Scientists Develop Affordable Solar Panels That Work In The Dark It's about damn time, don't you think? Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory announced Wednesday that they have been able to confirm a new high-efficiency solar cell design that utilizes nearly the entire solar spectrum. Translation: They figured out a way to make solar panels generate electricity in the dark. CleanTechnica says , In earlier trials, the researchers used different alloys that achieved full spectrum responses but involved very high production costs. The advantage of gallium arsenide nitride is that it is very similar to a conventional semiconductor, gallium arsenide, and it can be produced with a commonly used fabrication method involving chemical vapor deposition. The Lawrence Berkeley breakthrough represents just one path to increasing the efficiency and lowering the cost of solar cells. In the meantime, you could just turn any metal surface into solar panels with photovoltaic spray paint . [Photo: Norby /Flickr]
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1ℓimit – Faucet Design by Yonggu Do, Dohyung Kim & Sewon Oh One Liter Limited 1ℓimit faucet looks more like an elegant test tube inverted on top of a tap. The glass tube holds exactly one liter of water, sufficient for a quick handwash. thinner than wavelengths of light holds protons more L.A. Cicero Graduate student Aaswath Raman, Associate Professor Shanhui Fan, and post doctoral fellow Zongfu Yu have calculated that photovoltaic cells built with nanotechnology have the potential to generate far more electricity than existing cells. In the smooth, white, bunny-suited clean-room world of silicon wafers and solar cells, it turns out that a little roughness may go a long way, perhaps all the way to making solar power an affordable energy source, say Stanford engineers. Their research shows that light ricocheting around inside the polymer film of a solar cell behaves differently when the film is ultra thin. A film that's nanoscale-thin and has been roughed up a bit can absorb more than 10 times the energy predicted by conventional theory. The key to overcoming the theoretical limit lies in keeping sunlight in the grip of the solar cell long enough to squeeze the maximum amount of energy from it, using a technique called "light trapping." Media Contact
DIY Skylights From Used Water Bottles Replace 50-Watt Bulbs Image via YouTube video An ingenious invention by an engineer in Brazil has made an enormous difference in his town. Simply placing a bottle of water in a hole in the ceiling can light up a room with the same brightness as a 50-watt light bulb! Residents have better lighting and are using less electricity. Check out how it works in the video. >> WATCH SLIDESHOW: 13 Really Cool Lighting Ideas (Slideshow) I think the part that made it most convincing was the bucket comparison -- when they took the buckets off the bottles to show what a difference they make in lighting the room, my jaw dropped open. While it's obvious that these only work for certain types of structures, and only provide extra light when the sun is out, it shows that you don't have to construct a complex skylight in your roof to get some daylight into your home. And to hear that the bottles are lasting years without needing any maintenance at all is exciting. What a great bottle-reuse-zero-electricity idea!
Solar panel roads 'could solve energy crisis' Asphalt roads and car parks would be torn up and replaced with glass solar cell panels capable of generating enough power to support local communities, under the scheme. A US firm is currently working on a prototype panel that could be embedded into existing roads, having won a $100,000 grant from the US Department of Transportation. The panels would also be covered with a mosaic of small lights, which could be illuminated to provide road markings and warning messages to drivers. With each 12 ft by 12 ft panel capable of producing 7.6 kilowatt hours of power each day, the company Solar Roadways calculates that resurfacing the entire US interstate highway network would meet the country's energy needs three times over. But while the cost of this would be prohibitive – it would require billions of panels, each priced at $6,900 – the firm believes that smaller scale projects would make financial and environmental sense.
anthropomorphic-futuristic-fantastic-floating-homes/ Futuristic, yet, but not the far-fetched science-fiction fantasy industrial design you might think – the Oculus by Schoepfer Yachts may not be for sale yet but it is already in pre-production mode with naval architects on board, so to speak. Hardly your typical houseboat, it is a virtual cruise ship for the rich and famous who can afford to buy it when it is fully planned and built. The anthropomorphism of this luxury floating home is of course intentional – the front deck like the gaping mouth of a gigantic sea creature and the sleek curves mimicking streamlined oceanic animals. Complete with a swimming pool on top and a futuristic interior design this is far more like a permanent mobile home than a cruising yacht. The smaller and simpler (both adjectives applied relative to its bigger brother of course) version of this spectacular design is the Infinitas, with a more sleek and streamlined profile and a semi-enclosed on-board swimming pool in the center but underneath the shell.
Magmetique properties of light Up until now scientists thought that only the electrical charge separation effects of photons were strong enough to produce energy from sunlight. (Source: Aether Wave Theory) Researchers have discovered a novel new effect which produces energy when intense light passes through an insulating material like glass, creating a strong magnetic field. New energy harvesting devices would leverage magnetism effects, rather than electric ones Mankind currently only harvests a minuscule fraction of the estimated 12.2 billion kilowatt-hours of solar energy that hits the Earth every day [source]. That's why a new breakthrough in alternative energy at the University of Michigan is so exciting. No, it's not some novel photosynthesis scheme. I. Light has two components -- magnetism and electricity. But Stephen Rand, a professor in the departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Physics and Applied Physics at U of M, was fascinated by this property. II. So what's the catch? III. Mr. IV.
Hot solar cells are the cool way to water and power - tech - 14 April 2011 PUMPING water through micro-channels on the surface of a solar panel not only makes it more efficient but can also make seawater drinkable. Concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) cells use lenses to focus large areas of solar energy onto a relatively small section of photovoltaic material, so it is not surprising that they can reach temperatures of 120 °C. These high temperatures make the cells less efficient, reducing the amount of electricity they can produce. That is why keeping them cool is so important, says Bruno Michel, head of advanced thermal packaging at IBM's Zurich Research Laboratory in Switzerland. So with this in mind IBM has developed the "ultra-high concentrated PV", a hybrid solar panel that incorporates technology originally developed to help cool computer chips. The idea is to use water-filled microchannels to cool the cell - the hot water would then be used in desalination. One method of desalination uses hot water to distil seawater, evaporating it to remove the salt.
72 A grade 3x6 solar cell kit for DIY solar panel DIY solar cells are the cheapest way to generate electricity from the sun for small projects. Building panels from solar cells is highly educational - both electrically and mechanically - and provides days of fun in the sun for those of us who like to build for the sheer pleasure of it. They are also versatile, as you can customise your voltage/current to suit your needs in a way that is impossible with pre-assembled panels. PV cells have a rated lifetime of +20 years if they are maintained and housed correctly. KnowYourPlanet have sold over 1 million solar cells to date, so you can trust us to supply solar cells which work and are sourced from trusted manufacturers in Europe. We recommend that you mount the cells effectively to ensure a long lifetime, low corrosion and cracking. If you are looking for bigger installations please don't hesitate to contact us, we also have a wide range of solar panels, inverters, batteries and much more available at very competitive prices. Features
Bees Solve Complex Problems Faster Than Supercomputers In a new study, researchers report that bumblebees were able to figure out the most efficient routes among several computer-controlled "flowers," quickly solving a complex problem that even stumps supercomputers. We already know bees are pretty good at facial recognition, and researchers have shown they can also be effective air-quality monitors. Bumblebees can solve the classic "traveling salesman" problem, which keeps supercomputers busy for days. They learn to fly the shortest possible route between flowers even if they find the flowers in a different order, according to a new British study. The traveling salesman problem is a problem in computer science; it involves finding the shortest possible route between cities, visiting each city only once. Bees need lots of energy to fly, so they seek the most efficient route among networks of hundreds of flowers using angles of sunlight, which helps them find their way home, researchers say.
Stretchy Solar Cells Power "Super Skin" The "super skin" developed by Stanford University researcher Zhenan Bao is self-powering, using polymer solar cells to generate electricity. The solar cells are not just flexible, but stretchable — they can be stretched up to 30 percent beyond their original length and snap back without any damage or loss of power. "With artificial skin, we can basically incorporate any function we desire," says Bao, a professor of chemical engineering, who presented her work on Feb. 20 at the AAAS annual meeting in Washington, D.C. "That is why I call our skin 'super skin.' It is much more than what we think of as normal skin." The foundation for the artificial skin is a flexible organic transistor, made with flexible polymers and carbon-based materials. To sense a particular biological molecule, the surface of the transistor has to be coated with another molecule to which the first one will bind when it comes into contact. The same approach would allow the sensors to detect chemicals, she said.
Arcosanti Coordinates: Arcosanti is an experimental town and molten bronze bell casting community that has been developed by the Italian-American architect, Paolo Soleri, who began construction in 1970 in central Arizona, 70 mi (110 km) north of Phoenix, at an elevation of 3,732 feet (1,130 meters). Using a concept he called arcology, he started the town to demonstrate how urban conditions could be improved while minimizing the destructive impact on the earth. He taught and influenced generations of architects and urban designers who studied and worked with him there to build the town. Overview[edit] The goal of Arcosanti is to explore the concept of arcology, which combines architecture and ecology. An Arcosanti apse Construction broke ground at the site in 1970, and has continued at a varying pace through the present. Many features are particular to the design and construction of Arcosanti. Visitors' center and residence The Arcosanti site has a camp area built for the original construction crew.