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News:Solar

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Solar News

See also Directory:Solar#News Sources

As of Aug. 27, 2009, we began posting all solar news stories here, then archiving the older content as it gets too long.


  • Trends / Solar >
    Utility-Scale Solar Soaring in U.S. - There are over 100 utility-scale solar projects in the U.S. totaling 17,000 MW now in the planning stage. 75 percent of Americans, across the political spectrum, support utility-scale solar on public lands. (GreenTechMedia; March 18, 2010)
  • Solar > PV > Largest >
    Scaling Up Solar Power - Applied Materials has developed the equipment to produce extremely large photo­voltaic panels in order to lower the price of solar power in two ways. The equipment for manufacturing thin-film solar cells operates more efficiently when the panels are bigger. And larger modules need less hardware and labor to wire them together and support them. (MIT Technology Review; Mar/Apr 2010)
  • Plastic / Solar > PV >
    Low-cost, more efficient solar cells mostly plastic - By growing arrays of silicon wires in a polymer substrate, researchers at Caltech have demonstrated what they say are flexible solar cells that absorb up to 96 percent of incident light and harvest over 90 percent quantum efficiency, compared with 25 percent for the best silicon solar cells. The wires are made up of 98 percent plastic, potentially lowering the cost of photovoltaics by using just 1/50th the amount of semiconductor material used today. (EETimes; Feb. 18, 2010)
  • Nanotech / Solar > R&D >
    Scientists turn light into electrical current using a golden nanoscale system - Material scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have demonstrated the transduction of optical radiation to electrical current in a molecular circuit. The system, an array of nano-sized molecules of gold, respond to electromagnetic waves by creating surface plasmons that induce and project electrical current across molecules, similar to that of photovoltaic solar cells. (PhysOrg; February 12, 2010 )
  • Solar > PV >
    Millimeter-scale, energy-harvesting sensor could operate almost perpetually - Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a solar-powered sensor system that is just nine cubic millimeters in size. It is 1,000 times smaller than comparable commercial counterparts and can harvest energy from its surroundings to operate nearly perpetually. Applications include medical device implant power, remote sensors. (GizMag; Feb. 9, 2010)
  • Featured: Solar > Applications / Building >
    Walipini Underground Greenhouses - The Walipini utilizes nature’s resources to provide a warm, stable, well-lit environment for year-round vegetable production. Locating the growing area 6’- 8’ underground and capturing and storing daytime solar radiation in the soil and water barrels are the most important principles in building a successful Walipini. (PESWiki; Jan. 14, 2010)
  • Solar > Applications >
    SOLAR EAR: Affordable Sun-Powered Hearing Aids - Solar Ear, a Brazilian company, creates low-cost hearing aids that get their juice from solar-powered batteries, seriously cut back on battery waste, while being more affordable than traditional hearing aids. Two AA batteries are recharged by solar power; and the AA batteries recharge the hearing aid batteries. (Inhabitat; Jan. 6, 2009)

2009

  • Solar > Applications >
    Photovoltaic Eye Implant Could Give Sight To the Blind - Researchers at Stanford University recently announced that they have developed a new artificial retina implant that uses photovoltaic power and could help the blind see. Miniature photovoltaic cells are used to provide power to the chip as well as to transmit data through the eye to the brain. (Inhabitiat; Dec. 29, 2009)
  • Solar > Research and Development >
    Hot Electrons Could Double Solar Power - Researchers at Boston College have provided new experimental evidence that solar cell output can be double vi the use of "hot electrons." Ordinary solar cells can, in theory, convert at most about 35 percent of the energy in sunlight into electricity, wasting the rest as heat. Making use of hot electrons could result in efficiencies as high as 67 percent. (MIT Technology Review; Dec. 18, 2009)
  • Nanotechnology / Solar / Batteries >
    New nano-material could lead to self-washing windows and solar panels - Researchers from Tel Aviv University have discovered a new nanomaterial that can repel dust and water and could provide a self-cleaning coating for windows or solar panels. The new material is made up of molecules of peptides that “grow” to resemble small forests of grass. The coating also acts as a super-capacitor, thereby possibly providing an energy boost to batteries. (GizMag; December 3, 2009)
  • Solar > Concentrated / Storage >
    Solar power generation around the clock - SolarReserve is developing a solar power system that can store seven hours' worth of solar energy by focusing mirrors onto millions of gallons of molten salt, allowing the plant to provide electricity 24 hours a day. The 150-megawatt plant will include 4.4 million gallons of molten salt. (PhysOrg; Nov. 5, 2009)
  • Solar > PV / Nanotechnology >
    3-D photovoltaic systems go where the sun don’t shine - Researchers at Georgia Tech have developed a new type of three-dimensional PV system using optical fiber that promises solar generators that are foldable, concealed and mobile, meaning they could be hidden from view and leave rooftops panel-free. Sunlight entering the optical fiber passes into the nanowires, where it interacts with the dye molecules to produce electrical current. (GizMag; Nov. 2, 2009)
  • Solar Thermal / Building / ZPE / Methane >
    A few free energy developments in Romania - A Russian news agency reports on several interesting systems being developed, including an efficient solar water heating design, a composite building materials having strength and a high R value, a magnetic fertilizer, and a system that allegedly loads methane molecules with the vacuum zero point energy increasing the methane’s heating power by 40 percent. (Financiarul; Oct. 30, 2009)
  • Solar > PV >
    Color matters: GreenSun Energy colored solar technology - Researchers in Israel have come up with a cell that uses only 20% of the silicon in a standard cell yet yields similar amounts of electricity to a regular silicon cell, by diffusing any light that falls on its surface and sending it off to photovoltaic collector strips on each of its sides. And it doesn't even need bright sunlight to operate. (GizMag; Sept. 24, 2009)
  • Solar > Largest >
    Solar Powered Supertower to Eclipse the Burj Dubai? - Santa Monica building designer Tommy Landau is proposing a super-tall 224 story skyscraper to be located in Abu Dhabi. While the building is years away from being built, Landau is convinced that by that time technology will be advanced enough to coat the building in solar cells and power it completely with the sun. (Inhabitat; Sept. 17, 2009)
  • Solar > PV >
    More Efficient, and Cheaper, Solar Cells - Three improvements by 1366 Technologies of Massachusetts could bring the cost of solar down to about 15-16 cents/kw-h, by cost-effectively improving light trapping and collection. Videos explain how this is done, including how incoming light reflects off grooves in a silver band and is redirected along a glass cover. (MIT Technology Review; September 14, 2009)
  • Solar > PV >
    SolarMagic Power Optimizer - The power of the solar array is only as strong as the weakest-performing panel, such as from shade from sources like trees, chimneys, power lines or bird droppings. SolarMagic power optimizers by National Semiconductor maximize the energy potential of each individual panel so as much as 50% of the lost energy can be reclaimed. (Engineering TV; September 8, 2009)
  • Top 100: Solar > Thin Film > First Solar >
    Chinese solar plant expected to be the biggest - Arizona company, First Solar, which makes more solar cells than any other company, said it struck a tentative 10-year deal to build a 25-square mile solar plant in China's vast desert north of the Great Wall, generating 2 gigawatts of electricity -- enough to power 3 million homes. (Salt Lake Tribune; Sept. 8, 2009)
  • Solar / Trends >
    Cheaper Solar Power's Time Has Come - Solar power manufacturers in the US are cutting prices to shift their stock, the government is chipping in with tax credits, and innovative leasing or financing arrangements spreading payments over up to 20 years are being introduced. All of which makes solar power much more affordable than before. (PhysOrg; Sept. 7, 2009)
  • Solar > Applications >
    Solar Roadways Awarded DOT Contract to Pave Roads with Solar Cells - In a first step toward turning highways into energy-generating solar panels, the Idaho-based startup Solar Roadways has recently received a $100,000 grant from the US Department of Transportation (DOT). The company will use the money to build a prototype of its Solar Road Panel, made from solar cells and glass, that is meant to replace petroleum-based asphalt on roads and in parking lots. (PhysOrg; Sept. 7, 2009)
  • Solar > Thermal / Clean Coal >
    Mixing Solar with Coal to Cut Costs - The project by Abengoa Solar and Colorado's largest utility, Xcel Energy, will involve building an array of parabolic mirrors designed to concentrate heat from the sun, and use that heat to help make the steam that drives the coal plant's turbines and generators, making electricity, cutting the cost of solar and reducing plant emissions. (MIT Technology Review; Sept. 4, 2009)
  • Featured / OS: Solar > Cooking >
    Satellite Dish Solar Cooker - When you finally get sick of mainstream media, don't ditch your dish, convert it to a solar cooker and let it pay you back with free cooking power of the sun. These are also available commercially. A collection of instructional videos. (PESWiki; August 31, 2009)
  • Directory:Solar#Paint >
    Plan to turn rooftops, walls and windows into cheap solar cells - Cheaper solar cells – roughly one-tenth the cost of current day prices – could be available within three to five years thanks to a manufacturing procedure that uses nanoparticle ‘inks’ to print them like newspaper or to spray-paint them onto the sides of buildings or rooftops. Even windows could become solar cells thanks to the semi-transparent inks. (GizMag; August 25, 2009)
  • Solar Hydrogen >
    How a Solar-Hydrogen Economy Could Supply the World's Energy Needs - In an invited opinion piece to be published in the Proceedings of the IEEE, Professor Abbott at the University of Adelaide in Australia, argues that a solar-hydrogen economy is more sustainable and provides a vastly higher total power output potential than any other alternative and should be the final goal of current energy policy. (PhysOrg; Aug. 24, 2009)
  • Thin Film >
    Not your average solar panel: The SRS solar roof tile - The Solé Power Tile system is the first building-integrated photovoltaic roofing product designed to blend in with curved roof tiles and is offered exclusively as an upgrade option to customers of US Tile. The triple-junction amorphous silicon thin-film technology incorporated within the Solé Power Tile is manufactured by United Solar Ovonic. (GizMag; August 23, 2009)
  • Plastic >
    Plastics That Convert Light To Electricity - A research team at the University of Washington has found a way to make images of tiny bubbles and channels, roughly 10,000 times smaller than a human hair, inside plastic solar cells. These bubbles and channels form within the polymers as they are being created in a baking process, called annealing, that is used to improve the materials' performance. (Sceince Daily; Aug. 5, 2009)

- - - -

Note, from this point backward, this index is not populated from the news posted on the News page, but only as it was occasionally posted on the "In the News" section on the Directory:Solar page.

2008

  • Trends >
    The Amish go solar – in a simple way - Solar energy has been used by a few of the technology-eschewing Amish for decades now. But with soaring energy costs, more families are putting sunlight-collecting panels on their barns and outbuildings. Indeed, area dealers report sales of solar systems to the Amish are up 30 percent to 50 percent this year alone. (Christian Science Monitor; Oct 27, 2008)
  • Solar Roofing Materials - United Solar Ovonic has teamed with CENTRIA to create a metal roof system that generates electricity from sunlight. The partnership offers seven different prefabricated systems, ranging in capacity from 3 to 120 kilowatts. Tests show that the solar roof panels are rugged and can withstand winds in excess of 160 miles per hour. (MIT Technology Review; Sept. 12, 2008)
  • First Solar: Quest for the $1 Watt - The secret involves not the photovoltaic cell itself but the way in which it is manufactured. Instead of the familiar silicon, the design uses a compound of cadmium and tellurium. Not long ago it was little more than a laboratory curiosity, largely because nobody had found a practical way to make the cells much larger than a postage stamp. First Solar has now refined the manufacturing procedure to blow up the cells to poster size. (Newswise Science News; July 22, 2008)
  • California School Sees Benefits of Solar Energy - California is home to some of the best solar resources in the U.S., a fact not lost on its residents and policy makers when it comes to adopting and supporting solar energy. One application for solar that is becoming increasingly popular in California is using photovoltaics to power schools. (Renewable Energy World; May 30, 2008)
  • Solar Power Boom Continues in Europe - The recent growth of photovoltaic energy in countries like Spain and Germany is triggering a reassessment of incentives in Europe to foster a cost-effective, consumer-friendly approach to solar power. (Energy Tribune; April 16, 2008)
  • 12 New Solar America Cities Chosen - The US Department of Energy (DOE) has selected 12 new Solar America Cities, bringing the number from 13 to 25 in total, and moving along the $2.4 million initiative to provide up to $200,000 per city to build solid solar infrastructures. (Inhabitat; April 7, 2008)
  • SMIT GROW - Teresita Cochran is establishing GROW, a hybrid energy delivery device that provides power via the sun and wind, and draws inspiration from ivy growing on a building. (Ecolect.net"; Feb. 2008)

2007

  • Cheaper, More Efficient Solar Cells - StarSolar aims to capture and use photons that ordinarily pass through solar cells without generating electricity, to cut the cost of solar cells in half while maintaining high efficiency. The technology uses a material called a photonic crystal, that enhances infrared light absorption 7x, thus increasing overall power generation by 37%. . (MIT Technology Review; Mar. 21, 2007)
  • Cheap Nano Solar Cells - Researchers have demonstrated improved efficiency in solar cells made from low-cost chemicals used in paints. They added single-walled carbon nanotubes to a film made of titanium-dioxide nanoparticles, doubling the efficiency of converting ultraviolet light into electrons when compared with nanoparticles alone. (MIT Technology Review; Mar. 05, 2007)

2006

  • NanoHorizons™ Signs Licensing Agreement with Solarity for Breakthrough Solar Cell Technology - The design utilizes a nanoscale-engineered structure to perform both absorption and collection. This enables photovoltaic device builders to use an optimally thick layer of absorption material while simultaneously requiring a collection distance of only tens of nanometers vs. tens of microns in today’s best two-layer cells. “Our nanotechnology-based approach offers terrific potential in manufacturing higher-efficiency cells using less expensive materials and high-throughput production lines.‿ (NanoHorizons; August 1, 2006)

Solar News Resources

See: Directory:Solar#News Sources

See also

SOLAR GENERAL:
- Directory:Solar - index of resources
- PowerPedia:Solar Energy - Encyclopedic review of history and future
- News:Solar
- Directory:Solar Energy Research and Development
- Videos:Solar
SOLAR MODALITIES:
- Directory:Concentrated Solar Power
- Directory:Solar PhotoVoltaics | Directory:Home Generation:Solar PV
- Directory:Solar Thermal
- Directory:Home Generation:Solar Heating
- Directory:Thin Film Solar
- Directory:Solar:Photosynthesis Imitation
- Directory:Solar Tower
- Directory:Floating Solar Chimney
- Directory:Space Based Solar Power
- Directory:Solar Sails
SOLAR INFRASTRUCTURE
- Directory:Plastic Solar Cells
- Directory:Silicon - more efficient uses, alternatives, methods
- Directory:Black Silicon
- Directory:Synchronous Solar Heliostat
- Directory:Solar:Installation and Consultation
- Directory:Solar:Largest
SOLAR APPLICATIONS:
- Directory:Solar Applications
- Directory:Solar:Chargers
- Directory:Solar:Vehicles
- Directory:Solar Hydrogen
- Directory:Walipini Underground Greenhouses
- OS:Solar Ethanol - distiller design
- Directory:Solar Pavement - black-body absorption of the asphalt

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