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Archive for the ‘solar power’ category: Page 89

Dec 11, 2019

Punching holes in solar cells turns them into transparent windows

Posted by 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 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 may greatly reduce the amount of 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 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.

Heat from fission fuel increases the reactivity of the fusion fuel and the neutron flux may breed additional fuel to fuse. Additionally, the neutron flux from the fusion fuel will induce fission. This coupling can drastically reduce the driving energy required to initiate the burn and drastically improve output. This concept has been examined in the past by Winterberg and is being investigated in support of a Pulsed Fission-Fusion (PuFF) engine concept at Marshall Space Flight Center and the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Nov 30, 2019

SILENT 44 | Luxury Yachts | Solar energy & electric propulsion

Posted by 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 × 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 in categories: solar power, sustainability

Trial shows panels can smooth voltage fluctuations in the National Grid.

Nov 20, 2019

New hybrid device can both capture and store solar energy

Posted by 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 and , which rely on photovoltaic technology for the direct generation of electricity, the hybrid device captures heat from the sun and stores it as . It addresses some of the issues that have stalled wider-scale adoption of solar power, suggesting an avenue for using 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 and latent heat storage to produce an integrated harvesting and 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 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 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:

Nov 14, 2019

An Energy Breakthrough Could Store Solar Power for Decades

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

Researchers in Sweden have created a molecule that offers a way to trap heat from the sun.

Nov 13, 2019

24-Hour Solar Energy: Molten Salt Makes It Possible, and Prices Are Falling Fast

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

Molten salt storage in concentrated solar power plants could meet the electricity-on-demand role of coal and gas, allowing more old, fossil fuel plants to retire.

By Robert Dieterich

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