photovoltaic Archives – The Green Optimistic

ARPA-E-backed Hybrid Solar Cells Make Better Use of Light, Day or Night

Benji Jerew — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 15:02:48 +0000

Earth gets the equivalent of 84TWh/day in solar power at the surface, but current technology doesn’t allow us to collect it all, which is a shame, because the energy consumption of the entire planet is just 12TWh/day. Part of the problem is that solar power is intermittent, that is, it can only generate electricity during […]

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Nanotech Solar Cells being Developed by RedWave Energy

Benji Jerew — Mon, 13 May 2013 20:35:17 +0000

Energy is all around us, but harvesting it remains an issue if we are going to really clean up our act. Nanotech solar cells promise to harvest energy more efficiently and turn it into something we can use. We’ve talked before about how nanotech might improve current solar panel efficiency. One such technology developed by […]

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Single Atomic Layer Photovoltaic Device May Lead to Flexible Solar Cells

Leigh Hutchens — Tue, 07 May 2013 00:01:01 +0000

An international team of researchers from the University of Oxford, National University of Singapore, and the University of Boston have developed an atom-thin photovoltaic device with high quantum efficiency. With a quantum efficiency of 30%, or, translated into layman’s terms, the number of photons converted into charge-carrying electrons, the researchers hope the end result will […]

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Graphene and Monolayers For More Efficient Solar Cells

Benji Jerew — Fri, 03 May 2013 15:45:11 +0000

With all the talk about nanomaterials making up more efficient solar cells, most of the focus has been on graphene and its unique properties. It’s easy to forget that other elements could possibly be manufactured similarly. It stands to reason that if you can make one element into a monolayer, then you should be able […]

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IBM’s Photovoltaic Prototype Can Concentrate the Power of 2000 Suns

Leigh Hutchens — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 03:11:54 +0000

IBM Researchers have built a low-cost prototype solar dish that produces electricity and generates heat for desalination or cooling. IBM got the idea for the solar dish from the water cooling technology used in its high-end computers. The Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation has provided $2.4 million worth of funding to IBM, Swiss researchers, […]

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Solar Power Conversion Efficiency Limits Broken, Nanowires Win

Benji Jerew — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 19:19:57 +0000

With the development of nanotechnology, researchers using nanowires in solar cells are finding that solar cell efficiency limits may be higher than they previously thought possible. Current commercial silicon-based solar cell efficiency is less than 15%, which means that more than 85% of the sun’s energy is lost to heat and reflection. Modern theory places […]

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Solar Thermal Energy to be 50% Less Expensive by 2020

Leigh Hutchens — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 05:08:41 +0000

According to the director at the Australian Solar Thermal Research Initiative at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), by 2020, solar energy will be 50% cheaper. Due to fossil fuel subsidies and limited hours of solar thermal energy power plants, solar power is still quite expensive. Top researchers at the Australian Solar Thermal […]

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US Army Goes Green, Creates Largest Solar Array in the World

Leigh Hutchens — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 10:58:39 +0000

The US Army has just unveiled its brand new White Sands Missile Range Solar Power System in New Mexico. This system is the largest solar installation anywhere in the world and has a solar carport of 375 kilowatts and a 4.1 megawatt ground-mounted, low-concentration photovoltaic power plant. The White Sands solar array system covers 42 […]

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Silicon Photovoltaic Wafer Screening System Will Save Solar Industry Billions

Leigh Hutchens — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 07:54:26 +0000

The industrial material production process is very hard on silicon wafers. In fact, between 5 and 10% of these expensive wafers used to make photovoltaic solar cells are damaged during the process, translating annually into billions of lost dollars by the solar industry. Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have created a Silicon […]

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Research Team Aims to Make Tungsten Light Bulbs a Viable Option

Leigh Hutchens — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 07:48:46 +0000

Photonic crystals are periodic optical nanostructures that are designed to affect the motion of photons, similar to the way the periodicity of a semiconductor crystal affects the motion of electrons. Photonic crystals are very useful for increasing the efficiency of photovoltaic cells by absorbing light at certain optimal wavelengths thanks to their ability to control […]

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Solar Cell Fibers May Lead to Wearable Energy Sources

Leigh Hutchens — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 14:21:26 +0000

For years, researchers have sought to develop a solar fabric that is wearable. The solar fabric would be pliable, portable, lightweight, wearable, and capable of capturing more of the sun’s energy since it would capture sunlight from multiple angles. Most solar fabric innovations have been comprised of printing solar cells onto regular fabrics or weaving […]

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New Thin-Film Solar Cell May Provide Electricity at Grid Parity

Leigh Hutchens — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 07:21:36 +0000

No stranger to developing sustainable organic photovoltaic (OPV) technologies, Global Photonic Energy Corp. (GPEC), has created a thin-film solar cell that has the ability to provide electricity at grid parity or the cost of traditionally provided electricity. This breakthrough is the direct result of drastically reduced production costs and is based on a method that […]

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Is the Downfall of SolFocus a Harbinger of Doom for CPV Modules?

Leigh Hutchens — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 07:30:59 +0000

San Jose-based SolFocus may serve as a harbinger of things to come for the solar panel industry. Admitting financial difficulty, SolFocus has announced that the latest rounds of venture capital investment have fallen through, and in order to survive, the company needs a buyout. SolFocus manufactures concentrating photovoltaic modules (CPV) which uses lenses or mirrors […]

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New Hybrid Thermoelectric-Photovoltaic Device Demonstrated at UTA

Benji Jerew — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 15:56:41 +0000

For decades, photovoltaic devices have generated electricity directly from sunlight. Thermoelectric devices generate electricity from heat energy. Both devices have found their way into various applications, from photovoltaic roof panels to thermoelectric energy recovery in vehicles. Both methods of electrical generation are fairly inefficient, but now, by combining these two properties, researchers at University of […]

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Japanese Water-Filled Solar Power System Produces Electricity and Heat More Efficiently

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 15:51:45 +0000

The term of "co-generation" is often heard in the crowds of biofuel scientists and generally burnable fuels, because it provides both heat and electricity, through an intermediate mechanism. Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT) redefines this term, linking it to solar power in all of its meaning.

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Future Solar Cells Made of Bismuth Ferrite Could Yield Higher Voltages

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:22:06 +0000

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.

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Harvesting Solar Power in Spain With Very Efficient 30 Year Old Technologies

Cristi — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:41:38 +0000

Abengoa Solar and E.ON Climate & Renewables have teamed up to build two 50MW concentrating solar power plants in Spain. With a total investment of around 550 million Euro, Helioenergy 1 & 2 will harvest solar power in the best area in Europe in terms of solar radiation: Ecija Seville in Southern Spain. Helioenergy 1 […]

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Mitsubishi Electric to Develop High-Output Solar Cells

Mike Sandru — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:57:15 +0000

The company Mitsubishi Electric has developed ten new models of high-output solar cells: five for the European market and the rest for North America and Asia. The new solar panels have the outputs ranging of 210W, 220W, 225W, 230W and 235W.

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ElectraWall Photovoltaic System Working Even at Night Time

Cristi — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 05:38:26 +0000

Your safety is the thing that counts most while being behind the wheel on the highway. And when the night falls the situation is getting critical. But Solaroad Technologies Group has thought of a system that can light the roads using the daylight energy.

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Plastic Solar Cells Going to Make Their Market Breakthrough

Cristi — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:41:08 +0000

Even though plastic solar cells are cheaper to produce and they have some advantages like lightweight and flexibility , they still miss one important thing: the efficiency. Researchers are optimist that in the years to come, the polymer solar cells will be able to compete from the efficiency point of view with the silicon solar cells as well taking into account the fact that plastic solar cell have improved their efficiency each year.

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Atlantic City Convention Center Installed 2.4 MW Solar Powered Rooftop

Cristi — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:07:19 +0000

13,400 modules, manufactured by the Chinese company Trina Solar, provide 2,4 MW at peak capacity, equivalent to the needs of 280 American houses. The energy generated will reduce the building's electricity bills with 25% and in it's lifetime of 20 years the solar panels will save about $4.4 million.

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Gain Up to 30% More Solar Power With Automatic Cleaning System

Cristi — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:12:27 +0000

Heliotex has released the first pending patent of automatic cleaning systems for business and home solar panels. Heliotex Automatic Solar Panel Cleaning Systems automatically washes and rinses the solar panels as often as you find necessary. The system helps you to maximize your investment by allowing your solar panels to achieve their full potential (dirty solar panels lose up to 30% efficiency).

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World's Most Efficient Solar Water Heater Made by Surface Power

Cristi — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:45:26 +0000

Surface Power received an independent certification from TUV Rhineland that their solar water heaters are at least 131% more efficient in the morning and evening, and 76% more at midday than other solar heaters.

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Ferrari Goes Green By Installing a Solar Rooftop

Cristi — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 20:54:44 +0000

Ferrari has unveiled in 20th of January 2009 a solar system which was installed over the roof of the Engine Mechanical Machining facility in Maranello, Italy. The system has 1,075 solar modules from Mitsubishi Electric which provides 213,895 kWh of power per year. The module used is a 185 Wp Mitsubishi Electric. The peak power of the photovoltaic system is 198.85 kWp.

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Bluenergy: Wind and Solar Power in One Piece

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:32:59 +0000

The BSWT is a vertical wind turbine based on sailing engineering. The wind rotor is rotated by two spiral-formed vanes. For best performance, these vanes are covered in solar cells, so that sun and wind produce electricity as one element. The BSWT installation costs relatively little, produces no noise or significant shadowing, can be easily […]

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