Archive for category Solar Power

Solar Cells Efficiency Boosted by Flexible Plastic Nanostructures

Posted by Mila Luleva in Solar Power on December 7, 2012

Cheap and flexible tiny plastic devices hold the key to three times better efficiency of organic solar cells, according to scientists at Princeton. The team led by Stephen Chou, an electrical engineer used metal and plastic sandwich-like nanostructure that collects light. The increase in efficiency was estimated to be 175%. Chou is certain that this [...]

Israeli Company Uses Solar Energy to Convert CO2 to Biofuel

Posted by Leigh Kim in Solar Power on December 7, 2012

Professor Jacob Karni, long considered Israel’s solar energy authority, has created his own company, NewCO2Fuels, to build a solar reactor. His goal: use energy collected from the sun in order to decrease coal-burning industry pollution. Karni believes that Australian brown coal is a good source of energy. It is found on the surface of the [...]

Proposed Solar Zone in California May Lead to Future Solar Development

Posted by Leigh Kim in Solar Power on December 7, 2012

California’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has released its Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Proposed California Desert Conservation Plan Amendment. The documents were the result of a comprehensive study to evaluate opening an area of the California desert dedicated to developing and testing renewable energy. The BLM recommended creating a new “solar energy zone” [...]

Triple-Junction Compound Solar Cell Gives Record Conversion Efficiency

Posted by Mila Luleva in Solar Power on December 6, 2012

A triple-junction compound solar cell, with three stacked photo-absorption layers, has the highest conversion efficiency. This incredible achievement came from a research and development initiative at Sharp Corporation. It is promoted by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) on the theme of “R&D on Innovative Solar Cells. The new world record of [...]

Apple’s Data Center and the Clean Energy Paradox

Posted by Leigh Kim in Biogas, Energy news, Solar Power on December 6, 2012

According to the North Carolina Utility Commission, Apple intends to double the amount of fuel cells it will use at its data center in Maiden, North Carolina. In November, Apple filed to increase its fuel cell size but kept the endeavor completely confidential. Bloom Energy is installing 50 Bloom boxes for Apple to produce 10 [...]

Organic Solar Cells With Cobalt Electrolyte Outperforming Silicon PVs

Posted by Leigh Kim in Solar Power on December 5, 2012

There’s no way around it. Photovoltaics, while incredibly energy efficient, are expensive. In sharp contrast, dye-based solar cells seem to be a cheaper alternative to traditional solar cells. Looking especially promising are tandem cells made up of a conventional n-type and a p-type dye-sensitive solar cell. P-type cells are different than traditional n-type dye sensitive [...]

Installation Prices for Solar Power Devices Dropped 14% in 2011

Posted by Mike Sandru in Solar Power on December 4, 2012

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has made public a study regarding the dropping of prices in the case of solar power installations. In 2011 and the first half of 2012, the above mentioned prices have fallen within the ranges of 11-14%. The first six months of 2012 have brought an even bigger decrease in the [...]

Green Roofs May Boost Solar Cell Efficiency

Posted by Janina Lazo in Solar Power on December 4, 2012

Apart from providing improved insulation to buildings, lowering power consumption (by as much as 6%), providing habitat for some animals, filtering out air pollutants, and lowering ambient temperature, green roofs may also improve solar cells’ performance. Two separate studies have been investigating the synergistic effect of green roofs to solar panels and have shown to [...]

World Food Crisis Solved By Desert Farming?

Posted by Leigh Kim in Solar Power on November 30, 2012

Dreamed up and designed by a 62 year old London theater lighting engineer and led by a 33 year old German former Goldman Sachs banker, Sundrop Farms in Port Augusta Australia is growing food in the desert. Sundrop Farms is beyond the experimental stage and has successfully produced agriculture in an environment usually hostile to growing much [...]

Revolutionary Solar Cell Absorbs More Sunlight, More Efficiently

Posted by Janina Lazo in Solar Power on November 29, 2012

Based on a computer model developed by MIT engineers, it is possible to capture a broad spectrum of sunlight using a very thin film (about 6 Angstroms) of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) that is poked with a microscopic needle at the center, creating a field of varying (non-uniform) elastic strain, and thus, varying band gap across [...]

Residential Solar Installations Getting Cheaper

Posted by Benji Jerew in Solar Power on November 29, 2012

Thousands of homes in the US have already benefited from localized solar installations, and with the help of tax incentives, perhaps millions more could do the same. But, some may balk, even with incentives, solar installations are expensive up front. However, according to a report released by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, “Tracking the Sun,” [...]

New Trend: Pot Growers Using Solar Power Instead of Grid

Posted by Mila Luleva in Solar Power on November 28, 2012

Solar energy has turned into an off-grid power source for illegal growing of marijuana. Despite the expensive solar panels, increasing number of growers invest in them to avoid being detected by law enforcement officials. Robert McDonald, a Lt. from New Mexico State Police points out that this increase in the use of solar energy is [...]

Concentrated Solar Photovoltaics Reduce Long-term Solar Energy Costs

Posted by Mila Luleva in Solar Power on November 25, 2012

RayGen Reseources, a company that provides solar power services, based in Melbourne, was granted a funding of $1.6 million to produce a 2kW concentrated solar photovoltaic (CPV) prototype and a 200kW pilot plant. The new technology is the first ever to combine high efficiency solar cells and a low cost heliostat collector system. This technology [...]

HydroICE Solar-Powered Engine May Compete with Photovoltaic Panels

Posted by Leigh Kim in Efficient engines, Solar Power on November 24, 2012

Imagine an internal combustion engine that runs on solar-heated oil and water instead of gasoline. Sound crazy? Two Missouri-based inventors Ben Cooper and Matt Bellue have designed a non-traditional combustible engine that could provide clean energy once hooked up to a generator. The inventors have already built a prototype they call HydroICE, short for Hydro [...]

Nanoscale Rainbow Manipulation to Improve Solar Cells and LEDs

Posted by Leigh Kim in Green Electronics, Solar Power on November 22, 2012

Solar cells and LED displays may get new life, thanks to researchers at King’s College London. The Biophysics and Nanotechnology Group can now separate colors and manipulate rainbows using nanoscale structures on a metal surface. Using specifically designed nanostructures, researchers trapped different colored light in different positions on a nanostructured area. They could then use [...]