MIT researchers create super efficient 'origami' solar panels MIT researchers have created an origami-like solar structure that is much more efficient than current flat panels. The three-dimensional solar structure could, at least in principle, absorb a lot more light and generate more power than a flat panel containing the same area footprint. The hope is that all unused light which has been reflected off one panel would be captured by other panels. Panels of this type would be most ideal in circumstances with limited space. "This was a fully 'bio-inspired' idea," said researcher Jeffrey Grossman, a theoretical physicist at MIT. "I was hiking up at Lake Tahoe in California and noticing the shapes of trees, and wondering, 'Why do they have a given shape over another?'"
How I built an electricity producing wind turbine Several years ago I bought some remote property in Arizona. I am an astronomer and wanted a place to practice my hobby far away from the sky-wrecking light pollution found near cities of any real size. I found a great piece of property. The problem is, it's so remote that there is no electric service available. That's not really a problem. No electricity equals no light pollution. Photovoltaic Research Center This graphic shows color-coded simulation results from advanced computational models used to characterize the properties of materials used in organic photovoltaic solar cells in efforts to better understand the physics involved and to improve the technology. The new Network for Photovoltaic Technology research center led by Purdue University and funded by the Semiconductor Research Corporation, aims to develop such computational capabilities for broad range of PV technologies for higher efficiency and reduced manufacture cost. (B. Ray, P. Nair, E.
Super Cheap Solar Cells Just Got Cheaper, Switch Gold For Nickel One of the major drawbacks of most renewable energy sources is high cost. In order to see a huge rise in the use of renewable energy sources, prices must come down. In the world of solar there have recently been some major breakthroughs in cost advantages and efficiency increases. Scientists at the University of Toronto in Canada have come up with a way to reduce colloidal quantum dot solar cell prices by up to 80%, by swapping out costly conductive gold for cheap nickel. How to build a 'wasp' wind turbine Materialsthin, bendable sheet of plastic or any other material that can be used to build a cone two boards of MDF or any other sturdy material glue, tape For the nozzle we chose an arc with a radius of 61cm made of a thin and bendable sheet of plastic. The angle depends on the size of the stand for the nozzle but it is helpful to have sufficient material overlapping as this makes the procedure of taping/gluing the cone much easier. In our case, we decided to use tape as it was quicker to apply and seemed to be stable enough to keep the cone in form. The stand for the nozzle was made out of 1.8cm thick boards of MDF.
Wanger Institute for Sustainable Energy Research Students and researchers at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) are striving to improve the quality of life in our nation while preserving the natural resources and the environment for future generations. At the Wanger Institute for Sustainable Energy Research (WISER), more than 50 faculty members are currently involved in energy and sustainability research and educational activities across the colleges and institutes at IIT. Digital technology that collects, communicates and reacts to data, allowing the system to adapt to trends in electricity usage and to change supply accordingly. Advanced design tools for gasification processes based on the computational fluid dynamics approach, produced hot gas cleaning and novel sorbents for CO₂ removal and hydrogen separation.
Some Earthy Figures and Facts About Solar Energy You Have to Know - Phoebe-Elle's blog Want more facts about solar energy? The best thing about it is that there are no rising and annoying importation costs of gas, oil or coal, which are by the way, increasing almost half the time. For more earthy figures and facts about solar energy, here they are: Video: Airborne Wind Turbine in flight Altaeros Energies has been in touch to show Gizmag a video of its Airborne Wind Turbine in flight Remember the Airborne Wind Turbine covered by Gizmag towards the end of March? The creator of the prototype, Altaeros Energies, has been in touch to show us a video of the prototype in operation and we can confirm that a) it flies and b) the turbine goes round. Though we wouldn't typically post an update with relatively scant new information, the combination of this product's uniqueness and the interest the original story garnered among Gizmag readers means we thought this was worth letting you know about. Also, it's nice to have a video without unnecessarily distracting and incongruous music suddenly blasting out of your cans, but perhaps that's just me.
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 , Pond-Powered Biofuels: Turning Algae into America's New Energy Just three years ago, Colorado-based inventor Jim Sears shuttered himself in his garage and began tinkering with a design to mass-produce biofuel. His reactor (plastic bags) and his feedstock (algae) may have struck soybean farmers as a laughable gamble. But the experiment worked, and today, Sears' company, Solix Biofuels in Fort Collins, is among several startups betting their futures on the photosynthetic powers of unicellular green goo.
Oregon State University, College of Engineering In 2007/2008, OSU, in collaboration with Columbia Power Technologies (CPT) and the U.S. Navy, evaluated 18 different direct-drive technologies, and down-selected to five promising designs. OSU and CPT built each of those prototypes at the 200W peak level and tested them on OSU's new wave energy linear test bed. OSU and CPT also comprehensively simulated each of the designs, and scaled the simulations up to 100kW, including full 100kW designs with costs, maintenance, operations etc., to give estimates for total costs of energy for each. This has been a tremendous collaboration enabling the zeroing in on optimum designs, and based on this work, in September 2008, OSU and CPT completed a series of very successful bay and ocean testing (see pictures).