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Mar 10 | News
A Cornell Univ. team has developed cotton threads that can conduct electric current as well as a metal wire can, yet remain light and comfortable enough to give a whole new meaning to multi-use garments.
Mar 5 | News
If harnessing the unlimited solar power of the sun were easy, we wouldn't still have the greenhouse gas problem that results from the use of fossil fuel. And while solar energy systems work moderately well in hot desert climates, they are still inefficient and contribute only a small percentage of the general energy demand. A new solution may be coming from an unexpected source—a source that may be on your dinner plate tonight.
Mar 5 | News
Solar cells made from silicon are projected to be a prominent factor in future renewable green energy equations, but so far the promise has far exceeded the reality. While there are now silicon photovoltaics that can convert sunlight into electricity at impressive 20% efficiencies, the cost of this solar power is prohibitive for large-scale use. Researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), however, are developing a new approach that could substantially reduce these costs.
Feb 24 | RDBlog
Almost a year ago, the buzz during the downturn was that the economic stimulus will help boost jobs in a sort of national improvement program reminiscent of the 1930s. Our coal would be phased out. Our grids would get smart. Our cars would get hybridized.
Feb 17 | News
Using arrays of long, thin silicon wires embedded in a polymer substrate, a team of scientists from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has created a new type of flexible solar cell that enhances the absorption of sunlight and efficiently converts its photons into electrons.
Feb 12 | News
Researchers at Queen’s Univ. suggest that policy makers examine greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions implications for energy infrastructure as fossil fuel sources must be rapidly replaced by windmills, solar panels and other sources of renewable energy.
Feb 9 | News
P2i, a leading maker of liquid repellent nano-coating technology, has teamed up with U.S.-based to commercialize a new plasma process that dramatically reduces the surface energy of a material so that when liquids come into contact with it, they form beads and simply roll off.
Jan 22 | News
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colo., will spend $5.4 million in federal stimulus funding on facilities to study advanced concepts in concentrating solar power (CSP).
Jan 6 | News
Ecosystems of terminus lakes around the world could benefit from a new system being developed at the Univ. of Nevada, Reno to desalinate water using a specialized low-cost solar pond and patented membrane distillation system powered by renewable energy.
Jan 5 | News
Reliance on rain-fed agriculture has led to tenuous lives for many rural residents of the sub-Sahara, which has prompted the development of a solution to irrigation without centralization power. A two-year study by Stanford Univ. found that solar-power pumps and drip irrigation were effective at battling the shortages of the dry season.