United States' Largest PV Power Plant Goes Online In Nevada
About 40 miles southeast of Las Vegas, in Boulder City, Nevada, the largest photovoltaic power plant in the US went online last week. The 48-MW Copper Mountain Solar Facility was set up for construction in January, this year, and on Dec 1st, Sempra Generation had announced the completion of its facility and was already up and running.
Brazil Making Huge Progress in the Wind Energy Sector
The renewable energy capacity in Brazil will grow with over 400 MW of wind power. The amount will be provided by GE Energy, a first-rate US provider of power systems and energy services, which had won the supplying commitments in a previous auction last year.
Innowattech Applying Piezoelectric Technology To Railroad Tracks For Electricity Generation
After modifying Israeli highways to produce energy from piezoelectric pads installed beneath the asphalt, Innowattech, an Israel-based company, now applied their technology on railroads.
Wasps Convert Sunlight Into Electricity, Offering Inspiration For Organic Solar Cells
An interesting observation on the way wasps live and how their body works led some UK and Israeli scientists to the conclusion that they may be harnessing solar power just like a photovoltaic solar cell.
Tobacco Virus Could Enhance Lithium Ion Batteries' Capacity Tenfold
Viruses, even if they have a bad reputation as the most versatile and destructive forces for anything alive, have their good parts, too. Now, for instance, an interdisciplinary team of scientists from the University of Maryland have a clue on how to use a virus called TMV (Tobacco Mosaic Virus) to enhance lithium ion batteries' capacity tenfold. And they're not joking.
New Polymer Solar Cell Coating Technology Yields 20% Increase In Efficiency
A new solar cell manufacturing technology that uses a thin and uniform light-absorbing layer has been developed by Iowa State University and Ames Laboratory researchers. The thin layer is to be deposited on textured substrates and has been proved to increase the efficiency of polymer solar cells.
Netherlands' First Public Hydrogen Fueling Station Officially Opened
The gas station also has a small-scale factory for converting the gas into hydrogen, which is stored in compressed form. The hydrogen fuel is fed through a special hose, just like ordinary LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) and then converted in energy by means of fuel cell technology in the cars.
Spanish Wind Power Companies Join Efforts For Building 15 MW Wind Turbine
Gamesa, Iberdrola and Acciona are some of the Spanish companies that have strengthened their positions on the global wind market. Last week, Spain announced a project that will secure its role as the front runner in the renewable energy sector.
Wing Waves: Harvesting Wave Power By Swinging Beneath The Surface
A wave power test plant has been deployed on Nov. 17 two miles offshore of Fort Pierce, Fla., and is now being tested by its designers, researchers from Florida Institute of Technology's College of Engineering. The power plant has been named "Wing Waves," and works by harvesting the elliptical motion of waves 30 to 60 feet deep, and converting it into electricity.
Thousands of U.S.-Based Jobs In The Solar Energy Industry Will Be Created in 2011
The Solar Foundation, a nonprofit organization, has good news for whoever is looking for a job career in the clean energy industry, reporting that thousands of solar jobs will be created in 2011. The fact is based on a census of American workers estimating a number of 24,000 positions to be available in the year to come.
