Archive for the ‘solar power’ category: Page 14
Dec 12, 2019
AI-driven robots are making new materials, improving solar cells and other technologies
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: information science, robotics/AI, solar power, sustainability
Decision-making algorithms transform how automated systems evaluate and synthesize novel compounds.
Dec 11, 2019
Punching holes in solar cells turns them into transparent windows
Posted by Quinn Sena in categories: solar power, sustainability
Opaque solar panels could be turned into window glass for tall buildings by punching hundreds of tiny holes in them so our eyes perceive them as transparent.
Dec 10, 2019
Researchers develop new method to remove dust on solar panels
Posted by Paul Battista in categories: particle physics, solar power, sustainability
Taking a cue from the self-cleaning properties of the lotus leaf, researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have shed new light on microscopic forces and mechanisms that can be optimized to remove dust from solar panels to maintain efficiency and light absorption. The new technique removed 98 percent of dust particles.
In a new study published in Langmuir, the researchers confirmed that modifying the surface properties of solar panels may greatly reduce the amount of dust remaining on the surface, and significantly increase the potential of solar energy harvesting applications in the desert.
Dust adhesion on solar panels is a major challenge to energy harvesting through photovoltaic cells and solar thermal collectors. New solutions are necessary to maintain maximum collection efficiency in high dust density areas such as the Negev desert in Israel.
Dec 4, 2019
Pulsed Fission Fusion Propulsion for Faster Manned Travel Through the Solar System
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: nuclear energy, solar power, space
Robert Adams updated the work on a phase 2 Pulsed Fission-Fusion (PuFF) Propulsion Concept. Robert works at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. This system should be able to achieve 15 kW/kg and 30,000 seconds of ISP. This will be orders of magnitude improvement over competing systems such as nuclear electric, solar electric, and nuclear thermal propulsion that suffer from lower available power and inefficient thermodynamic cycles. Puff will meet an unfilled capability needed for manned missions to the outer planets and vastly faster travel throughout the solar system.
A tiny lithium deuteride and uranium 235 pellet will be fired into a shell of structure that will complete a circuit and generate high voltages and pressures that will compress the pellet and cause fission and fusion to occur.
Nov 30, 2019
SILENT 44 | Luxury Yachts | Solar energy & electric propulsion
Posted by Tracy R. Atkins in categories: solar power, sustainability
100% Solar Yachts are catching on in a big way. Impressive.
Specifications Length overall: 13,40 m (44‘) Beam overall: 7,2 (23.6‘) Draft: 0,75 m (2.5‘) Light displacement (EC): 11 tons Water: 500 – 1.000 L Waste-Water: 1 x 250 L Fuel: 250 – 500 L Solar Panels: 9 kWp E-Motors:
Nov 24, 2019
Solar farms can keep UK’s lights on even at night
Posted by Dan Kummer in categories: solar power, sustainability
Nov 20, 2019
New hybrid device can both capture and store solar energy
Posted by Saúl Morales Rodriguéz in categories: solar power, sustainability
Researchers from the University of Houston have reported a new device that can both efficiently capture solar energy and store it until it is needed, offering promise for applications ranging from power generation to distillation and desalination.
Unlike solar panels and solar cells, which rely on photovoltaic technology for the direct generation of electricity, the hybrid device captures heat from the sun and stores it as thermal energy. It addresses some of the issues that have stalled wider-scale adoption of solar power, suggesting an avenue for using solar energy around-the-clock, despite limited sunlight hours, cloudy days and other constraints.
The work, described in a paper published Wednesday in Joule, combines molecular energy storage and latent heat storage to produce an integrated harvesting and storage device for potential 24/7 operation. The researchers report a harvesting efficiency of 73% at small-scale operation and as high as 90% at large-scale operation.
Nov 19, 2019
Bill Gates-backed solar startup announces major breakthrough
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: solar power, sustainability
Heliogen is a startup that wants to “replace fuels with sunlight.” And the Bill Gates-backed solar startup, which has flown under the radar until today, has made a major green-energy breakthrough for heavy industry. Heliogen “has created the world’s first technology that can commercially replace fuels with carbon-free, ultra-high temperature heat from the sun.”
Nov 19, 2019
The Anti-Solar Panel — A Device That Generates Electricity From Darkness
Posted by Victoria Generao in categories: solar power, sustainability
There are different kinds of solar panels. The one most typically used is a type that generates electricity from the sun through a physical process called the photo-voltaic (PV) effect – when light exposure on certain materials generates an electric current. Another type generates electricity from heat through thermal processes – when the sun is hotter and Earth is cooler, and the difference in temperature can be converted into usable energy.
That second kind of solar panel is the one that inspired a team of researchers at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California to develop a new system that can harness energy in darkness. It’s based on the concept of using heat to generate energy but an inverse version of the solar panel. While the solar panel uses the heat difference between the sun and Earth with the Earth being the cooler side – their system makes use of the heat difference between the coolness of the night atmosphere and the Earth with the Earth being the hotter side. The study has been published in the scientific journal Joule.
Study author Shanhui Fan, Stanford electrical engineering professor, told Gizmodo: