Roofing Product Makes Electricity, Heat, and Heats Water! A small terrace house in the inner Sydney suburb of Glebe is hosting what is believed to be the world’s first building integrated solar system that generates electricity as well as heat.
The array combines thin-film solar PV and solar thermal technologies into a steel sheet roofing product produced by Australian steel manufacturer Bluescope, with assistance from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. The top layer of the roofing product (pictured) generates electricity in the same way as solar PV modules – although it uses thin film technology for less weight and thickness – while heat is trapped and distributed between the two layers for use in water and space heating. The BIPVT installation is being hailed as a product that could one day be sold on Australian rooftops, although Bluescope is quick to point out that won’t be anytime soon.
It has, however, said in the past that it feels it will be a cost competitive product for homes and businesses. It could also be used in retrofits. En en – SolTech Energy Global. This fully transparent solar cell could make every window and screen a power source (updated) Back in August 2014, researchers at Michigan State University created a fully transparent solar concentrator, which could turn any window or sheet of glass (like your smartphone’s screen) into a photovoltaic solar cell.
Unlike other “transparent” solar cells that we’ve reported on in the past, this one really is transparent, as you can see in the photos throughout this story. According to Richard Lunt, who led the research at the time, the team was confident the transparent solar panels can be efficiently deployed in a wide range of settings, from “tall buildings with lots of windows or any kind of mobile device that demands high aesthetic quality like a phone or e-reader.” Now Ubiquitous Energy, an MIT startup we first reported on in 2013, is getting closer to bringing its transparent solar panels to market. Lunt cofounded the company and remains assistant professor of chemical engineering and materials science at Michigan State University. Locally owned solar garden local economic impact. Energy Saving Trust. Generate cheap, green electricity from sunlight Solar panel electricity systems, also known as solar photovoltaics (PV), capture the sun's energy using photovoltaic cells.
These cells don't need direct sunlight to work – they can still generate some electricity on a cloudy day. The cells convert the sunlight into electricity, which can be used to run household appliances and lighting. The solar road in the Netherlands is working even better than expected. The Netherlands made headlines last year when it built the world's first solar road - an energy-harvesting bike path paved with glass-coated solar panels.
Now, six months into the trial, engineers say the system is working even better than expected, with the 70-metre test bike path generating 3,000 kWh, or enough electricity to power a small household for a year. "If we translate this to an annual yield, we expect more than the 70kwh per square metre per year," Sten de Wit, spokesman for SolaRoad, the group behind the project, told Tarek Bazley at Al Jazeera.
So just imagine the potential if we covered all our roads in the stuff. Paper-thin printed solar cells could provide power for 1.3 billion people. The cost of solar power has declined dramatically over the past few decades, from $40 per watt in 1977 to $0.74 per watt in 2013.
This trend is expected to accelerate as improvements in efficiency and new technologies come online. This is good news for citizens of developed countries who want to make the switch to a cleaner and increasingly cheaper energy source. Untitled. The Rocket Dome qualifies for a 30% federal tax credit in addition to other state and local incentives Solar Thermal Hot Water System The Rocket Dome is different from anything else on the market.
The Rocket Dome has many advantages over traditional solar water heating systems. The RD is far more affordable than other comparable sized solar thermal units. It eliminates any roof penetrations saving time and money if costly roof repairs ever need to be done. EcoVision Sustainable Learning Center - Educating a Greener World. If you’re thinking about installing solar panels on your building’s rooftop allowing you to generate your own clean and renewable electricity from the sun, you’re not alone.
Solar is growing in popularity at an incredible rate. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), a new solar project is being installed somewhere in the U.S. every four minutes! That means your rooftop could become one of the 1 million residential solar power systems by the year 2016. But there are lots of things to take into consideration before moving forward with a rooftop solar installation.
IBM Solar Collector Magnifies Sun By 2000X – These Could Provide Power To The Entire Planet. A team at IBM recently developed what they call a High Concentration Photo Voltaic Thermal (HCPVT) system that is capable of concentrating the power of 2,000 suns, they are even claiming to be able to concentrate energy safely up to 5,000X, that’s huge.
The process of trapping the sunlight produces water that can be used to produce filtered drinkable water, or used for other things like air conditioning etc. Scientists envision that the HCPVT system could provide sustainable energy and fresh water to communities all around the world. “Each 1cmX1cm chip can convert 200-250 watts, on average, over a typical eight-hour day in a sunny region. In the HCPVT system, instead of heating a building, the 90 degree Celsius water will pass through a porous membrane distillation system where it is then vaporized and desalinated. Solar energy: a sunflower solution to electricity shortage. Computer giant IBM last week revealed the prototype of its advanced solar electricity generators: a 30ft-high concrete “sunflower” fitted with wafer-thin aluminium mirrors and a maze of tiny tubes for carrying coolant through the heart of each device.
The machines, which will be built in conjunction with the Swiss company Airlight Energy, can convert 80% of the sun’s radiation into electricity and hot water, it is claimed, with each generating 12 kilowatts of electricity and 20kW of heat on a sunny day, enough to supply several homes. At the device’s official unveiling in Zurich, executives for both companies said they hoped that by 2017, when their sunflower generators should be ready for the market, they could be manufactured for half to one-third of the cost of comparable solar converters today.
According to IBM, the machine’s secret lies with the microscopic tubes that carry water through the cluster of photovoltaic chips at the heart of each device. UK's first floating solar field produces 200kw of power — RT UK. Published time: September 29, 2014 17:50 Edited time: October 01, 2014 11:56 Britain’s first floating solar panel project has been constructed in Berkshire on a reservior siatuated in a 300 acre fruit farm.
(Reuters / Gerardo Garcia) Is this heart-shaped solar farm the world's most beautiful power plant? An extraordinary heart-shaped solar farm is set to be built on the Pacific island of New Caledonia. The 2MW “Heart of New Caledonia” is being built by solar company Conergy and should start producing power for 750 homes from early next year. The plant, comissioned by local beverage company Froico SA, is expected to save around 2m tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions over its projected 25-year lifetime and reduce the French overseas territory’s dependence on oil, gas and coal, which generate the majority of its power today. The eye-catching heart shaped installation is made up of 7,888 panels across the four-acre site on Grand Terre, New Caledonia’s largest island, with the design only visible from the air. The design is inspired by the “Coeur de Voh”, or “Heart of Voh”, an area of nearby wild mangrove vegetation that has naturally taken the shape of a heart.
Global solar dominance in sight as science trumps fossil fuels. Bio-Based Solar Panels That Could Run On Dirt And Plants. What if solar panels could be dirt, plants, and batteries rather than the expensive and often toxic chemicals and heavy metals used today? That's the aim of this ambitious design from architecture students at a Spanish university. It uses bacteria in soil to make mini fuel cells to power devices. Plants growing in the soil keep the bacteria alive as a product of photosynthesis, and water keeps everything running. Mexico Building Latin America’s Largest Solar Farm To Replace Old, Dirty Oil-Power Plant. By Ari Phillips "Mexico Building Latin America’s Largest Solar Farm To Replace Old, Dirty Oil-Power Plant" CREDIT: shutterstock Last week President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited Mexico for what’s traditionally called the “Three Amigos” meeting.
In the daylong rendezvous, energy issues were slated to play a major role, with Obama and Harper jockeying for room when it comes to the impending decision on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline that would bring dirty crude oil down from Canada to refineries on the Gulf Coast. However, Mexico also has some major energy changes in the pipeline, and after decades of state-run oil company PEMEX having sole purview over fossil fuel extraction, international investment and companies will now be let into the mix after recent constitutional reforms. This Ingenious New Solar Panel Could Revolutionize the Future Of Renewable Energy - Mic. The news: A team of Danish scientists recently discovered how to print huge, flexible solar panels that could one day be used as wallpaper or window coverings to power entire buildings. In addition to being supple enough to bend and fold, the 14-layer panels are lightweight, making them cheap enough to produce quickly on an industrial scale.
Image Credit: Chemistry World Typically, solar cells contain three to five layers of energy-harvesting circuits. Frederik Krebs and his research team at the Technical University of Denmark devised a way to produce these cells in tandem, allowing them to stack multiple cells on top of one another. Solar Power Installations Jump to a New Annual Record. The year 2013 saw record-breaking growth for solar electricity generation as the photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar thermal power (CSP) markets continued to grow. With over 39 gigawatts installed worldwide, the PV solar market represented one third of all newly-added renewable energy capacity, write Worldwatch's Max Lander and Climate and Energy Intern Xiangyu Wu in the Worldwatch Institute's latest Vital Signs Online trend. Solar PV installations nearly matched those of hydropower and, for the first time, outpaced wind additions.
Even though photovoltaics continue to dwarf CSP capacity, the CSP market also had another year of impressive growth. By the end of 2013, a total of 19 countries had CSP plants installed or under construction. Consumption of power from PV and CSP plants increased by 30 percent globally in 2013 to reach 124.8 terawatt-hours. Prospects are bright for solar development as prices continue to fall and approach grid parity in an increasing number of contexts. DIY Open Source Solar Concentrator Tutorials Now Available. © SolarFlowerEver wanted to tinker about with a homebrewed solar energy system? Then this project, SolarFlower, might be just the ticket for you. The creator, Daniel Connell, has been working on his concentrated solar energy collector for several years now, and has just launched a web home for it, complete with detailed tutorials. Good news for Seattle: These solar panels work best in overcast weather.
Next time someone snarks, “Too bad solar panels don’t work in when it’s overcast,” spike this fact-volleyball into their thoughtmaker: SOME solar panels actually work BETTER when it’s cloudy out. Bam! British scientists at the National Physical Laboratory this week created organic photovoltaics, which not only sound delicious but perform better in diffuse light. According to PSFK, they’re 13 percent efficient when it’s overcast, compared to 10 percent when it’s sunny.
As principal researcher Fernando Castro explained: Solar Beats Natural Gas in Game-Changing Court Ruling. Solar energy faced off against natural gas in a courtroom this week, and the greener of the two came out on top. Minnesota administrative law judge Eric Lipman recommended a solar project to help Xcel Energy, one of the state’s largest utility, provide 550 megawatts (MW) of new electricity generation by 2020.
Abengoa to build 110MW solar tower storage plant in Chile. Haiti Hospital Is Powered By Caribbean Sun. Buildings. The World's Largest Solar Plant Started Creating Electricity Today. Crescent Dunes Solar Plant Ready To Charge Up Solar "Salt Battery" Half a Million Solar Panels Now on UK Buildings. The United Kingdom is on a march to 1 million. According to the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change, 499,687 solar systems were installed by Jan. 5 as part of the feed-in tariff program supporting solar arrays smaller than 50 kilowatts.
The British government has established a goal of 1 million panels by 2015. The industry has been averaging 1,900 installations per week over the past year, according to Business Green. India Building Solar Canals To Produce Power & Slow Water Loss −