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Yearly Archives: 2010
Plasmonic Thin Film Solar Cells Producing 30% More Electricity Than Non-Treated Ones
Kylie Catchpole (image), from the Australian National University in Canberra, working to make thin film solar cells more efficient, discovered that nanoparticles of silver deposited on the surface of a thin-film solar cell would not reflect the incident light back, but instead it would deflect the photons so they bounce back and forth withing the cell, allowing longer wavelengths to be absorbed.
Graphene Flakes With Attached Brushes Improving Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
Until now, graphene could have theoretically been incorporated into the dye used to make the Graetzel cell to improve its efficiency, but what stopped the scientists to do that was that it always clumped together, forming graphite, which is of no use for a solar cell.
Microbial Fuel Cell Could Propel Navy Ships for Years, Feeding on Sea Microorganisms
The microbial fuel cell is meant to use naturally occurring fuels and oxidants in the sea to power ships, replacing batteries and fossil fuels.
Danish Hotel Gives Free Meal to Anyone Cycling for 15 Minutes in Their Gym
While pointless as a way to really change something in the course of pollution reduction, a Danish hotel found a way to both motivate their customers to go green by pedaling and give them a free $36 meal voucher.
Puffin Personal Air Vehicle – Designed by NASA, Powered by Electricity
Any resemblance between the machinery on the right and the puffin on the left? None? Well, there may be some resemblance, considering their sizes - almost anybody wouldn't see them flying... but they do.
Nissan Plans to Recycle Old EV Batteries to Wind Power Industry
To greenify their car-supported existence, Nissan has taken the decision to recycle all the old batteries from electric cars by giving them to wind farm developers - of course, at a low price.
Future Solar Cells Made of Bismuth Ferrite Could Yield Higher Voltages
Scientists from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found a way to use a ceramic material made from bismuth, iron and oxygen (bismuth ferrite) to fabricate solar cells in a fashion that nobody ever tried to do. They even have results yielding high voltages out of their material.
36.1 Percent: The Most Efficient Solar Panel Made by Delaware Researchers
Their system consisted of a lens, a dichroic mirror, and two two-cell stacks sponsored by the NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory), achieving probably "the highest efficiency yet measured for the experimental conversion of sunlight to electricity by any means."
60 Year-Old, World's First Semiconductor Solar Cell Found in UK Antique Store
The contraption has been found in the UK, somewhere in Surrey, by antiques dealer Fred Nickson (owning Chiltern Antiques in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire), who bought it from a distant relative of the builder, who is still unknown.
Rice Husks Making Cement Become Less Of a Polluter
Cement is made by heating limestone with clay at high temperatures, and is responsible for 5 percent of the global carbon dioxide emissions, with a ton of CO2 released for every ton of cement produced. To reduce that figure, a team of researchers from the University of Dundee in UK, developed an environmentally-friendly cement made of waste organic materials, such as rice husks.
