The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has recently shown the latest results of the research projects made by Italian oil company Eni, regarding paper-thin solar cells. These could be used as window covers, to harvest solar power.
Industrial fertilizer production facilities produce ammonia, which is both toxic and odorous. Removing it from the air usually costs a lot, so better ways have to be found.
According to the researchers, zinc batteries could soon revolutionize electric vehicles. Researcher John Cooper is convinced that the common metal zinc is the future of transportation. "It's a power source for refuel able electrical vehicles you can use 24/7 if you wish," Cooper said.
So far, diamonds had always been considered perfect for making jewelery or for cutting through the toughest materials on earth. Still, due to their perfect carbonic structure, diamonds prove themselves very good electric insulators and in some cases can act just like a semiconductor.
According to Oerlikon Solar, the new equipment will help in mass-producing low cost thin film silicon solar modules. This will be possible because of the thinner silicon layer requirements, reducing material costs.
The National Ignition Facility is a 3-stadiums-wide building, and a part of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, whose main interest is to make nuclear fusion possible. On Sep. 29, the $3.5 billion laser machine inside the NIF has proved the theory was right by firing its 192 laser beams on a tiny frozen hydrogen pellet, producing the fusion of some tritium and deuterium atoms.
Cost-efficient and energy-efficient solar cells could be right around the corner. These so-called "third-generation" photovoltaics begin to emerge nowadays and dismiss a theory stated in 1961 by William Shockley and Hans Queisser, who showed that there is a theoretical 31 percent limitation in what regards the maximum efficiency for a single solar cell.
A new plastic film from 3M could revolutionize the way solar panels are built and seriously affect their cost-effectiveness and market share. The company says it can replace the classic glass and is more protective to solar cells than glass is, making the solar power investment worthwhile.
A group of researchers from MIT's Field and Space Robotics Laboratory (FSRL) in the Department of Mechanical Engineering found a new way to combat the lack of potable water from disaster zones and remote regions.
SunHydro, a hydrogen refueling company is launching their first hydrogen station that will be open to the public. The refueling point will be made available starting Friday in Connecticut, USA, in an attempt of the firm to create a chain of hydrogen refueling stations from Maine to Florida.
