UCLA Archives – The Green Optimistic

New Solar Panels Produce Electricity Under Snow

Matias Prieto — Mon, 06 May 2019 12:51:02 +0000

Harvesting solar energy can be a tough job for panels if they are buried under blankets of snow. That is why a team from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) has developed a new device that can produce electricity from snow itself. The device is a snow-based triboelectric nanogenerator or “Snow TENG”. As the […]

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Plant-Inspired Technology Makes Solar Cells Store Energy

Mila Luleva — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 13:08:25 +0000

Technology inspired by plant photosynthesis, allows solar cells to store energy for weeks, eliminating the need of batteries. Everyone is getting a bit tired of hearing that lack of development in energy storage stands in the way of otherwise blossoming renewable energy generation. But while battery developers are spending countless sleepless nights, trying to figure […]

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Self-storing Solar Power Possible with Graphene, says Sunvault Energy

Benji Jerew — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 22:49:55 +0000

Graphene, in concept, has been around since the latter half of the 1800s, but it wasn’t until just over a decade ago that scientists were actually able to isolate atom-thick sheets of carbon, “a million times thinner than paper, stronger than diamond, and more conductive than copper,” as described by American Physical Society. Since then, […]

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Niobium Oxide-Based Supercaps Could Replace Batteries

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 19:17:44 +0000

Researchers from University of California (UCLA) discovered new supercapacitors based on niobium oxide, which will be able solve the problem of energy storage and availability in both batteries and normal capacitors. This new discovery, published in the Nature Materials Journal, can lead to a whole new generation of supercapacitors that are able to store and […]

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Block-Level Electricity Usage Mapping May Encourage Energy Efficiency

Leigh Hutchens — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 04:36:01 +0000

The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) has published a map that shows how inefficient one city building is in comparison with another. The web application provides the municipal utility, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), and city planners the ability to see how LA blocks compare to each other and […]

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Big Data Could Increase Power Grid Efficiency and Reliability

Benji Jerew — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 03:24:18 +0000

Unless various departments in a certain area collaborate, it could be very difficult to see where improvements can be made to increae power grid efficiency and reliability. A recent program run by researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles [UCLA] aggregated information from various sources: the latest census, land use information and utility […]

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New Computer Memory from UCLA is 1,000 Times More Efficient

Benji Jerew — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 20:52:28 +0000

Computer memory is a vital component to any system build, making high-powered applications, including graphics, video, and gaming, a possibility. Random Access Memory [RAM] modules offer storage of temporary computer data, up to 32 GB on some systems, at a much faster rate than accessing a hard drive. Typical RAM access times range in the […]

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Revolutionary Method Of Creating Conductive Transparent Thin Films Discovered by Mistake

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 16:39:31 +0000

A novel method for developing conductive and transparent thin films, that could be used in applications ranging from solar cells to ultracapacitors, has been discovered by a team of UCLA researchers, by mistake.

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Researchers Find New Way to Make Less Toxic Super-Fast Graphene Transistors

Mike Sandru — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 20:58:33 +0000

Graphene has a great potential to make electronic devices such as phones, radios and computers smaller and faster. The new graphene-based technology could play a key role in waste reduction and energy conservation.

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