MIT turns plain glass into goldmine of solar energy: related news

MIT turns plain glass into goldmine of solar energy

MIT engineers have turned plain glass into a virtual goldmine of solar energy with the help of a sophisticated, yet affordable, concentrator developed by them.

MIT turns plain glass into goldmine of solar energy

MIT engineers have turned plain glass into a virtual goldmine of solar energy with the help of a sophisticated, yet affordable, concentrator developed by them.

MIT turns plain glass into goldmine of solar energy

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Solar energy turns organic

(Nanowerk News) Cheap and efficient conversion of solar energy into electricity could help combat global warming and the shortage of fossil fuels. However, the high production cost of electricity from silicon-based solar cells has limited the use of the technology. Low cost solar cells with high cell performance are highly desirable and organic solar cells could be the answer. They are easy to make from inexpensive organic materials and, unlike inorganic solar cells, are lightweight, flexible and colourful.

Ballooning to make solar energy viable

With sky-rocketing energy prices and mounting fear of the climate change due to burning of fossil fuels, scientists are showing immense interest in renewable energy sources, especially the solar energy, which is zero pollution and called green energy. There is no shortage of sunny days on earth surface but the problem is of the space, which the solar panels need to harness solar energy. These panels require a huge land cover for this purpose.

MIT primed to unleash solar revolution

In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn't shine.

Using Sun's Energy to Split Water Means Solar Power All Night

phorm writes "Reuters is carrying an article about a recent MIT development which may pave the way for solar-energy to be collected for use in low-input periods. According to Reuters, the discovery of the a new catalyst for separating hydrogen+oxygen from water requires only 10% of the electricity of current methods. This would allow storage-cells to function as a form of battery for other forms of energy-collection, such as solar panels. The new method is also much safer (and likely environmentally friendly) than current methods, which require the use of a dangerously caustic environment, and specialized storage containers." sanjosanjo points out coverage of the process at EE Times, which features the MIT group's press release.

'Major Discovery' Primed To Unleash Solar Revolution: Scientists Mimic Essence Of Plants' Energy Storage System

In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn't shine.

Bizarre Properties of Glass Allow Creation of "Metallic Glass"

VindictivePantz writes to mention that scientists have discovered some bizarre properties of glass and are already applying that knowledge to create what is being called "metallic glass." "The breakthrough involved solving the decades-old problem of just what glass is. It has been known that that despite its solid appearance, glass and gels are actually in a 'jammed' state of matter — somewhere between liquid and solid — that moves very slowly. Like cars in a traffic jam, atoms in a glass are in something like suspended animation, unable to reach their destination because the route is blocked by their neighbors. So even though glass is a hard substance, it never quite becomes a proper solid, according to chemists and materials scientists.

Asia`s biggest solar thermal energy plant in Nagpur

Chandigarh, Aug 19: Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Vilas Muttemwar today said Asia's biggest solar thermal energy plant of 10 MW capacity would be set up at Nagpur, where a SEZ was also being established in which equipment and appliances related to wind, solar and biogas energy would be manufactured.

Researchers Improve Solar Cell Performance

Vegematic writes "Researchers at MIT have improved solar collectors using dyes. They just increased their performance results by a factor of 4. These paint-on materials can increase the power obtained from existing solar cells by a factor of over 40 without needing to track the sun. 'By collecting light over their full surface and concentrating it at their edges, these devices reduce the required area of solar cells and consequently, the cost of solar power. Stacking multiple concentrators allows the optimization of solar cells at each wavelength, increasing the overall power output.' There is also a shorter FAQ available."

Bigger, Cheaper Solar Cells

Phenombecile800 writes "First Solar, a start-up from Arizona, is making photovoltaic cells at a fraction of the usual cost. Their secret: increasing the light-catching area 'from postage-stamp to traffic-sign dimensions,' reducing the manufacturing time to 1/10th of the competition's, and thinning the active element to 1/100th the usual thickness over a glass substrate, which enables the production of large panels. IEEE Spectrum provides some technical details about the production process. 'Glass is placed on rollers and fed into the first chamber, where it is heated to 600 C. Then it is transferred into the second chamber, which is full of cadmium sulfide vapor, formed by heating solid CdS to 700 C. The vapor forms a submicrometer deposit on the glass as it moves through this cloud, after which a similar process in a third chamber adds a

Sector Snap: Chinese solar energy companies fall

Shares solar cell maker Trina Solar Ltd. fell Tuesday, joining a decline among most other Chinese solar energy companies.

ASU creates Solar Power Laboratory to boost renewable energy industry, improve environment

Tempe, AZ – Arizona State University is strengthening its commitment to boost Arizona's economic development prospects in the renewable energy industry by establishing the Solar Power Laboratory to advance solar energy research, education and technology.

A Colorful Approach to Solar Energy

Revisiting a once-abandoned technique, engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have successfully created a sophisticated, yet affordable, method to turn ordinary glass into a high-tech solar concentrator.

A colorful approach to solar energy

(Nanowerk News) Revisiting a once-abandoned technique, engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have successfully created a sophisticated, yet affordable, method to turn ordinary glass into a high-tech solar concentrator.

Flexible nanoantenna arrays capture abundant solar energy

Researchers have devised an inexpensive way to produce plastic sheets containing billions of nanoantennas that collect heat energy generated by the sun and other sources. The technology, developed at the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory, is the first step toward a solar energy collector that could be mass-produced on flexible materials.

NASA Set For Solar Sail Test

Solar sails have featured in various sci-fi mediums for a good while now, but NASA are planning to make the technology a reality in a mission which could launch as early as the 29th of July. An earlier 2005 launch of a solar sail craft by The Planetary Society was deemed unsuccessful, so if NASA's experiment fairs better it could be the first step to enabling space exploration powered by the sun's energy. The solar sail, dubbed the NanoSail-D is made up of aluminium and space age plastic and measures 100 square feet when unfurled. A sail of that size isn't enough to carry a craft of any significant size, but sails of thousands of square feet could open up some interesting possibilities. In theory, solar sails would be a better choice than conventional rockets for longer missions.

Hessi Solar Flare Observation Spacecraft - , USA

The High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (HESSI) spacecraft was launched in February, 2002. The spacecraft was designed to explore the basic physics of particle acceleration and explosive energy release in solar flares. HESSI is designed to image solar flares in energetic photons from soft X-rays.

Greenwatch: MIT develops way to bank solar energy at home

A US scientist has developed a new way of powering fuel cells that could make it practical for home owners to store solar energy and produce electricity to run lights and appliances at night.

First Solar (FSLR): Encourage profit taking/shorting here - FBR

FBR is out with a negative call on First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) and SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR) after Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA), an industry association bridging the solar and utility industries, announced yesterday theresults of its survey of utility companies (titled:"Utility Solar Electricity Market Survey"). Summary: (a) projected PV installations of ~2 GW, on aggregate, over the next three to five years in solar portfolio, versus >3 GW for CSPs across the U.S. utilities; (b) possible paradigm shift, with utilities owning the plants and PV suppliers becoming only turn-key provider (if ITC is given to utilities instead of third parties).

Our Solar System: An Island of Calm in a Violent Universe (and it's special, too)

We humans like to think we're special, but astronomically speaking we've been shot down quite severely and humbly put in our place. We're not at the center of our solar system, nowhere near the center of our galaxy and certainly not at the center of the universe. But now comes great news for the human psyche from scientists trying to explain solar system formation. As far as solar systems go, we have thought ours was just average and that all solar systems were like ours. But in looking at the 300 plus extrasolar planets that have been discovered and the systems they are in, none so far are anything like our home solar system. In fact, say scientists at Northwestern University, we may be special after all. In a study using computer simulations (this is the week for computer simulations, see here and here), researchers ran more than a hund

World's Largest Solar Plants Planned In California

Pickens writes "Two photovoltaic solar power plants will be built in San Luis Obispo County in California, covering 12.5 square miles, that together will generate about 800 megawatts of power, the latest indication that solar energy is starting to achieve significant scale. 'If you're going to make a difference, you've got to do it big,' said Randy Goldstein, the chief executive of OptiSolar. OptiSolar will employ enough of its amorphous silicon thin-film solar panels at its Topaz Solar Farm project to generate 550 MW. Meanwhile, SunPower will install mechanical tracking for its more expensive 250 MW-worth of crystalline silicon photovoltaics at High Plains Ranch II in a bid to boost their efficiency by 30 percent from following the sun across the sky.

Future for clean energy lies in 'big bang' of evolution

Amid mounting agreement that future clean, "carbon-neutral", energy will rely on efficient conversion of the sun's light energy into fuels and electric power, attention is focusing on one of the most ancient groups of organism, the cyanobacteria. Dramatic progress has been made over the last decade understanding the fundamental reaction of photosynthesis that evolved in cyanobacteria 3.7 billion years ago, which for the first time used water molecules as a source of electrons to transport energy derived from sunlight, while converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. The light harvesting systems gave the bacteria their blue ("cyano") colour, and paved the way for plants to evolve by "kidnapping" bacteria to provide their photosynthetic engines, and for animals by liberating oxygen for them to breathe, by splitting water molecules.

Nanotechnology to provide cheap solar energy

Research into new types of solar cells produced by nanotechnology was described by Professor Darren Bagnall at the World Renewable Energy Conference in Glasgow.

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