Archive for category Solar Power

Nanotech Hybrid Solar Cell Generates Electricity from Both Light and Sound

Posted by Benji Jerew in Experiments, Piezoelectric, Solar Power on April 18, 2013

A new nanotech hybrid solar cell developed by Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology and Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea, generates electricity from light as well as from sound. “The best of both worlds” is a common term when it comes to combining two different technologies, such as electric motors and gasoline engines in hybrid vehicles. [...]

Thin Film Solar Cells to Get Printed on Water: New Technology

Posted by Benji Jerew in Solar Power on April 18, 2013

With the ability to put solar power anywhere just like a bumper sticker, the possibilities for solar power just expanded. Thin-film solar power, it was thought, were as thin as could be, but a combination of processes developed jointly between Stanford University and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory [NREL] is bringing thin-ness to a whole [...]

BYD Expanding Renewable Energy Storage into Australia

Posted by Benji Jerew in Energy Storage, Solar Power on April 15, 2013

By 2030, Australia could be 100% renewable, but without renewable energy storage when the sun goes down, all that development could be a partially wasted effort. Renewable energy depends a lot on the weather. If the sun doesn’t shine, solar panels go dead. If the rain doesn’t fall, reservoirs behind hydroelectric dams go low and [...]

International Solar Manufacturers Against EU’s Tariffs For Chinese Imports

Posted by Mila Luleva in Solar Power on April 12, 2013

Over 1000 international solar manufacturing companies have submitted a joint complaint to the European Commission urging them not to continue with their plan to impose tariffs on solar panels imported from China. It is hugely speculated that after launching an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation against unfair subsidies for Chinese solar makers, EU will now follow [...]

Innovative Solar Power Process Maximizes Energy Content of Natural Gas

Posted by Leigh Kim in Solar Power on April 12, 2013

The Energy Department plans to use the sun’s heat to increase the energy content of natural gas and is preparing to test a new way for solar power to make electricity. Researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are conducting extensive testing they hope will reveal a process that might reduce the amount of natural [...]

Artificial Leaf Generates Hydrogen, Even in Contaminated Water

Posted by Benji Jerew in Hydrogen Power, Solar Power on April 11, 2013

Daniel Nocera, previously of MIT and now Harvard, once called the artificial leaf “one of the Holy Grails of science,” but what if it was improved even further? In all green trees and plants, photosynthesis uses energy from the sun to split water into oxygen gas and hydrocarbons, that is, sugars which the tree uses [...]

“Energetic Energies” Solar Panel Design Unveiled at Milan Design Week

Posted by Mike Sandru in Green Designs, Solar Power on April 10, 2013

Panasonic will soon be revealing its Akihisa Hirata-designed “Energetic Energies” exhibition during Milan Design Week. The structure, measuring about 30 meters in length, is installed underneath the University of Milano’s Largo Richini Portico and is made up of a large number of solar panels spread over a depiction of the rooftops of a city. Japanese [...]

Nanowire Solar Panel More Efficient at No Additional Cost

Posted by Benji Jerew in Solar Power on April 9, 2013

Solar installation prices continue to fall as solar panel manufacturers add to the glut of solar panels on the market already. The standard silicon-based solar panel is no more efficient than before, and there are just too many on the market to make a profit. Other technologies could make solar panels more efficient, but not [...]

How to Make a Solar Oven From a Cardboard Box in 5 Steps

Posted by Mila Luleva in How to..., Solar Power on April 8, 2013

Are you tired from the old oven at home, which seems to be consuming incredible amounts of electricity? If yes, then you will definitely enjoy the following tutorial. We would like to show you how to utilize a tempered glass picture frame (or simply a regular glass one), some newspapers, a roll of aluminum foil, [...]

Molten Salt Solar Thermal Power Plant on Track for Completion

Posted by Leigh Kim in Solar Power on April 7, 2013

This month, workers finished placing receiver panels on top of a 540-foot tower that forms the centerpiece of the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Plant in Tonopah, Nevada. When completed, the solar energy plant, based on molten salt thermal technology, will be the first of its kind in the world. Crescent Dunes uses thousands of special [...]

Tûranor Solar Boat Has a New Mission Studying Climate Change

Posted by Benji Jerew in Climate Change, Experiments, Solar Power on April 4, 2013

What started as a proof-of-concept – PlanetSolar’s Tûranor solar boat recently circumnavigated the globe – is now setting sail again on a research mission in the Atlantic Ocean’s Gulf Stream. PlanetSolar wasn’t really sure what it was going to do with the 115ft solar boat once it had gone around the world completely on solar [...]

Solar-Powered Wind Turbines: An Idea Developed at Liverpool University

Posted by Mike Sandru in Solar Power, Wind Power on April 3, 2013

Researchers at the University of Liverpool have developed the ultimate renewable energy-generating structure, by incorporating solar panels on regular wind turbines. The team developed the idea of using solar blades on conventional wind turbines to answer critics who claim that wind turbines are only beneficial while the wind blows. The technology thus makes it possible [...]

Roads Covered by Solar Panels Could Boost Energy Production in India

Posted by Mila Luleva in Solar Power on April 2, 2013

An initiative to cover main roads and highways with solar power module platforms was proposed by scientists at the Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI) in India. The technology will not only generate large amounts of electricity, but will also help governmental officials save money on buying expensive land for solar farms. The team of [...]

Solar Modules Have Great Efficiency Potential, NREL Director Says

Posted by Mila Luleva in Solar Power on April 1, 2013

All solar modules and solar cells have the potential to get a boost in efficiency, especially thin-film solar and concentrated photovoltaics. This is according to Dan Arvizu, the director of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), who presented his observations during the 2013 International Renewable Energy Conference in Abu Dhabi. Although thin-film solar panels have [...]

Nanostructured Photonic Materials Cool Buildings With Solar Power

Posted by Mila Luleva in Solar Power on March 29, 2013

An innovative technology by engineers at Stanford functions like an air-conditioning system, but it is made of nanostructured photonic materials. The so-called “passive solar radiator” can cool any building even when the sun is shining brightly. According to the researchers, who published a study in the latest issue of Nano Letters, the system can be [...]