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Category: solar power – Page 61

Salt-rejecting microchannels help make seawater drinkable using the power of the sun

A solar distillation device can purify brine from reverse osmosis plants with over 10 percent salinity, as well as water taken directly from the Red Sea. The technology offers double the freshwater production rate of existing salt-rejection solar stills.

Inspired by the floating solar still in “The Life of Pi” movie, KAUST professor Qiaoqiang Gan has developed several nanomaterials and thermal isolation processes to enhance the evaporation of brackish water into pure steam. In 2016 he launched a startup, Sunny Clean Water, that produces low-cost inflatable stills capable of generating 10–20 liters of fresh water per day.

In 2021, Gan joined KAUST and teamed up with fellow KAUST professor Yu Han and researcher Kaijie Yang to improve the efficiency of salt rejection, a strategy that employs techniques such as hydrophobic surfaces or fluid convection to limit mineral buildups.

A city in Japan is trying to generate electricity from snow

After solar power, it’s time we tried snow power.

Researchers from the Japanese city of Aomori have begun to study methods to create electricity from snow to provide a sustainable energy supply and meet any power shortages.

Last year there was so much snow in the city the local authorities had to spend about $46 million (5.9 billion Yen) just to remove it from the buildings and roads.

Juhku/iStock.

Aomori is a beautiful city in Japan located 715 km north of Tokyo. Apart from its eye-catching blue pine forests, the city is known for being one of the snowiest places on Earth — receiving about 25 to 26 feet of snow every year.

Continue reading “A city in Japan is trying to generate electricity from snow” | >

Scientists Have Developed a Living “Bio-Solar Cell” That Runs on Photosynthesis

Plants are often thought of as sources of food, oxygen, and decoration, but not as a source of electricity. However, scientists have discovered that by harnessing the natural transport of electrons within plant cells, it is possible to generate electricity as part of a green, biological solar cell. In a recent study published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, researchers for the first time used a succulent plant to create a living “bio-solar cell” that runs on photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis is how plants and some microorganisms use sunlight to synthesize carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water.

This bold new mission will try beaming solar power down from space

The Space Solar Power Project (SSPP) began in 2011 when Donald Bren — philanthropist, chairman of the Irvine Company, and a lifetime member of the Caltech Board of Trustees — and Caltech’s then-president Jean-Lou Chameau came together to discuss the potential for a space-based solar power research project. By 2013, Bren and his wife (Caltech trustee Brigitte Bren) began funding the project through the Donald Bren Foundation, which will eventually exceed $100 million. As Bren said in a recent Caltech press release:

“For many years, I’ve dreamed about how space-based solar power could solve some of humanity’s most urgent challenges. Today, I’m thrilled to be supporting Caltech’s brilliant scientists as they race to make that dream a reality.”

While the technology behind solar cells has existed since the late 19th century, generating solar power in space presents some serious challenges. For one thing, solar panels are heavy and require extensive wiring to transmit power, making them expensive and difficult to launch. To overcome these challenges, the SSPP team had to create a satellite that would be light enough for cost-effective launches yet strong enough to withstand the extreme environment of space. This required envisioning and developing new technologies, architectures, materials, and structures.

Self-healing semiconductor withstands light equal to 160 suns to produce hydrogen

A new type of solar panel has achieved nine percent efficiency in converting water into hydrogen and oxygen through a process known as artificial photosynthesis.

This is a major breakthrough as it is nearly ten times more efficient than previous solar water-splitting experiments, according to a press release by the University of Michigan published on Wednesday.

The Concept of Unlimited Solar Energy From Space is One Step Closer to Reality

Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD) launched on January 3rd may be a breakthrough for harvesting solar energy from space.

A Caltech-designed prototype satellite containing an experiment, the Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD), was launched on January 3rd of this year in what could prove to be a breakthrough for harvesting the energy of the Sun from space. The satellite goes by the name Momentus Vigoride and hitched its ride into space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Solar energy from space has been the dream of science fiction writers beginning with Isaac Asimov back in 1941 in a short story called Reason which later was included in a collection that Asimov published in 1950 entitled I, Robot. In the story, Asimov described a space station that collected energy from the Sun and transmitted it by microwave beam to various locations. Asimov recognized the distinct advantage of building solar power generating stations in space out of the Earth’s shadow and therefore continuously being able to harvest the energy of the Sun.

When the first telecommunication satellites were launched into geosynchronous orbits around Earth, it became obvious that not just communications could be offered in a continuous stream using satellite technology. A photovoltaic array parked in a similar orbit would stream electrical energy to Earth ground receivers. And depending on the size of an array deployed at that altitude, a satellite or a few of them to ensure no single failure, could become an endless supplier of all the energy the planet would need. There were technical problems still to work out.

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