 5 x 3 panel rated at 165 watts with 36 cells each 6.6A. DBK's panel "Solar Integrated Circuit" is shown with the main solar cells wired to an integrated NPN transistor that (magically) multiplies the output current of the cells. The is referred to as "solar energy amplification"! The NPN transistor current gain (beta) is described as typically 25 in the text, and in the figure the output current is shown as the 6.6A multiplied by 25 (Iout = 25 x 6.6A = 165A).  The power rating of Boyd's 5 x 3 ft panel is shown as 2,970 watts = (165A x 18V), where 18V is 36 cells at 0.5V/cell.

        The application is very short and vague as hell. Four different band gaps are supposedly being used to absorb visible, ultra violet, infra red and deep infra red. There is zero information as to how this is done, no material information, no doping profiles, no nothing. The circuit configuration (with the NPN) makes absolutely no sense. The application starts by stating (correctly) that the solar spectrum has 1,000 watts per square meter, but how this absolute power limit is bypassed goes completely uncommented on.

        On top of everything else the patent application contains the most astounding typos  It looks like it was never even proof read. For example, fig 3 has the Max Power Current = 1,320 amps (was supposed to be 120 amps)! In the text instead of the clearly intended photon the word is proton.  Here's a typical sentence "The proton with this wavelength strikes the semiconductor dope electron and hole layers creating an electro magnetic electric field across the junction."

Review of DBK's patent application
        Basically what Boyd is claiming is that by integrating a bipolar transistor with a current gain of 25 into a solar panel he can multiply the current coming out of the cells by the current gain of the transistor (6.6A to 165A), and do this with the panel voltage remaining (nominally) unchanged. (Boyd appears to incorrectly use the unloaded voltage of 0.68V/cell for his conventional panel and the correct loaded value of 0.50V/cell for his new panel.) The huge increase in panel current to 165A combined with the voltage dropping (for unexplained reasons) from 25V to 18V gives a power increase for the panel of 18. (165 watts x 18 = 2,970 watts). A x18 power increase is totally consistent with DBK's marketing claim that one of their panels replaced 18 conventional panels.

       The physics and engineering in this patent application are complete and utter nonsense, total gibberish.

        There's nothing subtle about this patent. It's the electrical equivalent of a perpetual motion machine. For every 1,000 watts the sun puts in Boyd's invention with its solar energy amplification puts out 2,300 watts!

        My guess is that Darry L Boyd is a crackpot inventor and may in fact have convinced himself that he had made a huge breakthrough. It explains a lot about DBK. I can see him saying to himself, now all I have to do is work out the details. And he apparently wanted the patent application published (on the patent office web site), because he paid the patent office's $300 publishing fee.

        However, there are glaring inconsistencies, which should be obvious even to a crackpot. DBK has always concealed the amps and volts of their panel, which is the question I asked at the DBK fair booth. The panel output voltage is now revealed in the patent application to be only 18V. Yet DBK markets one of its panels mated to various (DC to AC) inverters all of which require a minimum input voltage of 150 V. The pairing obviously cannot work. This just shouts fraud.

Power amplification claim
        Boyd in his patent application claims he has invented, "A method for power amplification of photovoltaic generated source." What crackpots, like Boyd, don't understand is that in an isolated system (like a solar panel) it is impossible amplify power. You can't get out more power than the sun puts in, period, it's impossible. To claim otherwise is the electrical equivalent of claiming to have invented a perpetual motion machine!

        But a crackpot might retort, 'A transistor can amplify current (true), and a transistor's output power can be higher than its input power (also true), therefore isn't it obvious that transistors can amplify power?' Well maybe to a crackpot, which might explain why Boyd has a transistor (NPN structure) integrated into his solar panel, but real engineers understand that what is really going on is that the power in a transistor's output comes from an external power supply.

A look at the DBK Solar web site
       This section has a bunch of screen captures from DBK Solar's site (http://www.dbksolar.com). Most were captured on 3/5/08. Here is the DBK 'Welcome' (sounds impressive, no?). Notice they "unveiled" their 3,000 watt panel in March 2006, so we are now about two years into the scam/fraud.

       "DBK  is a designer, manufacturer and builder of alternative energy systems: solar panels, solar systems, fuel cells, solar based fuel cell generators and solar based fuel cell  power plants in California, America and throughout the World. We design, build, package and install module solar power plants, solar based fuel cell generators and solar systems for homes and the commercial sector. Our focus is on reducing the cost of using and producing electric energy to our clients. DBK is your one-stop provider for your clean fuel (solar) energy needs."

       "DBK’s technologically advanced solar electric power products (solar cell systems, solar based fuel cells, and solar based fuel cell generators) offer high quality and customer value. They are all based on crystalline silicon, the material of choice for efficiency and reliability for more than 25 years. In March of 2006, DBK unveiled the world must efficient and powerful solar panel 3,000 watts. We are going to be offering a full line of photovoltaic (PV) cells, solar modules, fuel cells and complete packages for residential, commercial and industrial systems."

        Notice footnote (1) above shows solar input power is 1,000 w/m^2 (standard test condition for solar panels). For a panel this size this means the total power in sunlight hitting the panel is [1.3 m^2 x 1,000 w/m^2] = 1,300 watts, but the rated output power is 3,000 watts (higher than the input). This means the efficiency of the panel is greater than 100%! The not so little problem with this is that it is theoretically impossible, yet there is no mention anywhere about this remarkable property of the panel. Why?

Here are my suggestions:

                    a) Author of the specification is so stupid, he didn't notice, or
                    b) Author noticed, but didn't think it worthy of comment, or
                    c) Author noticed, but hoped others wouldn't

(update 11/19/09) Fusing weirdness
        Only recently did I notice the weirdness in the fusing spec of the JIL-3000 panel above. A fuse spec on a solar panel is information to the user on how large a fuse you can use in series with the panel and still protect it. The 16 slides in the link below discuss solar panel fusing. They show a 175 watt panel with a 15A fuse spec, the GE 200 watt panel (below) has a 15 fuse spec, and DBK's panel also has a 15A fuse spec (line 3 in table above).

http://www.fuseco.com.au/files/Photovoltaic__Solar_PV__Information/The_fusing_of_PV_arrays__Nigel_Wilmot_.pdf

        In the link above they use a 10A fuse, centered between 5.5A panel operating current and 15 A fuse spec. The 10A fuse is operated at 55% of its rating (5.5A/10A) with blow time set by overload of 150% (15A/10A). This will give good lifetime and reasonably short blow times. But look at the ratio of the two currents on the DBK panel, the operating current of 14A is almost on top of the 15A fusing current. This is ridiculous. Fuses are not precision devices. The gap is too small. It can't be reliably fused. (I guess Boyd either forgot to adjust the fusing spec when he penciled in 14A operating, or he maybe he just didn't understand about fusing!)

DBK's other sites
        DBK has several other web sites besides solar that together try and give the impression that it is a large energy company. The potemkin village that they have build (online) is quite remarkable. Below is a screen capture from the DBK corporate site --- http://dbkcorporation.com

        If you Google DBK Solar Utilities of California or DBK Solar Utilities of Nevada you get only one hit, this site. What do you think is the odds that these companies actually exist?.

        In 5 min online I located the above image. It is in fact the Rote Jahne Solar Park in Saxony, Germany, and at 6 MW (peak) it is one of the largest solar panel arrays in the world. It's built with about 100,000 60 to 70 watt (60 to 70 V @ 1A), thin film cadmium, 10% efficient, modules made by the USA solar company, 'First Solar', based in Arizona. Surprise, surprise, DBK had nothing whatsoever to do with it!

Competitor solar panel
        Here is what a spec on a real solar panel looks like. Below is a screen capture from GE 200 watt solar panel, which is about 12% bigger in area than the DBK 3,000 watt panel (GE GEPVp-200 solar panel spec). (Notice it is speced and tested at 1,000 watt/m^2, which is the standard test value for bright sunlight on the earth's surface.)

        I am attaching Darry Boyd's patent application for his 3,000 watt solar panel with power amplifying technology. Note the correspondence address on the application is the address of DBK Solar, its filing date matches the date DBK 'unveiled' its new panel, and its 3,000 watt rating and power boost factor of 18 matches DBK's marketing claims, so there is little doubt that this discloses the technology underlying DBK's revolutionary solar panel claims. It's also likely that the identification of Darry Boyd as DBK's president by an unhappy DBK dealer is correct.

A patent application is not a patent
        Note below is not a patent, not a provisional patent, it is just a patent application. While patent applications from companies are virtually all written by patent attorneys, anyone is free to write an application and submit it directly to the patent office and some individual inventors do. The patent office normally sits on applications for about 18 months, and then if you pay a steep extra fee (currently $300) it makes them public by publishing them on their web site. The fact that an application is on the patent office web site does not imply that patent office has reviewed it or has in any way approved of it. It only means only that the application was received over 18 months ago and is awaiting review.

        The structure on the right marked (110, 115, 135) is the (magic) 'power amplifying'  NPN transistor that (supposedly) boosts the current and power out of the panel. From 6.6A to (about) 120 amps (1,320 amps I think is a typo) and from 165 watts to (about) 3,000 watts, both boosted by a factor of 18, which is exactly the boost factor DBK claims in their marketing literature. The three other PN structures (supposedly) capture different parts of the solar spectrum and (somehow) assist in the (theoretically impossible) power amplification.

Footnote
       You can find all US patents (& published patent applications) on the US patent web site, but to see patents in full (with the figures) takes special software, since patent page "images" are in an oddball .tif format. So to circumvent that problem I downloaded Boyd's entire patent application and have attached it except for two figures, one of which duplicates the cover figure and the other is a minor, auxiliary figure.

DBK principals & addresses (3/19/08 update)
        Darry L. Boyd, San Diego CA. (Founder & President) --- In dozens of listing for different products on powersourcing.com Darry L. Boyd is the contact name for DBK  A 2007 blog posting identifies him as president of DBK Solar, 300 Carlsbad Village Dr. #108A,  Carlsbad, California 92008. An alternate address for Boyd --- Darry Boyd • P. O. Box 32761 • Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410 • (877) 325-7693.  Another alternate address for Boyd (from his 2004 patent filing) is Darry L. Boyd, P.O. Box 261358, San Diego CA, 92196. Possible residence --- DBK Corporation, 6809 Corintia Street, Carlsbad, CA 92009. (DBK Solar locations are given as Carlsbad, CA and Palm Beach Gardens, FL). Darry L. Boyd may also be know as Darry K. Boyd (see below).

        The picture of Boyd below was found on the (2006) web site of a Malaysian DBK Solar dealer.

       Deborah Valentino, Vice President Marketing, DBK Corporation, Carlsbad CA  --- (from a signature on Feb 20, 2008 letter to Senate Majority Leader,  Harry Reid, from American Council on Renewable Energy). A powersourcing.com lists the DBK contact as,  D. Valentino, 300 Carlsbad Village Dr. #108A,  Carlsbad, California 92008,  (877) 325-7693,  (760) 918-6643. In Dec 2006 a blogger posted this email he received from Deborah Valentino of DBK

         "As for the rumors I'm sorry to say I know of the website you have mention and they are an oil company who really doesn't want our customers to use solar. Our solar system does what we say it does. The system has been third party tested and is approved by the IEC. We are having a demonstration of the system for Dealers within the next few weeks and we may have another one for purchasers if we get enough participates, if you are interested in viewing this demonstration I will put you on the list and please come and view the JIL-3000 here in San Diego, CA." (Dec 2006 blog posting of an email from Deborah Valentino of DBK's San Diego office)

         Patent application 20050174992 A1    self written patent filing by Darry Boyd and Ray Files
                                                                            (Feb 9, 2004)

        Young Yang, Ph.D., DBK Corporation, 300 Carlsbad Village Dr. Suite 108A #327, Carlsbad, CA 92008, 877-325-7693, 760-918-6643 (fax)  (from a 2006 DBK email posted to a blog)

        (3/28/08) The web site of my local DBK Solar dealer (Solar Edison LLC, Salisbury MA,  www.solaredisonllc.com) appears to have recently gone down. According to a local newspaper story (below) as of Feb 20, 2008 they were expanding, though by that time DBK Solar no longer appeared in their product list.
        http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080220/NEWS/80220006/-1/BIZ&sfad=1

     (3/30/08) It's not just a solar scam --- Here is a fuel cell blog posting from a guy who says he is a "dealer for www.dbkengineering.com" and "I control DBK distribution for the 936 area code." He is trying to raise 13 million dollars from investors to build a 10 meg DBK solar/hydro plant in Texas. Yikes!

   http://www.fuelcells.org/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=7&topic_id=176&mesg_id=403&page=

        (4/3/08) A lot stuff from DBK's site also appears on a fairly large site called ParaSolar.net, which is based in Malaysia. Parasolar boasts of planning to invest billions of dollars in DBK technology (!!) by building 50-200 mw solar installations in Asia by 2010!  For perspective the 6 mw German solar plant (included in this essay) is currently one of the largest in the world.

        http://parasolar.net/innovators.html

        My take is either the Malaysian, Dato’ Zainal Abu Zarin, Founder and President of ParaSolar, bought the DBK story hook, line and sinker, or Boyd found an associate. Interestingly the Parasolar site includes a  picture of Darry Boyd, labeling him "Founder and President of DBK Corporation Inc", which I put into his bio above.

        (4/4/08) A patent search reveals that Darry L. Boyd has been granted one patent (D384,298, "Load Gauge Block", filed Nov 2, 1995). Note the prefix 'D', this is not a 'real' patent. Technically it's a 'design patent'. It consists only of a sketch of an "ornamental" object and has no text. It appears that Boyd filed this himself and on it lists his residence as 1314 Oceanaire, San Luis Obispo, CA. 93405
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another piece of the puzzle drops into place (4/3/08)
        In 2007 DBK began making the claim that their 3,000 watt solar panels were "IEC 61215 approved". This always seemed to me like a strange/oddball claim, but now it makes some sense.

        I recently came across a company in the UK named, DBK Technitherm Ltd, that sells solar panels that are "IEC 61215 Certified". These appear to be the real thing, solar panels that have been tested and approved by the European testing agency IEC. Lists of approved products are always available from testing agencies, so this means that DBK Solar of Carlsbad CA can open up an IEC listing and show customers that there is indeed an IEC approved DBK solar panel! How is this possible?

        It's possible because these 'DBK'  solar panels are only 20 to 80 watt. They are made in the UK by a company that is part of the "DBK Group" of companies based in Germany, founded in 1946 and totally unrelated to DBK Solar, Carlsbad CA.  Boyd is trading on the similar name of a legitimate UK/German solar panel manufacturer.

         http://www.uk-solarpanels.co.uk/dbk801.html
         http://www.uk-solarpanels.co.uk/

Early warning of DBK fraud (4/5/08)
        Articles on DBK in early 2006 in the Lassen County News brought this May 23, 2006 letter to the editor of Lassen County News (I think) warning about DBK solar technology from Scott Forest in Palo Alto (see below). He says "DBK panel is impossible" and  "The company DBK Solar is a fraudulent operation." Yup!

        The link below to Mar 2006 postings on 'Energy Portal' on DBK's 3,000 watt solar panel show that several knowledgeable posters more than two years ago recognized that DBK's 3,000 watt claim was absurd and strongly suspected a scam.

        http://energy.edu.pl/oil-1475.html

Here's a link to dozens of blog posting from summer 2006 warning of DBK Solar fraud. The page is titled: "This Solar Panel company (DBK Solar) needs to be investigated"

        http://www.peakoil.com/fortopic23144.html

DBK Solar address
One poster in 2006 to the Energy Portal blog added:
        "Yea, the company (DBK Solar) is right up the road from me. It happens to be a UPS store mailbox."

        I checked and poster is correct. Below is a screen caputure from UPS site showing the address of its UPS store in Carlsbad AZ, which is 300 Carlsbad Village Dr. #108A, Carlsbad, California 92008. This matches exactly the address of DBK Solar and DBK engineering!

DBK ENGINEERING general contractor license info (4/5/08)
         Someone on solar scam web site dug out link to CA general contractor license info (DBK License Number: 843836). It has two interesting pieces of information on DBK ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION, 300 CARLSBAD VILLAGE DR #108A, CARLSBAD, CA 92008.

        * DBK Engineering certifies that it has no employees
        * Solely owned by Darry Lafayette Boyd

        In other words DBK Engineering is a one man (zero man?) company and that man is Darry Lafayette Boyd. Here is the link to the CA general contractor license info:

        http://www2.cslb.ca.gov/General-Information/interactive-tools/check-a-license/License+Detail.asp

==========================================================

        The P2Solar web site now lists Raj Gurm as CEO with no mention of Darry Boyd. Raj Gurm bio on the site says he "comes from a royal family in the Punjab region" emigrating to Canada when he was 12 years old. And get this, the 1/7/09 business announcement says, "Natco is currently in negotiations with Indian officials regarding Solar Hybrid Power Plants in the State of Punjab". The plants are to be built by P2Solar. Checking the www.P2Solar.com site on 1/10/09 I find the India project is not there, just the forever delayed 200 MW Lassen County solar plant (being built by 'our partner' Lassen Energy).

        However, I did find on the P2Solar site a new picture of an unidentified solar panel with three unknown guys (p2team is name of picture file) standing next to it, dated Aug 28, 2008. This is just two weeks after the announcement of the new panel being readied for Natco testing, so perhaps this unidentified solar panel is the new miracle panel that Natco says works just swell?? It's a good bet that CEO Gurm is the guy on the left. He looks Indian and from his bio Gurm is probably in his late 40's.

Yup, above left is Natco International CEO Gurm. Below is a screen capture from a British Columbia TV video about Britsh Columbia company PTV (Photo violation technology), which identifies Gurm.

        By the way I found out that Gurm's technical background is biology and (to some extent) chemistry. According Gurn's bio in SEC filings his degree is a BS in biology in 1983 from Univ of British Colombia. At Natco for a few years he ran a tiny manufacturing business (one man did all the manufacturing!) making jewelry cleaning chemicals and a tire sealant. This business that was never profitable and has been closed.

Update (10/10/09)
 India and phony Boyd solar panel share equal billing on P2Solar Web site
        Here is a screen capture from P2Solar web site. This confirms that the solar panel above is supposed to be the miracle solar panel. In the upper right photo (below) we see the miracle solar panel again, but this time with the techy label: 'Hybrid solar panel prototype version 2'. It's being 'demonstrated' (to whom, of course, is not mentioned) tilted toward the sun with loads attached, and standing next to it appears to be Hans Edblad. Photo lower right is more misdirection: a vaguely labelled photo of a solar array trying to give the rubes the impression P2Solar had something to do with this.

        "P2 Solar, Inc. is dedicated to building Solar Power Stations, currently focusing its efforts throughout India. It is also involved in the manufacturingof an advanced Solar Panel and other solar technologies." (from Sept 09 P2Solar business announcement.)

Update (1/16/09)
        A micro-stock house (Quality Stocks) had an 9 minute audio interview with Natco International about their solar technology (12/5/2008). Natco spokeman in inteview was Hans Edblad. He mentioned they will be looking for dealers!!

        http://www.qualitystocks.net/videocharts.php?chartvid_id=129

Update (12/26/08)
        Here are Natco's SEC filings of recent months concerning the Lassen 3,000 watt solar panel

            Dec 04, 2008 --  Announces Lassen Hybrid Solar Panel Is Independently Verified!
            Oct 22, 2008  --  NATCO International, Inc. Announces Panel Test Update
            Aug 15, 2008  --  Lassen Energy Inc. Successfully Completes Panels in Preparation for Testing

        In Aug the panel was built and ready for test. In Oct testing was in progress. And come Dec, what do you know, who could have guessed, surprise surprise, the panel passed all its tests (outputting 2,700 watts av).

        Tests were conducted on one panel by an unnamed prof of engineering of an unnamed institution at unknown test conditions, and the report was not released, but rest assured it's in Natco's files.  I emailed CEO Gurm asking for a copy of the report and got no reply.

        In last eight months the business conditions between Natco and Lassen have changed too. You know that reverse merger that Natco and Lassen announced. Well, forget that shit.

            Nov 26, 2008  --  NATCO International, Inc. and Lassen Energy, Inc. Sign Material Definitive
                                                        Agreements
            Dec 09, 2008  -- Natco International Inc. Shareholder Update

        Now they have agreed to swap a few shares and (get this) Natco is paying up front one million dollars to get the rights to manuf, and sell the panel in only Canada, India, and the state of Hawaii.  From Nov 26, 2008 Natco business release:

        "Simultaneously with the execution of the Share Transfer Agreement, NATCO entered into a License Agreement with Lassen and its affiliates regarding the use of certain intellectual property owned by Lassen and affiliates necessary for the manufacturing, distribution and sale of Hybrid Solar Panels throughout the Nations of India and Canada, and the State of Hawaii.

        The consideration to be paid by NATCO to Lassen for the Licenses is an initial fee of US $1,000,000 together with a 2% royalty on gross revenues received by NATCO from future sales of Hybrid Solar Panels."

Update (8/15/08)
        Natco International, which is being taken over by Boyd's Lassen Energy, changed its Over the Counter symbol from ncii to nciie for a week or so, and then back to ncii again. Weird. I notice that most of the price history of the stock on the Over the Counter charts seems to have been cleared by this maneuver, so I'm betting that is why  this swap was done.

Here is the latest business announcements from Natco.

        Lassen Energy Inc. Successfully Completes Panels in Preparation for Testing (8/15/08)
        http://www.centredaily.com/business/technology/story/779423.html

        The announcement says test panels are built and test "results will be forth coming"   Surprise, surprise, no picture. And no info on what size panels or how many were built, who built them or where they were built, what was the cost, who will do the testing, and no date given as to when the results will be forth coming. Quite the announcement.

        I know as a power engineer that if the sun is shining a quick test of the power potential of a solar panel can be obtained in minutes using nothing more than standard digital meter. Do you suppose that maybe, just maybe, the next announcement (in a few weeks or months) will be that the test criteria have been met. I'd take that bet.

        Lassen Energy Inc. Secures Funds to Build Hybrid Solar Panel Test Models (June 26, 2008)
http://app.quotemedia.com/quotetools/newsStory.go?storyId=9773771&topic=NCIIE&symbology=null&cp=off

        What, the panels they need to demonstrate they can get more power out than the sun puts in, don't exist? Surprise, surprise.... But they're coming real soon.... (Maybe Boyd forget that all he needed to do was borrow a 3,000 panel for the test from his company DBK Solar, which claims to have been making deliveries for months.)

Update (4/23/08)
        A second business announcement about the pending Natco & Lassen merger was released 4/21/08 by Natco's PR/investor relations firm with merger details provided next day in a Natco SEC 8-K filing. Here are the links:

NATCO Executes a Share Exchange Agreement with Lassen Energy Inc. (4/21/2008)
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=BW&date=20080421&id=8513494

        The key information provided is that Darry Boyd is (essentially) taking over Natco
                --- Darry Boyd will become CEO
                --- Darry Boyd will own 92.5% of the shares of the merged company
                --- Natco will change name to P2Solar (& OTC symbol change is planned too)

        The 4/21/08 'Share Exchange' business release speaks of a 90 day period where shares are held in escrow until Lassen (meaning Boyd) can verify its solar technology, saying that Natco is allowed to hire an outside expert.

A more detailed look
        However, a look at the Natco 4/22/08 SEC 8-K filing puts a very different spin on this (so called) verification of technology.

        --  Natco is allowed to hire an outside expert, but is not required to. (So apparently the only one that need be satisfied is Raj Gurm of Natco, and what does he know about solar panels?)

        -- The (so-called) verification consist in showing that Lassen's 3,000 watt solar panel meets its specs, which are detailed in the 8-K filing. However, a look at this (so-called) specification show it is nothing more than DBK Solar's 3,000 watt panel 'specification', which of course is not an engineering specification at all, just a meaningless jumble of numbers. So in reality the merger 'technology verification' is a joke.

Bottom line
        So what's the point of this merger?  Mergers of SEC registered companies are widely publicized. The buzz of a merger and claims of exciting new technology reaching a wide new audience, like investors that follow microcap stocks, is bound to attract attention to Natco's stock (OTC symbol: ncii). In fact it has more than doubled since the first Feb merger announcement. I'm sure someone as creative as Darry Boyd can figure out how to make money from this!
========================================================================
Lassen Energy, P2Solar, & Darry Boyd (4/4/08)
(update 12/26/08)
        In Dec 4, 2008 business release by Natco we find that the name of the CEO of Lassen Energy has (surprise, surprise!) changed from  Darry K. Boyd ==> Darry L. Boyd. Below is an excerpt from the Natco Dec 4, 08 release:

         "The Lassen Hybrid Solar Panel™ is based on inventions and innovations of Darry L Boyd who is Lassen Energy Inc.’s CEO. Like all Photovoltaic systems it relies on activating electrons to produce direct current (DC). When this technology is combined with other panel components, the cost of the panel per Watt is decreased and the Watt production is increased."

    On Feb 25, 2008 Lassen Energy (Doing Business As -- P2Solar) signed a binding agreement to be sold to NATCO Intl Inc., Surrey, 204, 13569 - 76 Avenue, British Columbia V3W 2W3) as reported by Reuters.com (below)

        "Mr. Raj Gurm, President of NATCO, announced that on February 22nd, 2008, the Company entered into a Binding Letter of Agreement (the "Letter Agreement") with Lassen Energy, Inc. ("Lassen"), a company incorporated in the State of California, and all of its shareholders for the acquisition of all the issued and outstanding shares of Lassen, subject to the terms and conditions of the Letter Agreement."

Here's Lassen Energy as described in the Reuters 2/25/08 press release above

        "Lassen has patented a revolutionary solar power generating system that incorporates advanced solar and fuel cell technologies to produce energy at a superior performance efficiency level.

       The principal of Lassen is Darry K. Boyd.

        Darry K. Boyd, BS in electronic engineering and graduate studies in physics, the Chairman and CEO of Lassen, is a general engineering contractor with a Class A license, and is a specialist in constructing power plants and manufacturing. He has 30 years of experience in the construction of many power plants and manufacturing projects."

Capital Group Communications, Inc.
(San Francisco Bay area)
Investor Relations
Mark Bernhard, VP Corporate Communications
Office: 415-332-7200
Fax: 415-332-7201
www.capitalgc.com

        Capital Group Communications is a PR firm that represents clients like DirecTV and (interestingly) P2Solar. P2Solar is just a site name for 'Lassen Energy Inc'. Here's an excerpt from the P2Solar/Lassen  site describing their management.

"Darry Boyd, President / CEO

        An accomplished scientist and businessman, Boyd uses his knowledge of engineering and physics to foster technological progress,while his executive acumen ensures market viability for the technologies he backs. He is currently working with an international team of talented professionals to bring new solar and hydrogen technology to the market and, in turn, the masses." (www.p2solar.com) (4/4/08)

        Here's an image from the P2Solar site called the P2Team. Wow, this is familiar!  The same picture is on the DBK Solar site where these guys are described (probably accurately) as DBK Solar dealers at training!

        http://www.p2solar.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5&Itemid=6

        "Lassen Energy Inc. is dedicated to bringing high tech solar and hydrogen systems into the mainstream. Our mission is to provide green sustainable energy 24 hours 7 days a week. This will be accomplished by reducing the overall cost of solar and hydrogen energy through our new technology. Lassen Energy will be manufacturing and building high tech solar panels and hydrogen fuel cells at a record low cost of a dollar per watt. Lassen Energy will also incorporate these high tech systems into our power plants, commercial businesses and residential applications worldwide" (http://www.p2solar.com) (4/4/08)

       "In a typical JIL Solar Panel there are two parts. One part A which we called the cornerstone, which is multi-junctions multi-layers device. Part B which we call the legacy has previous storage energy in it. Part A and B is tied together in a photosynthesis arrangement to release 3000 watts of energy." (http://www.p2solar.com,  4/4/08)

Lassen Energy Stockholders (4/22/08)
        Here is the cast of Lassen characters from Edgar database April 18, 2008 (from a filing related to reverse merger between Lassen and Natco). This is all the 32.375 million issued Lassen shares of one billion!! shares authorized. (Note it says elsewhere in the filing that Boyd has (paid for) the 14.7 million Lassen shares by transferring all his rights in the 3,000 watt (DBK) solar panel patent application to Lassen.)

        DBK Corp
                 Darry Boyd, CEO                                       14.7 million
         Resource Capital Development
                  Ronald D. Lewis                                          6.3 million
        Capital Group Communications
                  Devin Bosch, president         5.25
                  Peter Kristensin                    1.75
                  Briton McConkie                  1.75
                  Joseph Martin, LLC
                       & Steve Careaga               1.75
                                                      --------------
                                                 subtotal   10.5             10.5 million
        Otto Law Group
                 David M. Otto, president                             0.875 million
                 601 Union Street                                     ---------------------
                 Seattle, Washington                   total        32.375 million shares

        The plan of this date was for Natco to acquire all of Lassen stock in exchanged for 323 million Natco shares and Darry Body was to become CEO of Natco.

David M. Otto
        David M. Otto did legal work for the Natco/Lassen reverse merger. He is listed as owning nearly 3% (875,000 shares) of the outstanding Natco shares, which he probably acquired as payment for his legal work. The Natco International SEC filing Form 10-KSB of 3/31/2008 states that the signing of the (reverse merger) is to be "held at the offices of The Otto Law Group".

        Well the SEC is not too happy with Mr. Otto. In July 2009 the SEC filed suit against David M. Otto in connection with a small company stock (MitoPharm Corporation). SEC charges Otto with "orchestrating" a "pump and dump scheme" by fraudulently promoting non-existent anti-aging products that made him a million dollars. Below are SEC/Otto links: SEC web site and the SEC court filing:

         http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2009/lr21126.htm
         http://sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2009/comp21126.pdf

The SEC site entry begins:

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 21126 / July 13, 2009
Securities and Exchange Commission v. David M. Otto, Todd Van Siclen, MitoPharm Corporation, Pak Peter Cheung, Wall Street PR, Inc., Charles Bingham, Case No. CV-09-0960 RAJ (WD Wa. filed July 13, 2009)

SEC Charges Seattle Attorney (David M. Otto) and Accomplices With Orchestrating Stock Dumping Scheme

        What do you suppose are the odds that Lassen Energy/P2Solar is another front company of DBK Solar's Darry Boyd?  I'm betting 100%.

P2Solar's whopper claim
        Here is P2Solar (only) current project according to its web site (4/6/08).

        "Lassen County Project is ongoing project which consists of 200 megawatts of clean green solar hydrogen energy. We are currently in the permitting stages of this project and hope to break ground before the end of 2008. This plant will be the largest in the world when completed supply clean green renewable energy 24 hours and 7 days a week." http://www.p2solar.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=55

      And gee, officials of Lassen County in 2007 don't seems to know anything about plans to build the world's largest solar plant in their county. I wonder why? Here's a screen capture from a presentation of public officials of Lassen country about renewable energy projects in the country, dated Mar 2007 (link here) . Clearly no mention of a Lassen 200 mw solar plant.

DBK Solar early claims & ties to Lassen County (4/5/08)
        DBK has been making absurd claims as far back as 2005. This information comes from 2005 and 2006 articles in a local newspaper in Lassen County CA (northest corner of CA).

        "The largest solar power plant in the world is scheduled to break ground in April of 2006 near Amedee Field in Herlong (Lassen county CA)...Plans are in the works to make the plant a 200-megawatt unit!!" (Lassen County News, 11/1/05)

         http://lassennews.com/News_Story.edi?sid=2931

      "DBK Corporation originally announced plans to construct the world’s largest solar power plant near Amedee Field back in November 2005." (Lassen County News, 2/27/06)

        "According to its Web site (as of Feb 2006), DBK Corporation “is a designer, manufacturer and builder of alternative energy systems: solar panels, solar systems, fuel cells, solar based fuel cell generators and solar based fuel cell power plants in California, America and throughout the world.”(Lassen County News, 2/2706)

(Update 2/24/09) Phony web site promoting Natco/Lassen fraudulent solar energy technology
        DBK Solar site is partially down. It appears DBK Solar is being replaced by Lassen Energy (also known as P2Solar) and Nato International (OTC ncii), both of which have 3,000 watt solar panels too!

        I just found this site:

          http://www.cheapsolarstocks.com/

        It pretends to be a general stock site, but it's not. It's a new phony site trying to sucker in the public to invest in Natco and their fraudulent technology. It has been put up by the scummy PR firm that represents these guys: Capital Group Communications. It you select Disclaimer you can see their banner. Here's the opening screen of http://www.cheapsolarstocks.com/

(Update 3/20/09) Natco => P2Solar
        For months Natco International has been loosely using the name P2Solar, but today according to the business press as of 3/18/09 it has officially change its name to P2Solar Inc. "The new name better reflects the new business direction of the company into solar energy." A new OTC symbol will be coming replacing ncii.

        The only other March news (remember this is four months after its super duper new solar panel passed its 3,000 watt tests!) is a guy named Hans Edblad, who appears to be a small company pitchman who has been associated  with the company in the last year or so, has joined the board.

        In recent months Darry Boyd's name has disappeared from all Natco International or P2Solar business announcements, now only Gurm is featured. At one point in 2008 Boyd was identified as the CEO of P2Solar. The Lassen link remains, however, with the share swap in Jan 09 and P2Solar calling their solar panel the "Lassen hybrid solar panel."

        A link to Gurm smiling face with Edblad:

        http://www.p2solar.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=58

(update 4/22/09)
OTC symbol ncii => ptos
        The change of Natco International into P2Solar Inc continues with a change of their OTC trading symbol. About 4/15/09 the OTC symbol has changed from ncii (now invalid) to ptos. Initial price range of stock is about the same as in recent past (38 to 46 cents).

On the business news front  (4/7/09) we get below:

P2 Solar, Inc. Announces Government Approval to Build 25 MW Solar Power Station in Punjab, India

SURREY, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 04/07/09 -- P2 Solar, Inc. (the "Company") (OTCBB: NCII) is pleased to announce that it has submitted plans to the Indian State of Punjab for the construction of a twenty five (25) Mega Watt ("MW") Solar Power Plant. On March 20, 2009, the Company received governmental approval to build the 25MW Solar Power Station in the Indian State of Punjab. The present intention of the parties is to enter into a written agreement memorializing the terms of the project after May 20, 2009. The contract will include a Power Purchase Agreement for 33 years.

Mr. Raj-Mohinder Gurm, CEO of P2 Solar, Inc. stated, "We are extremely pleased to be working with the Indian Government with its need for electrical power. This initial phase of 25MW is part of a larger planned Power Station for the State of Punjab, and is being closely watched by a number of additional Indian States. We would like to thank all of the local, state, and federal agencies that assisted in making this project possible and look forward to working with them for years to come."

25MW photovoltaic plant is huge
        Note 25 MW for a photovoltaic solar plant is huge. The big German solar plant pictured above is only 6 MW, uses 100,000 panels about 60 watts each, and is one of the world's largest solar plants. The Germans just (2008) completed a 40 MW plants claimed to be the world's largest. So it's odd that in this 'business' announcement' there is no comment at all about the scale of the P2Solar plant. Maybe they just pulled a number out of the air, or maybe this info is being held back, because the general plan appears to be to dribble out little news tidbids for a long time.

Is P2Solar trying to distance itself from Boyd's phony technology? (5/5/09)
        It's curious that in recent P2Solar announcements there is almost no mention of the 'revolutionary' 2,000 to 3,000 5x 3 ft solar panel that they claimed to have built and successfully tested only months ago. Is Gurm trying to sweep this solar fraud under the rug? Is he trying to put together a deal to actually build a real solar plant in Punjab, using of course real solar panels, putting himself forward as some sort of solar manager?

        There's this curious entry in Gurm's spring 2009 letter to stockholders:

04/05/09
        Company meets with Industry leading Solar Integrators to further enhance its maintenance and consulting services by being able to offer a wider variety of solar solutions to government and municipal power projects.

        Or perhaps the guys in the picture above are just his cousins? Who knows. He comes from Punjab, and he likely went back to Punjab to visit his family.

DBK Solar update (5/5/09)
        DBK Solar web site main portal is down and has been for a while. Parts of the site are still up. If you want to buy a DBK Solar dealership, Boyd will take your money. Looks like Boyd is slowly killing off DBK Solar focusing instead on his other, less tarnished, front company Lassen Energy, which as luck would have it has exactly the same 3,000 watt solar technology.

        If press announcements are to be believed (I take them with a big grain of salt), Boyd has managed to put some change in his pocket by getting somewhere between 200k and one million from P2Solar (Gurm) for limited rights to use his phony Lassen/DBK Solar solar technology.

Spring 2009 P2Solar letter to stockholders (May 2009)
        Gurm has posted a letter on the P2Solar web site that purports to review company milestones over the last 12 months. It's largely fiction. It totally whitewashes the extensive connections with Boyd that were reported by Natco to the business press. Boyd it had been announced was going to take over Natco as CEO and owner of more than 90% of the shares in a reverse merger. Other Natco reports had said Gurm paid 200k to one million to Boyd for his technology. Somehow Gurm forgets to mention any of this. Also all references to the fraudulent spec (2,000 to 3,000 watts from a 3x5 ft solar panel) are gone. Certainly Gurm is distancing himself from Boyd and Lassen Energy, which is also not mentioned. Is Gurm trying to go legit?  Well not entirely, because there's this:

04/15/09
        Company funds additional testing and development of advanced Hybrid Solar Panel for certifications and proof of product under licensing agreement.

        My guess is that Gurm is going to try and sell a conventional solar plant in India, perhaps either built by or with technology from Capital Group Communication's client, Premier Power, though where the extensive funding is to come from is a total mystery. Meanwhile to keep up stockholder interest there continues to be vague talk about continued development of their terrific new solar panel.

Capital Group Communications P2Solar/Natco stock (5/25/09)
        Here is info (linked from Disclaimer page of Cheapsolarstocks web site) which shows how much P2Solar and Natco stocks Capital Group Communications owns, so any increase in the price of the stock benefits them directly. They state that they may sell stock (whose price they work to pump up) to the general public. Since Natco has evolved into P2Solar, it's not clear whether the 2 million Natco shares CGC owned were converted to P2Solar and are in addition to the P2Solar shares they list. (The price of P2Solar stock recently has been in the range of 25 to 50 cents a share.)

Corporate Name:           Natco International, Inc.
Symbol & Exchange:     OTCBB: NCII
Coverage Initiated:         March 24, 2007
Compensation:

        CGC has been compensated 1,500,000 shares of RULE 144 restricted common stock of NATCO International, Inc. for the coverage and dissemination of information and other consulting services. Our coverage initiated on March 24, 2007. CGC shares are freely tradable and CGC intends to sell shares to pay for services. There may be a conflict of interest as CGC may be selling its shares to cover expenses while still profiling the company. Please be aware that Any communications, profile and purchases while CGC has the ability to sell could create pressure on the stock.

Corporate Name:            P2Solar
Symbol & Exchange:     OTCBB: PTOS
Coverage Initiated:         March, 20 2009
Compensation:

        CGC has been compensated 500,000 shares of RULE 144 restricted common stock of P2Solar for the coverage and dissemination of information and other consulting services. CGC also receive 500,000 restricted shares for services rendered. Our coverage initiated on March 20, 2009.

Having it both ways ... P2Solar Annul Report Form 10-K filing (7/15/09)
        Quite a year --- no sales, no revenue, cash on hand is "nil", still in their tiny office (900/month rent), 2 million in debt. Only able to raise 230k of the one million they promised to pay con man Boyd to build and sell the non-existent Lassen solar panel in Hawaii and India. They carry the solar panel licence (even though they haven't fully paid for it) on their books as a one million dollar asset (oh, yea!).

        As I guessed earlier, P2Solar is trying to have it both ways. On the one hand they say they will spend the next year preparing to build and sell the new technology Lassen Solar Panels, but they leave themselves a trap door exit. The solar panel only becomes available, and they only have to pay the 770k they owe to Boyd for the license, after they receive a report from Interkek indicating that the Lassen Solar Panel has received Intertek Certification (elsewhere call UL approval) and has a power output of a "minimum of 1,500 watts". Then they say:

        "In the event that the Lassen Solar Panel is ready for commercial applications when the Company begins construction on the 25 Mega Watt power plant, the Company anticipates utilizing the Lassen Solar Panel in the project. However, if the Lassen Solar Panel is not yet ready for commercial applications, the Company will utilize currently available commercial solar panels for the construction of the project."

        It looks like all that Darry Boyd made out of this stock/licensing deal is 230k minus legal fees. Probably not the big haul he hoped for a year ago.

Big bucks
        Somebody probably making many million with this stock. According to the 7/1/5/09 10-k filing P2Solar has about 36 million shares outstanding. The stock recently his 70 cents a share, more than double a few months ago, so that's a capitalization of 25 million for this worthless piece of crap!  Can you say stock manipulation? They report 50 shareholders of record.

Other tidbids from 7/15/09 10-K
        -- The 200k paid to Boyd (of the 1 million owed for license) came from a private sale of more shares of P2Solar stock @ 30 cents/share + warrants.
        -- Lassen solar panel is still in "developmental stage".
        -- Plan to build factories to make solar panle, but will only start after the panel receives UL stamp (which of course means they never have to build the factories.)
        -- There's this amazing paragrah (under Products) of jibberish:

        "The Lassen Solar Panels are currently in the development stage and are not yet ready for commercial distribution.  Lassen is in the process of obtaining UL Certification for the Lassen Solar Panel.  The Lassen Solar Panels contain components which make use of a patent pending application of a technology called Multiple Energy Levels or MEL, which configures photovoltaic cells (PV) as a series of transistors instead of as diodes.

        The technology takes wavelength frequency to move a bucket of electrons through the junctions, which greatly improves photovoltaic efficiency. The panels use this increased efficiency as a catalyst to generate, in current prototypes, 400 watts per panel, with construction of new panels currently underway that are designed to produce 2000 to 3000 watts per panel.  A photovoltaic device (generally called a solar cell) consists of layers of semiconductor materials with different electronic properties. In a Lassen Solar Panel there are two parts. Part A, which we call “the cornerstone”, is a multi-junction, multi-layer device. Part B, which we call “the legacy”,  (in earlier filing Part A was the legacy!) has previously stored energy in it. Part A and B are tied together in a photosynthesis arrangement to release in excess of 2000 watts of energy."

        -- Once we begin manufacturing the Lassen Solar Panel, pursuant to the terms of the License Agreement, DBK is required to supply us with all of the necessary raw materials related to the manufacture of the Lassen Solar Panel.

        -- Once we begin manufacturing, distributing and selling the Lassen Solar Panel in the Licensed Territories, our initial primary customer will consist of DBK Corp. Pursuant to the terms of the License Agreement, the Company has the right, but not the obligation, to require DBK Corp. to purchase not less than 91% of the Lassen Solar Panels produced by the Company each quarter.

        (P2solar's supplier problems are solved because DBK must supply them with all the materials (& they have a licence and know how). P2Solar's customer problems are solved because DBK must buy at least 91% of what P2Solar manufacturers. What a deal, who thinks up this stuff? How come none of this was in the shareholder letter?)

        -- On the residential and commercial side, our chief competitors are British Petroleum and Shell, both of which have substantially greater financial, manpower, and marketing resources than we do.  Our ability to compete with them will be based solely on the hope that the Lassen Solar Panels are significantly technologically superior to any solar panels they develop. (Wait wasn't there weeks of testing and suspense last winter followed by confirmation that the solar panel tests were sucessful with the panel puting out its rated 3,000 watts. Now all of that is forgotten!)

        -- The company has no full or part time employees (& 25 million stock capitalization).

        -- The Company does not have sufficient assets or capital resources to pay its on-going expenses.  Additionally, the Company does not currently have the $770,000 to cover the final payment that will need to be paid pursuant to the terms of the License Agreement.

        -- Additionally, the Company anticipates that it will attempt to raise 2 to 3 million dollars through the sale of the Company’s securities to both cover the Company’s operating expenses, and to make the $770,000 payment pursuant to the License Agreement.  (whoops, more dilution comng)

        -- Our auditors' report on the March 31, 2009 financial statements includes an explanatory paragraph that states that as we have suffered recurring losses from operations, substantial doubt exists about our ability to continue as a going concern.

        -- The Company (as Natco) discontinued operations of its jewelry cleaners and accessories line due to lack of demand for the product in March 2006. The tire sealant operations were also discontinued in February 2007.

        --On November 28, 2008, the Company cancelled the reverse merger agreement with Lassen Energy and signed share exchange and licensing agreement with Lassen Energy, Inc.

       -- On January 13, 2009, the Company signed a Compensation Agreement with Capital Group Communications (“CGC”) of Sausalito, California, pursuant to which the Company agreed to compensate CGC for past consulting services rendered by CGC and for introduction to and assistance with the negotiations with Lassen Energy (as I had speculated) with the issuance of 500,000 shares of restricted common stock.  (Another 500,000 sharers were issued to CGC a couple of month later for a year of investment services)

        -- Ownership of P2Solar by insiders (March 09)
                    Gurm                            7.2 million shares            18.8%
                    Lassen Energy             8.9 million shares            24.5%  (in process of being cancelled)
                    Pidersky (director)     738 thousand                      2.0 %
                    Edblad (director)          0                                         0
                                                                                        ------------------
                                                                          Insiders total   45.3%

    (So with 25 million stock capitization, Gurn has equity of 5 million and Boyd maybe has 6 million, but supposedly the there is a long.... process to termination these shares because the reverse merger fell through).
Add to above 1 million or more shares owned by the PR/investor guys.

P2Solar update (11/6/09)
Use of motor loads
            Here are two (low resolution) photos from P2Solar web site I recently captured.

         While it's hard to see in these photos, the solar panel in this demonstration appears to be hooked up to three small motors on the table, which presumably are rotating using power supplied by the solar panel. In 2008 P2Solar (then Natco) announced the test results of its new solar panel: NATCO Announces Lassen Hybrid Solar Panel™ Is Independently Verified!, Dec 4, 2008. Motor were used to load the panel during these tests too, the announcement saying: "six (6)-half (1/2) horsepower Dayton motors and four (4)-500 watt Lithonia lights were attached to the panel."

        It's possible the motors in the pictures are the same 1/2 hp powers used in the panel test. A 1/2 hp motor can do about 1/3rd kw of mechanical work (1 hp <=> 746 watt), so how much power do you think is flowing from the panel to the three motors? 1 kw? Nope, more like 50 to 100 watt total for all three motors! Why so low? Because [Power = Torque x Speed] and the motors appear to have nothing connected to their rotating shafts. This means the torque load on the motor is very low, so with Torque low Power is low even though Speed may be high.

        Bottom line --- The three motors shown, even though they may be spinning fast, are probably all running on only 50 to 100 watts (total) from the panel. Any solar panel this size can easily output 50 to 100 watts. Some demo! The use of motor loads may look impressive, but can be very deceptive because if a motor is unloaded it will draw only a tiny fraction of its nameplate power.

        So an interesting question is why does P2Solar use motors both to show off its panel and to test it? I think the answer is obvious.

Update Lassen energy project --- 200 MW solar field
        Here's a recent screen capture from (as you see from the URL) P2Solar.com discussing the upcoming 200 MW Lassen energy project..

Several things are interesting here.

        Notice planned ground breaking on the 200 MW world's largest solar field (in USA, Lassen county is in the northeast corner of CA) is less then two months away from screen capture date and the link to the project has recently gone from the P2Solar home site.  So where did the above screen come from? I stumbled on the link to above via CheapSolarStocks (another P2Solar site).

        The link to the world's largest solar project just disappears from the P2Solar page a couple of months before planned ground breaking. Oh, yea! Well, the end of 2009 was the latest date for ground breaking, previous announcements had it at end of 2008 and even before that. Also I never see a delay announcement for the Lassen project, it's just the next time I look the ground breaking has moved out another year.

        Notice also it states it was to be built using the Lassen Hybrid Solar Panels. These are the solar panels that supposedly have been verified (to P2Solar's satisfaction!) as being able to operate at greater than 100% efficiency. I don't think so babe! Gee, do you think that the fact that the project was planned around solar panels that violate the laws of physics has an bearing on the repeated delays of the project?

P2Solar shill
           Wall Street Journal article: India’s Big Push for Solar Power (and Coal) June 17, 2009. Here one of the six posted comments to the article (nothing like being subtle)

SolarSon wrote:

There’s a company that trades on the otcbb caleed p2solar (symbol=ptos) P2 Solar is currently working on its initial approval to construct a 25 MW Solar Power Station in Punjab, India. It is only phase 1 of a much larger planned Power Station for the region. It is my opinion that this company is a reeeaaaaalllllllllll sleeper…
 

       Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company is now required to pay the remaining $770,000, ninety (90) days after the Company receives a report from Lassen indicating that the Lassen Solar Panel has received Intertek Certification and has a power output of a minimum of 1500 watts. (Form 10-Q 11/19/09)

Intertek
       I was not familiar with Intertek so I checked their web site. They do in fact offer at a test facility in CA safety and EMC certification of photovoltaic panels along with performance and efficiency testing. The link below lists the photovoltaic services they offer. You can buy what you want from them. If you request safety certification or EMC testing, then that's what you get. (The type of test would require the panel to be loaded to 100% capacity, but that number depends on what Boyd tell Intertek is the panel's power rating.) You get efficiency and power testing only if you request and pay for it.

                  http://www.intertek.com/energy/photovoltaic/

Another way to fake it
        Note the 10-Q wording--- "report from Lassen indicating that the Lassen Solar Panel has received Intertek Certification and has a power output of a minimum of 1500 watts".

        This wording, as I read it, is a little vague as to what Intertek must certify. For example, Boyd could deliver to Gurm a report showing Intertek has done some testing and that it 'certifies' the panel for, say safety or EMC, but [power out > 1,500 watts] certification is provided not by Intertek, but by Boyd who 'self certifies' (regulatory jargon) as manufacturer. Essentially Boyd just types up on fancy paper stating that the panel manufacturer (which is him, because he has likely modified a conventional panel in some way) 'certifies' the power out, perhaps with some perfunctory test description, and adds it to the report. Self certification is not uncommon when safety is not involved. The fact that this is a 'self certification' might either be omitted or relegated to a footnote. Regulatory testing is full of confusing jargon and standards. Would Gurm, or anyone without a background in electronics, pick up on a feint like this. Maybe, or maybe not.

An aside --- The power level of the miracle panel keeps dropping  -- DBK spec was 3,000 watts, then discussion had it at 2,500 watts, now it's down to 1,500 watts, but it matters little to its feasibility, since 1,500 watt (if light is unconcentrated) still implies  > 100% efficiency for a 5 x 3 ft solar panel.