CalTech Researchers Creating Near-Perfect Silicon Nanowire Solar Cell
A team of researchers from the California Institute of Technology have invented a new type of solar cell whose active ingredients are nanometer-sized silicon wires. The solar cell they prototyped thus uses only a small fraction of the silicon used to make conventional solar cell, the rest being made of a polymer.
CUESS: 3 Times Cheaper, 4 Times More Efficient Concentrated Photovoltaic/Thermal Array
Using cheaper materials and latest technology scientists have managed to create a new type of concentrating array, three times cheaper and four times more efficient than any other solar cells. Researchers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology have explained why this technology is so efficient by listing some key components and explaining how they work.
Europe's Biggest Solar Power Plant to Open in Italy This Year
Europe's largest solar plant (an area as large as 120 football pitches) will go online in Italy later this year. Located in northeastern Italy, in the province of Rovigo, the plant will generate 72 megawatts and will take up 850,000 square metres.
Colorado Company Uses Concentrated Solar Power to Transform Biomass into Gasoline
Sundrop Fuels, a Louisville, CO, -based company has developed a method of using concentrated solar power to heat the biomass to 1200 or 1300 ºC, and even produce syngas more efficiently than the standard technology, which uses only 30 to 35 percent of the biomass.
Pea Plants Providing Inspiration for Artificial Solar Cells
Trying to imitate the plants and the way they produce energy when hit by light, Prof. Nathan Nelson of Tel Aviv University's Department of Biochemistry discovered a complex membrane protein and founded a new model for developing "green energy", having this membrane at its core.
Saw-Free Manufacturing Process Makes Solar Cells 80% Cheaper
1366 Technologies, a company based in Lexington, MA, shows how a new manufacturing process can make silicon solar cells 80 percent cheaper. The company dreams that within 10 years they will be able to improve the technology so as the solar cells built by them to compete with coal in price.
ComEd's New Solar Energy Project for Chicago Homes Proposes Smarter Grid
ComEd, a Chicago-based utility company has come up with a new solar energy pilot that will outfit about 100 Chicago-area homes with solar panels and â€Ã…“at least 50 of those with battery backup, 'smart' meters, net metering and a grid-tied status that enables them to send unused electric energy from their solar energy systems back to the grid.â€
France's Largest Photovoltaic Solar Power Plant to be Built In Abandoned NATO Site
The world's largest photovoltaic solar power plant will be built by the French energy giant EDF. The company hopes to open the plant by 2012, being located at an abandoned NATO air base (415 hectare site in Toul-Rosieres, near the eastern city of Metz).
Google Improving Mirror Technology For Making Solar Concentrators 2x Cheaper
Besides its search engine activities, Google focused on producing alternative energy technologies, or improving the existing ones. So is the case now, when Google developed a new mirror technology that could help solar companies like eSolar or BrightSource make cheaper and better solar thermal plants.
PlanetSolar: The World's Biggest Solar-Powered Multi-Hull Vessel Released
The world's biggest vessel powered entirely by solar energy has been unveiled in Germany. Measuring about 31m in length, the new catamaran called PlanetSolar is able to achieve a top speed of about 25 km/h (15 knots) and can carry 50 people.
