Posts Tagged Solar Power

British Government Doubles Renewable Energy Incentives For Households

Posted by Mila Luleva in Energy news on May 21, 2013

The British government is expected to announce an increase in the one-off payments to help households switch to renewable energy sources. The measure will be taken as the implementation of governmental renewable heat incentive scheme (RHI) has been postponed until 2014. Initially scheduled to be launched this summer, RHI was supposed to stimulate people to [...]

EU to Tax Chinese Solar Panel Imports Starting June

Posted by Mila Luleva in Green Policy, Solar Power on May 20, 2013

The European Commission (EC) announced last week that they will impose import duties and hefty penalties on half of the solar panels from China in June. In response, Chinese officials stated that these could have serious implications on China-Europe trade relations. Following up on the recently reported issue regarding low cost imports of solar panels [...]

Mogadishu a Safer Place Thanks to Solar Powered Street Lights

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Solar Power on May 18, 2013

Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, is now a safer place to live thanks to solar-powered streetlights installed by the British and Norwegian government. The lights, spreading over a length of 15 kilometers, cost $400,000. After 20 years of conflict, the people of Mogadishu have started to rebuild their lives and the local economy to prosper. If only [...]

Window Socket Sticks to Windows and Solar-Powers Gadgets

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Green Electronics, Power Saving, Solar Power on May 2, 2013

Ever wanted to harness that free energy coming from the Sun and put it into your gadget? If this project succeeds, all you have to do it plug the cord into your window, and the thing will charge! Sounds weird, right? Not that weird, if you take into account that the Window Socket, designed by [...]

California’s Solar Jobs More Plentiful Than Actors

Posted by Leigh Kim in Solar Power on April 29, 2013

Today, the Solar Foundation released an interactive map that details where in the United States solar jobs are located. No surprise, the leader was California. In addition to comparing solar jobs in different states (ex. 50 solar jobs in Wyoming vs. 43,000 in California), the map provides information about the number of companies operating, solar [...]

Atwater’s Light-Splitting Solar Cell Could Be 50% Efficient

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Solar Power on April 24, 2013

The ability to dissociate light into fundamental colors could make today’s solar panels 50 percent efficient. If you compare this figure to the 20 percent efficiency found in many solar cells on the market, that’s a game-changer. Harry Atwater, a professor of materials science and applied physics at Caltech thinks he has the solution. The [...]

Nano Device Based on AcrB Protein Offers Solar-Powered Water Filtering

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Water Purifiers on April 24, 2013

A new nano-filter powered by sunlight can clean large bodies of water from antibiotics and carcinogens. The device, developed by the University of Cincinnati, is much more effective than the activated carbon that’s currently being used for this purpose. Two bacterial proteins absorb about 64 percent of the antibiotics in surface water. For a comparison, [...]

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 [...]

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, [...]

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 [...]

Recyclable Organic Solar Cell Hits New Efficiency Record at 2.7%

Posted by Benji Jerew in Recycling, Solar Power on March 26, 2013

Photovoltaic organic solar cells have the potential to be truly green, but often their manufacturing processes are not so green. Petroleum- and silicon-based solar cells can be bad for the environment and nearly impossible to recycle. One possible solution to creating a truly green solar cell could be to use natural materials. On the other [...]

10 Ways Solar Power Can Benefit Your Farm and Garden

Posted by Mila Luleva in Solar Power on March 23, 2013

We all love to read how green technology can be used in our day-to-day activities and help us preserve the environment and save all that important money at the same time. Threehugger published a great piece by Derek Markham showing useful ways to use solar-powered devices on your farm or in your garden, and we could [...]

Uganda Gets Solar Powered Cell Phones at Price of an SMS

Posted by Mila Luleva in Solar Power on March 19, 2013

The importance of cell phones in many rural areas in Africa is increasing with more and more people starting to rely heavily on them. However, a limited access to he power grid, makes it difficult to have the life-saving device constantly charged. In addition, in many of these areas, charging a mobile phone could be [...]

Shams 1: World’s Largest CSP Operates in The Middle East

Posted by Mila Luleva in Solar Power on March 19, 2013

The world’s biggest concentrated solar power plant has gone online in the United Arab Emirates yesterday. ‘Shams 1‘ was designed and developed by Shams Power Company, and is owned by the giants in the industry – Masdar, Abengoa Solar and Total. Located in the richest in oil reserves Middle East, the power plant covers an area of [...]