News:2009:Solar

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For most recent solar news, go to News:Solar

As of Aug. 27, 2009, we began compiling all solar news stories into one place, then archiving the older content as it gets too long.

2010

News:2010:Solar

2009

Directory:Solar > Directory:Solar Applications > Photovoltaic Eye Implant Could Give Sight To the Blind - Researchers at Stanford University recently announced that they have developed a new artificial retina implant that uses photovoltaic power and could help the blind see. Miniature photovoltaic cells are used to provide power to the chip as well as to transmit data through the eye to the brain. (Inhabitiat Dec. 29, 2009)

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Directory:Solar > Directory:Solar > Hot Electrons Could Double Solar Power - Researchers at Boston College have provided new experimental evidence that solar cell output can be double vi the use of "hot electrons." Ordinary solar cells can, in theory, convert at most about 35 percent of the energy in sunlight into electricity, wasting the rest as heat. Making use of hot electrons could result in efficiencies as high as 67 percent. (MIT Technology Review Dec. 18, 2009)

Directory:Alternative Fuels / Directory:Solar / Directory:CO2 Sequestration > New Reactor Uses Sunlight to Turn Water and Carbon Dioxide Into Fuel - Scientists at Sandia National Labs, have figured out a way to "reverse-combust" CO2 back into fuel. They recently demonstrated a working prototype of their "Sunshine to Petrol" machine that converts waste CO2 to carbon monoxide, and then syngas, consuming nothing but solar energy. (Popular Science Nov. 23, 2009)

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Directory:Nanotechnology / Directory:Solar / Directory:Batteries > New nano-material could lead to self-washing windows and solar panels - Researchers from Tel Aviv University have discovered a new nanomaterial that can repel dust and water and could provide a self-cleaning coating for windows or solar panels. The new material is made up of molecules of peptides that “grow” to resemble small forests of grass. The coating also acts as a super-capacitor, thereby possibly providing an energy boost to batteries. (GizMag December 3, 2009)

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Congress:Top 100 Technologies -- RD: Directory:Solar > Directory:Solar PhotoVoltaics > Directory:Plastic Solar Cells > Directory:Konarka's PowerPlastic Photovoltaic Solar > Konarka and Arch Aluminum & Glass Announce Unique Solar Curtain Wall Pilot Project - This will be the first curtain wall pilot project to integrate Konarka Power Plastic into a wall structure. The wall solar panels will generating 1.5 kilowatts of power to the facility, and are expected to be fully operational by year’s end (Business Wire Nov. 10, 2009)

Congress:Top 100 Technologies -- RD: Directory:Solar > Directory:Concentrated Solar Power > Directory:IAS > Ryan Davies Finds Hot Technology Produces Solar Power for Half the Price - A shining example of using the sun's energy to heat, cool and light the homes and businesses of a desert community in California is poised to power up next year. It's due in part to the emergence of a technology that uses refraction rather than reflection to produce solar power on a utility-size scale at half the price of photovoltaic technology. (IB Times Nov. 5, 2009)

Directory:Solar > Directory:Concentrated Solar Power / Directory:Storage > Solar power generation around the clock - SolarReserve is developing a solar power system that can store seven hours' worth of solar energy by focusing mirrors onto millions of gallons of molten salt, allowing the plant to provide electricity 24 hours a day. The 150-megawatt plant will include 4.4 million gallons of molten salt. (PhysOrg Nov. 5, 2009)

Congress:Top 100 Technologies -- RD: Directory:Solar / Directory:Storage > Directory:Electrolysis > Directory:MIT:Daniel Nocera:Catalytic Electrolysis > New solar storage solution could be the key to home-brewed electricity - A new paper by MIT professor Daniel Nocera describes the development of a practical, inexpensive storage system for achieving personalized solar energy. At its heart is an innovative catalyst that splits water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen that become fuel for producing electricity in a fuel cell. (GizMag Nov. 4, 2009)

Directory:Solar > Directory:Solar PhotoVoltaics / Directory:Nanotechnology > 3-D photovoltaic systems go where the sun don’t shine - Researchers at Georgia Tech have developed a new type of three-dimensional PV system using optical fiber that promises solar generators that are foldable, concealed and mobile, meaning they could be hidden from view and leave rooftops panel-free. Sunlight entering the optical fiber passes into the nanowires, where it interacts with the dye molecules to produce electrical current. (GizMag Nov. 2, 2009)

Directory:Solar Thermal / Directory:Building / Directory:Zero Point Energy / Directory:Methane > A few free energy developments in Romania - A Russian news agency reports on several interesting systems being developed, including an efficient solar water heating design, a composite building materials having strength and a high R value, a magnetic fertilizer, and a system that allegedly loads methane molecules with the vacuum zero point energy increasing the methane’s heating power by 40 percent. (Financiarul Oct. 30, 2009)

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Directory:Solar > Directory:Solar PhotoVoltaics > Color matters: GreenSun Energy colored solar technology - Researchers in Israel have come up with a cell that uses only 20% of the silicon in a standard cell yet yields similar amounts of electricity to a regular silicon cell, by diffusing any light that falls on its surface and sending it off to photovoltaic collector strips on each of its sides. And it doesn't even need bright sunlight to operate. (GizMag Sept. 24, 2009)

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Latest: There was an error working with the wiki: Code[1] > Directory:Solar PhotoVoltaics > Review:GreenDIYenergy.com -- The Secrets of Building Your Own Solar Energy - Two New Energy Congress solar energy experts say that it is indeed possible to build your own solar panels, but that it is not likely to save you money, and that the panels are not likely to last long (e.g. 5 years versus 25 year guarantees from PV suppliers), and installing them could invalidate your homeowner's insurance. (PESWiki Sept. 24, 2009)

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Directory:Solar > Directory:Solar:Largest > Solar Powered Supertower to Eclipse the Burj Dubai? - Santa Monica building designer Tommy Landau is proposing a super-tall 224 story skyscraper to be located in Abu Dhabi. While the building is years away from being built, Landau is convinced that by that time technology will be advanced enough to coat the building in solar cells and power it completely with the sun. (Inhabitat Sept. 17, 2009)

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Directory:Solar > Directory:Solar Applications / Directory:Electric Vehicles > Directory:Electric Vehicle Recharging Stations > Solar Filling Stations: On-Demand Fuel for Electric Cars and Bikes - You know where the power is coming from with the E-Move Charging Station, a solar-powered filling station in Denmark that can charge up to eight vehicles at the same time. (Inhabitat Sept. 17, 2009)

Latest: Directory:Solar > Directory:Solar PhotoVoltaics / Directory:Clean Energy Technologies for the Developing World > OS:Human Hair Solar Panel by Milan Karki > OS:Human Hair Solar Panel by Milan Karki - Despite the heavy skepticism, after hearing of a group of teenage students from Nepal who claim to have replaced expensive doped silicon with human hair to produce a solar cell capable of generating 18W of electricity, curiosity got the better of Gizmag's Paul Ridden, who contacted the inventor to find out more. (PESWiki Oct. 16, 2009)

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Directory:Solar > Directory:Solar PhotoVoltaics > More Efficient, and Cheaper, Solar Cells - Three improvements by 1366 Technologies of Massachusetts could bring the cost of solar down to about 15-16 cents/kw-h, by cost-effectively improving light trapping and collection. Videos explain how this is done, including how incoming light reflects off grooves in a silver band and is redirected along a glass cover. (MIT Technology Review September 14, 2009)

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Latest: Directory:Solar > Directory:Solar PhotoVoltaics > OS:Human Hair Solar Panel by Milan Karki - Milan Karki, 18, of rural Nepal, believes he has found the solution to the developing world's energy needs, saying hair (due to Melanin) is easy to use as a conductor, in place of expensive silicon. The £23 solar panel produces 18 Watts. Electrical engineers call it a hoax. (PESWiki Sept. 10, 2009) (Comment)

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Directory:Solar > Directory:Solar PhotoVoltaics > SolarMagic Power Optimizer - The power of the solar array is only as strong as the weakest-performing panel, such as from shade from sources like trees, chimneys, power lines or bird droppings. SolarMagic power optimizers by National Semiconductor maximize the energy potential of each individual panel so as much as 50% of the lost energy can be reclaimed. (Engineering TV September 8, 2009)

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Congress:Top 100 Technologies -- RD: Directory:Solar > Directory:Thin Film Solar > Directory:First Solar > Chinese solar plant expected to be the biggest - Arizona company, First Solar, which makes more solar cells than any other company, said it struck a tentative 10-year deal to build a 25-square mile solar plant in China's vast desert north of the Great Wall, generating 2 gigawatts of electricity -- enough to power 3 million homes. (Salt Lake Tribune Sept. 8, 2009)

Directory:Solar / Directory:Trends > Cheaper Solar Power's Time Has Come - Solar power manufacturers in the US are cutting prices to shift their stock, the government is chipping in with tax credits, and innovative leasing or financing arrangements spreading payments over up to 20 years are being introduced. All of which makes solar power much more affordable than before. (PhysOrg Sept. 7, 2009)

Directory:Solar > Directory:Solar Applications > Solar Roadways Awarded DOT Contract to Pave Roads with Solar Cells - In a first step toward turning highways into energy-generating solar panels, the Idaho-based startup Solar Roadways has recently received a $100,000 grant from the US Department of Transportation (DOT). The company will use the money to build a prototype of its Solar Road Panel, made from solar cells and glass, that is meant to replace petroleum-based asphalt on roads and in parking lots. (PhysOrg Sept. 7, 2009)

Directory:Solar > Directory:Solar Thermal / Directory:Clean Coal > Mixing Solar with Coal to Cut Costs - The project by Abengoa Solar and Colorado's largest utility, Xcel Energy, will involve building an array of parabolic mirrors designed to concentrate heat from the sun, and use that heat to help make the steam that drives the coal plant's turbines and generators, making electricity, cutting the cost of solar and reducing plant emissions. (MIT Technology Review Sept. 4, 2009)

Directory:Solar > Directory:Solar Applications > Directory:Conspiracy > Swarms of Solar Microbots May Revolutionize Data Gathering - Researchers are developing ways to mass-produce tiny robots the size of a fly that operate like swarms of insects to collect data to aid in surveillance, micromanufacturing, medicine, and more. The microbots have all the equipment necessary to move, communicate, and collect data. (Inhabitat August 31, 2009)

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Latest / There was an error working with the wiki: Code[1] > Directory:Solar Cooking > OS:Satellite Dish Solar Cooker - When you finally get sick of mainstream media, don't ditch your dish, convert it to a solar cooker and let it pay you back with free cooking power of the sun. These are also available commercially. A collection of instructional videos. (PESWiki August 31, 2009)

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Directory:Solar > Plan to turn rooftops, walls and windows into cheap solar cells - Cheaper solar cells – roughly one-tenth the cost of current day prices – could be available within three to five years thanks to a manufacturing procedure that uses nanoparticle ‘inks’ to print them like newspaper or to spray-paint them onto the sides of buildings or rooftops. Even windows could become solar cells thanks to the semi-transparent inks. (GizMag August 25, 2009)

Directory:Solar Hydrogen > How a Solar-Hydrogen Economy Could Supply the World's Energy Needs - In an invited opinion piece to be published in the Proceedings of the IEEE, Professor Abbott at the University of Adelaide in Australia, argues that a solar-hydrogen economy is more sustainable and provides a vastly higher total power output potential than any other alternative and should be the final goal of current energy policy. (PhysOrg Aug. 24, 2009)

Directory:Thin Film Solar > Not your average solar panel: The SRS solar roof tile - The Solé Power Tile system is the first building-integrated photovoltaic roofing product designed to blend in with curved roof tiles and is offered exclusively as an upgrade option to customers of US Tile. The triple-junction amorphous silicon thin-film technology incorporated within the Solé Power Tile is manufactured by United Solar Ovonic. (GizMag August 23, 2009)

Directory:Concentrated Solar Power / Directory:Solar PhotoVoltaics / Directory:Solar Thermal > Entech Solar energy hybrid has hopes for bright future - Entech Solar's next-generation concentrating solar prototype, ThermaVolt II, combines concentrating photovoltaic and thermal (CPVT) technology. The company says its product delivers four to five times the amount of energy compared to traditional photovoltaic systems and costs less to produce. (GizMag August 14, 2009)

Directory:Plastic Solar Cells > Plastics That Convert Light To Electricity - A research team at the University of Washington has found a way to make images of tiny bubbles and channels, roughly 10,000 times smaller than a human hair, inside plastic solar cells. These bubbles and channels form within the polymers as they are being created in a baking process, called annealing, that is used to improve the materials' performance. (Sceince Daily Aug. 5, 2009)

2006 - 2008

See News:2006-2008:Solar - going back in time

PesWiki.com

News:2009:Solar

2010

2009

2006 - 2008

See also