Tag Archives: technology
A Breakthrough or Just Another PV Module?
“In the day”, I was sent to Siemens Photovoltaic Cell manufacturing plant in Santa Barbara to visit with the Southern California Edison customer, document the manufacturing process and take some pictures for my bosses presentation. It has been years since then and the United States, the once leader in cell manufacturing, has given way to others [...]
Catching Photosynthesis in the Act
Photosynthetic oxidation of water is one of the central processes of life on Earth, but it is still not completely understood. Now, a German-American team of scientists has set out to observe the intermediate stages of this complex catalytic reaction using ultrashort snap shots taken at light sources including BESSY II in Berlin and the [...]
New Solar Technology to Increase Efficiency
One of the reasons that many consumers decide not to go solar is they feel the technology is still in its infancy, and needs to be further developed before they make a long-term commitment. Like any technology, progress is made steadily but slowly. Here is a look at what could be some of the recent [...]
SolarCity Raises $500M
SolarCity (Nasdaq: SCTY), a provider of distributed energy, just announced a $500 million lease financing agreement with Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS). That translates to more than 100 megawatts of solar power. The combined lease is the largest of its kind for U.S. residential rooftops. SolarCity allows consumers to get electricity from grid-tied solar rooftops at [...]
Spray on Solar 2.0
New Energy Technologies announced last week that it has successfully scaled up its spray-on, see-through solar photovoltaic technology designed for after-market application on windows. The futuristic idea behind the technology is that it could be used to solarize windows in the 85 million commercial buildings and residential homes throughout the country. The Maryland-based company first [...]
In Focus: The Chemicals in Chicago’s Air
Scientists have found that Chicago’s air is infested with chemicals courtesy of airborne compounds that are traveling as far as the Arctic. The chemicals, called cyclic siloxanes, are toxic to aquatic life. Where do they come from? From chemicals in deodorants, lotions and conditioners. “These chemicals are just everywhere,” said Keri Hornbuckle, an engineering professor at the [...]
The Window Socket Portable Solar Charger
As the economist Adam Smith once said, “If you have a mind to look after the pennies in life, the pounds will look after themselves.” A rubbish theory obviously, but one which perhaps illustrates the beauty of a new little solar charging device that you can stick to a window and then charge your mobile [...]
New Battery Can Store Solar and Wind Energy
Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have developed a relatively cheap, long-life “flow” battery that can be used to mitigate power fluctuations from solar and wind energy plants, therefore enabling them to become major suppliers to the electrical grid. The research, led by Yi Cui, a [...]
Graphene That Redefines Electric Current
A new joint innovation by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and the University of Cambridge could pave the way for redefining the ampere in terms of fundamental constants of physics. The world’s first graphene single-electron pump (SEP), described in Nature Nanotechnology, provides the speed of electron flow needed to create a new standard for electrical current [...]