Reducing Platinum and Adding Gold: Three Inventions That Increase Fuel Cell Efficiency and Decrease...
Fuel cells are indispensable for hydrogen powered cars, and it looks like hydrogen may be the ultimate energy storage that meets all the demands of a clean "fuel" (though it's only a carrier, not a fuel). Fuel cells, are expensive, though, and their price is due to platinum, which is a rare metal.
Fraunhofer Researchers Developing 41.1% Efficient Solar Panels
They used Fresnel lenses situated 10 cm apart from stacked layers of solar cells. The metamorphic triple-junction solar cells consist of gallium indium phosphide, gallium indium arsenide and germanium semiconductors. The efficiency of these cells is dazzling: 41.1 percent - higher than ever before. The two scientists even for the 2010 Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize.
Solar Powered Windows From Pythagoras Solar Both Transparent and Productive
Some solar energy adopters wish to use their solar panels in the classic manner - installed on a roof or in their backyard. Still, there are situations where installing a flat solar panel is near to impossible, due to space limitations in places like corporate buildings or where aesthetics matters.
New Catalyst for Electrolysis Reduces Costs by 97% and Increases Hydrogen Production Fourfold
Hydrogen, the cleanest energy storage in the Universe, is most of the time associated with high costs, although it is extracted from water, which is the cheapest yet the most precious element to life. Extracting hydrogen from water is done through a method called electrolysis, but doing electrolysis efficiently requires the usage of catalysts such as platinum, which is very expensive.
Optical Fibers Mounted Upright on Organic Solar Cells Doubling Their Efficiency
Right now organic solar cells, although cheap, are too inefficient to compete with silicon-based ones. A team of researchers from Wake Forest University in North Carolina have developed a practical method of doubling the efficiency of organic (or dye-sensitized) solar cells by adding a layer of upright optical fibers acting as sunlight traps.
Ignitor: MIT-Designed Fusion Reactor, Built in Italy and Assembled in Russia, Better Than ITER
Originally designed for studying astrophysics, a fusion reactor of the MIT from the 1970s, called "Alcator", could be the base of another one to be installed in Russia and managed by Bruno Coppi. The new reactor is called Ignitor and, as far as the plans sound, it is ready to surpass ITER as both performance and time to go into production.
Daniel Nocera Coming Back With Better Material for Splitting Water
Daniel Nocera, a face we see more and more often on the stage of alternative energy, along with postdoctoral researcher Mircea Dinca and graduate...
Japanese Joint Venture Proposes EVs as Buffer for Nighttime Excess Wind Power
As electric vehicles seem to increase their market share in the next few years, alternative energy companies think of methods to store the excess power produced during the night, when electricity utilities don't buy their energy, because of reduced consumption.
By Increasing Transmittance to 99%, New Anti-Glare Treatment Makes Glass Perfect for Solar Cells
Their newly-invented treated glass features a transmittance of at least 97 percent, which could be good for using in solar panels. The company says that the use of their glass could enhance the efficiency of solar cells by 2 to 3 percent.
New Ultracentrifugal Processing Technology from Japan to Improve Li-Ion Batteries
Lithium ion batteries have been on the mainstream of electricity storage for a while, providing power for applications ranging from mobile phones to electric/hybrid cars. Still, lithium ion batteries need further development that would further increase their capacity and lifetime.
