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Archive for the ‘solar power’ category: Page 105

Dec 22, 2018

China Has Built a Giant Floating Solar Power Plant

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

We can barely believe our eyes – this solar power plant floats in a man-made lake… over what was once a filthy coal mine. (via World Economic Forum)

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Dec 17, 2018

A ‘Roadless Trip’ in a 3D-Printed Solar-Powered Snow Rover

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, solar power, sustainability

A Dutch couple is traversing Antarctica at 5 miles per hour in their Solar Voyager, which they made from upcycled plastic and solar panels.

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Nov 30, 2018

Brilliant iron molecule could provide cheaper solar energy

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

For the first time, researchers have succeeded in creating an iron molecule that can function both as a photocatalyst to produce fuel and in solar cells to produce electricity. The results indicate that the iron molecule could replace the more expensive and rarer metals used today.

Some photocatalysts and are based on a technology that involves containing metals, known as . The task of the complexes in this context is to absorb solar rays and utilise their energy. The metals in these molecules pose a major problem, however, as they are rare and expensive metals, such as the noble metals ruthenium, osmium and iridium.

“Our results now show that by using advanced molecule design, it is possible to replace the rare metals with iron, which is common in the Earth’s crust and therefore cheap,” says Chemistry Professor Kenneth Wärnmark of Lund University in Sweden.

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Nov 29, 2018

Study unlocks full potential of ‘supermaterial’ graphene

Posted by in categories: computing, physics, solar power, sustainability

New research reveals why the “supermaterial” graphene has not transformed electronics as promised, and shows how to double its performance and finally harness its extraordinary potential.

Graphene is the strongest material ever tested. It’s also flexible, transparent and conducts heat and electricity 10 times better than copper.

After graphene research won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2010 it was hailed as a transformative material for flexible electronics, more powerful computer chips and solar panels, water filters and bio-sensors. But performance has been mixed and industry adoption slow.

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Nov 26, 2018

Our Mars Odyssey orbiter phoned home, relaying the latest news from NASA InSight that indicates that its solar panels are open and collecting sunlight on the Martian surface

Posted by in categories: habitats, solar power, space, sustainability

Also included in the dispatch: this snapshot from the lander’s arm showing the instruments in their new “plain perfect” home. Get the latest: https://go.nasa.gov/2FDGbwu

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Nov 22, 2018

Huge, high-flying ‘pseudo-satellite’ will soon take to the skies

Posted by in categories: drones, finance, solar power, sustainability

More than an ordinary aerial drone but not quite a satellite, a huge solar-powered airplane with three tails and wings wider than a jumbo jet’s will soon be taking to the skies.

Odysseus, developed by Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences of Manassas, Virginia, is one of the largest unpiloted aircraft ever built — and one of the lightest. It has a 243-foot wingspan but weighs less than a small car, the company says. Its six electrically powered propellers will be driven by energy from hundreds of solar panels that cover the aircraft’s exterior or from banks of rechargeable batteries on board, depending on the available sunlight.

With a top speed of 100 miles an hour, Odysseus won’t be very fast. But it’s designed to soar to altitudes above 60,000 feet and stay aloft for months at a time.

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Nov 19, 2018

Thin, Flexible New Solar Cells Could Soon Line Your Shirt

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability, transportation

A new kind of solar cell called a perovskite is improving rapidly, bringing the prospect of solar-powered vehicles, clothing, and windows closer to reality.

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Nov 16, 2018

Destroying nuclear waste to create clean energy? It can be done

Posted by in categories: climatology, internet, nuclear energy, solar power, sustainability

If not for long-term radioactive waste, then nuclear power would be the ultimate “green” energy. The alternative to uranium is thorium, a radioactive ore whose natural decay is responsible for half of our geothermal energy, which we think of as “green energy.” More than 20 years of research at the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN), the birthplace of the internet and where Higgs boson was discovered, demonstrate that thorium could become a radically disruptive source of clean energy providing bountiful electricity any place and at any time.

Coal and gas remain by far the largest sources of electricity worldwide, threatening our climate equilibrium. Non-fossil alternatives, such as solar power, use up a forbidding amount of land, even in sunny California, plus the decommissioning will pose a serious recycling challenge within 20 years. Solar is best used on an individual household basis, rather than centralized plants. Wind requires an even larger surface area than solar.

As Michael Shellenberger, a Time magazine “Hero of the Environment”, recently wrote: “Had California and Germany invested $680 billion into nuclear power plants instead of renewables like solar and wind farms, the two would already be generating 100% or more of their electricity from clean energy sources.” Correct, but the disturbing issue of long-term nuclear waste produced by conventional, uranium based, nuclear plants still remains.

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Nov 12, 2018

How solar panels could cool our homes while harvesting energy

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

Warm on top, cool on bottom.

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Nov 8, 2018

Scientists Develop Liquid Fuel That Can Store The Sun’s Energy For Up to 18 Years

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

No matter how abundant or renewable, solar power has a thorn in its side. There is still no cheap and efficient long-term storage for the energy that it generates.

The solar industry has been snagged on this branch for a while, but in the past year alone, a series of four papers has ushered in an intriguing new solution.

Scientists in Sweden have developed a specialised fluid, called a solar thermal fuel, that can store energy from the sun for well over a decade.

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