Tag Archives: efficiency
Modern Building Design and Energy Efficiency
While architecture for many years was solely related to the appearance of a building, there have been many changes in recent years. Given the level of environmental awareness that we are all now expected to have, modern architecture is reflective of this. Today’s new buildings are greener and more energy efficient than ever before. We [...]
In Focus: Whole Building Energy Control
I just got back from Crestron Masters programming training where I learned about all of their new products coming out and currently available. Crestron got its start doing programmable controllers and touch panels for the AV industry. In the process they created some very versatile controllers that allow for control over some very disparate and [...]
STUDY: Gen Y Wants Fuel Efficiency
According to The Detroit News, a recent study finds that young drivers are interested in fuel efficiency and green vehicles. The study, conducted by management consultants McKinsey & Co, has found that a car is no longer a status symbol (as it was two to three decades ago) and now symbolizes independence. The survey also found that [...]
GE Research Achieves CdTe PV Efficiency Record
Rather quietly, GE Research has bested First Solar for the cadmium telluride PV cell efficiency record. Clocking in at 18.3 percent, the new record edges First Solar’s previous mark by a full 1 percent. First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) hit 17.3 percent about a year ago. Presumably, this record was set using the PrimeStar Solar technology acquired [...]
Empa Scientists Acheive 20.4% Flexible CIGS Efficiency
A record breaking thin film solar cell has been developed by scientists at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology. A team of researchers led by Ayodhya N. Tiwari at the institute’s Laboratory for Thin Film and Photovoltaics have achieved 20.4 percent energy conversion efficiency for their C.I.G.S. solar cells on flexible [...]
Solar Cell Efficiency and the “Black Hole for Light”
Researchers at Princeton University led by electrical engineer Stephen Chou, have developed what is being called a “nanostructure sandwich” to trap light and improve the efficiency of organic solar cells by 175%. A layer of metal mesh 30 nanometers thick (A nanometer is about one hundred-thousandth the width of human hair) is placed on top [...]
NICE: Energy Efficiency Legislation Signed by Obama
President Obama signed the American Energy Manufacturing Technical Corrections Act (H.R. 6582) on Wednesday after the bill received bipartisan support in Congress. The law is a modification of the Enabling Energy Savings Innovations Act (H.R. 4850) and includes elements of the Shaheen-Portman senate bill. Energy efficiency enthusiasts hailed the move, but also cautioned that there [...]
Sharp Hits 37.7% Solar Cell Efficiency
Sharp Corporation has set the world record for solar cell conversion efficiency – 37.7 percent – the Osaka-based multinational announced. The Japanese electronics company said it achieved the breakthrough using a triple-junction compound solar cell wherein photo-absorption layers are piled together. Compound solar cells use photo-absorption layers made from compounds made up of two or [...]
Cheaper Gallium Nitride: Gamechanger for High Performance Solar?
Improvements in how Bulk Gallium Nitride, a semiconductor substrate, is manufactured could bring its cost down enough for it to realistically compete with silicon in the electronics world and some in solar. That’s what a recently released report from Lux Research found. “Wide-band-gap semiconductor materials such as gallium nitride offer far higher performance than traditional [...]