Lifeboat Foundation

Just as the single-crystal silicon wafer forever changed the nature of electronics 60 years ago, a group of Cornell researchers is hoping its work with quantum dot solids – crystals made out of crystals – can help usher in a new era in electronics.

The multidisciplinary team, led by Tobias Hanrath, associate professor in the Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and graduate student Kevin Whitham, has fashioned two-dimensional superstructures out of single-crystal building blocks. Through directed assembly and attachment processes, the lead selenide quantum dots are synthesized into larger crystals, then fused together to form atomically coherent square superlattices.

Continue reading “Quantum dot solids: This generation’s silicon wafer?” »

Graphene is too delicate to be produced commercially, but it seem that scientists have now stumbled upon the correct method of tuning it.

Graphene has many extraordinary properties. It is carbon, but it comes in the form of a two-dimensional, atomic thick, honeycomb lattice.

Continue reading “Graphene May Soon be Produced Commercially, Thanks to a Chance Discovery” »

On Monday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Mark Zuckerberg partook in what he thought would be a “fireside chat” with Wired’s Jessi Hempel but which was verifiably not fireside, and was, actually, a keynote.

Inverse picked out the best nine moments of this interview.

1.) Zuck doesn’t know that Aquila will meet regulations but is just confident that it’ll work out

Continue reading “Mark Zuckerberg Offers These Predictions for the Future of the Internet” »

No source of energy is perfect and one of the traditional drawbacks of solar energy has been that it’s tough to generate new power when it’s dark outside. However, SolarCity announced this week that it’s taken a big step toward fixing this problem by agreeing to use Tesla’s 52 MWh Powerpack lithium-ion battery storage system for its massive solar power project that it’s building in Hawaii for the Kaua’i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC). SolarCity, of course, is chaired by Tesla CEO Elon Musk so the decision to go with the Powerpack is pretty convenient for both companies.

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SolarCity says it believes that its collaboration with Tesla will produce “the first utility-scale system in the U.S. to provide dispatchable solar energy, meaning that the utility can count on electricity being available when it’s needed, even hours after the sun goes down.” To be clear, using the Powerpack won’t completely eliminate the need for non-solar resources at night since it’s projected to feed up to 13 megawatts of electricity onto the grid, which will only reduce the amount of power used by non-renewable sources.

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Making Nanowire Lasers

Feb. 11, 2016 — Scientists have found a simple new way to produce nanoscale wires that can serve as bright, stable and tunable lasers — an advance toward using light to transmit data.

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Now, that’s a concept! Spray paint from a can that harnesses solar energy. Imagine, you can spray paint windows, patio tables, your car, a bike, etc. with Solar Spray Paint in a can; and watch your gadgets get charged. It is almost like the “Computer Screen in the Can” idea that I had last week. Geez, wonder if she could partner with me on that concept?

Researcher aims to engineer spray paint that can convert sun’s elusive energy to electricity.

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German solar technology firm Heliatek claims to have outdone itself by setting a new world record for directly converting sunlight into electricity using organic photovoltaic cells. In 2012 it claimed a then world record 10.7 percent conversion efficiency and said it was gunning for 15 percent in the near future. This week it announced it’s halfway there, achieving a new record of 13.2 percent.

Heliatek says its R&D teams achieved the new record using a multi-junction cell and that the measurement was independently confirmed by Fraunhofer CSP’s solar testing facility. While traditional silicon cells have achieved higher levels of conversion efficiency, organic cells are also pursued because they can be produced more cheaply and are also more flexible.

In fact, the firm claims that “the excellent low light and high temperature behavior of the organic semiconductor” in the new cells makes them equivalent to the electricity generation capability of conventional solar cells with 16–17 percent efficiency under real world conditions.

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One way or another, via government research or the countless new startups, fusion is well on it’s way.

Chinese scientists have managed to create a hydrogen gas that is three times hotter than the sun.

The artificial solar energy could eventually be used as an inexhaustible source of power, ending reliance on fossil fuels and solving the world energy crisis.

Continue reading “China Close To Creating ‘Artificial Sun’ That Could End Reliance On Fossil Fuels” »

As oil was to Saudi Arabia, could solar be to Morocco?

Morocco has turned on its enormous solar power plant in the town of Ourrzazate, on the edge of the Saharan desert. The plant already spans thousands of acres and is proficient of generating up to 160 megawatts of power. It’s already one of the largest solar power grids in the world, capable of being seen from space. And it’s only going to get bigger.

The present grid, called Noor I, is just the first phase of a planned project to bring renewable energy to millions living in Morocco. It will soon be followed by expansions, Noor II and Noor III, that will add even more mirrors to the present plant. Once the project is finished around 2018, the whole grid will cover 6,000 acres. It will be capable of producing up to 580 megawatts of power, comparable to that of a small nuclear reactor.

Continue reading “Morocco Turns on What will Become the World’s Largest Solar Power Plant” »