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Color matters: GreenSun Energy colored solar technology

By Paul Ridden

17:22 September 24, 2009 PDT

The GreenSun Energy solar cell uses a fraction of the silicon found in existing cells and ...

One of the most common ways to turn the sun's energy into electricity is by persuading silicon to give up some of its electrons. But it's also quite expensive, so any innovation that helps reduce the cost of solar cell production is welcome. Researchers in Israel have come up with a cell that uses only 20% of the silicon in a standard cell yet yields similar amounts of electricity. It does this by diffusing any light that falls on its surface and sends it off to photovoltaic collector strips on each of its sides. And it doesn't even need bright sunlight to operate. Read More

'Green roofs' prove even more effective in fighting global warming than first thought

By Jeff Salton

01:30 September 24, 2009 PDT

'Green roofs' like these rooftop gardens atop the Rockefeller Center may go a long way to ...

‘Green roofs’- urban rooftops covered with plants - are gaining in popularity to help buildings reduce their reliance on air conditioning, and now scientists in Michigan are reporting they could also help fight global warming by eliminating carbon dioxide in cities, more effectively than was first thought. Read More

Keeping hybrids cool under the bonnet reaches boiling point

By Jeff Salton

23:50 September 23, 2009 PDT

Purdue University's Tannaz Harirchian and Professor Suresh Garimella have developed a new ...

As an increasing number of hybrid-powered vehicles move from concept to completion, technology is battling to keep pace with some of the less-publicized technical challenges found among the complex electronics aboard these land- and air-based vehicles, computers and other devices. For instance, how do you effectively cool the electronics in a high-power electric motor that propels a passenger car from 0-60mph in under 10 seconds and uses regenerative braking to stop? Researchers in the U.S. believe the secret may lie in understanding precisely how fluid boils in tiny ‘microchannels’, which has led them to develop formulas and models that will help engineers design unique systems to cool high-power electronics found in today’s and tomorrow’s devices. Read More

Volksgarden is a hi-tech hydroponics ferris wheel

By Jeff Salton

22:26 September 23, 2009 PDT

A fully-laden Volksgarden ... a ferris wheel ride for plants that produces optimum growth ...

Veggie and flower-lovers who don’t have much garden space, or whose gardens are deprived of necessary available sunlight, can use the Volksgarden to enjoy simple, clean and effective hydroponics gardening indoors. It’s like a never-ending ferris wheel ride for your plants. The Volksgarden unit has space to grow up to 80 plants at once. Herbs, vegetables, fruits and grains can be harvested easily and continuously without the need for a degree in horticulture. The Volksgarden manufacturers say yields from their product are much greater than other hydroponics methods because plants rotate around the growth-optimizing light source – once every 45 minutes, 24 hours a day. Read More

Envion Oil Generator turns plastic waste into oil

By Paul Ridden

17:12 September 21, 2009 PDT

The Envion Oil Generator, a new technology that converts plastic waste into oil, at the Mo...

The ground-breaking Envion Oil Generator (EOG) gave its first public performance at the Montgomery County Solid Waste Transfer Station in Derwood, Maryland recently. The EOG can be fed almost any petroleum-based waste plastic and will convert it into synthetic light to medium oil for less than USD$10 per barrel. As with crude oil, the synthetic oil can then be processed into commercial fuels or even back into plastic. Read More

Nanostructure films for more efficient solar cells and better eyeglasses

By Jude Garvey

00:08 September 20, 2009 PDT

Nanostructure films, resembling millions of tiny pyramids, reduce the reflectance of any l...

Nanotechnology applications are increasingly diverse - ranging from being used to acquire fingerprints, to their use in the field of spintronics or even to help in the fight against cancer. Now a team of chemical engineers at Oregon State University has invented new technology that allows them to coat various surfaces with “nanostructure films”, which could be used to make cheaper, more effective eyeglasses and eventually, more efficient solar cells. Read More

OpenRide mobile service organizes carpooling on-the-fly

By Dario Borghino

16:47 September 14, 2009 PDT

The OpenRide system can find you a ride in a matter of seconds.

Despite energy costs rising steadily, it's still very common to see people driving their cars alone, particularly in big cities. The OpenRide mobile service recently presented at the IFA exhibit in Berlin is a simple but effective idea that aims to save money while reducing our carbon footprint by providing an open infrastructure for organizing carpooling in a quick and convenient way. Read More

World's largest solar power plant to be built in China

By Sandra Arcaro

03:40 September 12, 2009 PDT

2-gigawatt solar plant to be built in China (Image - First solar plant in El Dorado, NV)

In the midst of overwhelming debate over climate change - an issue that seemingly paralyzes politicians - the Chinese government has announced its intention to construct a 2-gigawatt solar power plant in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia. Mike Ahearn, CEO of the Arizona-based company which will construct the plant, describes the unprecedented project as “an encouraging first step forward toward the mass-scale deployment of solar power worldwide to help mitigate climate change concerns.” Read More

Solar panel roads to power our homes

By Jeff Salton

01:09 September 10, 2009 PDT

Solar Roadways wants to replace petroleum-based asphalt road surfaces with energy-producin...

Idaho-based Solar Roadways founder Scott Brusaw is excited that his company has a received a USD$100,000 U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) grant to develop further his prototype that turns roads in giant electricity-generating solar panels. Apart from providing energy to power our homes, street lighting and so on, the roads could contain thousands of embedded LEDs to provide better street signage and make driving safer. He also believes the solar panel roads could last up to three times longer than the current petroleum-based asphalt surface and even be heated in winter to discourage dangerous ice build ups. Read More

Really green power - running an electric circuit from trees

By Darren Quick

22:45 September 8, 2009 PDT

Electrical engineers Babak Parviz and Brian Otis and undergraduate student Carlton Himes (...

Researchers at the University of Washington (UW) have taken the term ‘green power’ literally by running an electric circuit from the power generated by trees. Sure, there isn’t much electrical power to harness, but the researchers say it should be enough to run wireless sensors that could be used to detect environmental conditions or forest fires and could also be used to gauge a tree’s health. Read More

First Suncatcher solar dishes to be used in Arizona

By Paul Ridden

15:56 September 2, 2009 PDT

Suncatcher technology has recently achieved the highest sun-to-grid conversion efficiency

Tessera Solar and Salt River Project have just announced that they'll partner to construct a 1.5 megawatt solar generation installation in Peoria, Arizona. The proposed output from the Maricopa Solar LLC project might not sound too impressive, but when combined with the news that the 60 dish installation represents a template for much bigger operations to come and will be the first commercial plant to use Suncatcher technology - things just got interesting. Read More

New solar battery technology offers household power at 2.5c per kWh

By Jeff Salton

00:14 September 2, 2009 PDT

One of the smaller prototypes of the Ceramatec NaSICON solar batteries (Photo: Ceramatec)

As part of man's ongoing quest to extract the greatest benefits from solar power, Salt Lake City-based company Ceramatec, the R&D arm of CoorsTek, has made what it believes to be a massive breakthrough in batteries for storing energy harnessed from the sun. The company is making impressive inroads on the prototype of a deep storage battery, the size of a small refrigerator, that safely operates at room temperature, consists of everyday materials, and can output household power at 2.5c per kWh. What’s more, Ceramatec says it will be cheap to purchase. Read More

Scrubbing CO2 and sulfur from power plant emissions

By Sandra Arcaro

15:20 August 30, 2009 PDT

Scientist David Heldebrant demonstrates how Reversible Acid Gas Capture removes acid gases...

The Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has developed a reusable organic liquid that can remove harmful acid gases from emissions generated by power plants. The process could easily replace current industrial practices to help clean the environment in a way that is energy efficient, cost effective and saves on water. Read More

Four crucial resources that may run out in your lifetime

By Loz Blain

06:14 August 27, 2009 PDT

Can the Earth sustain 9 billion people? We'll find out in the next 50 years.

We're living in lucky times. Living standards - in the Western world, at least - are the highest in history. It's an era of relative peace and plenty that would amaze our ancestors. But it's not going to continue forever; we're already stretching many of our natural resources to their limits, and the world's population will jump from 6.5 billion to around 9 billion over the next 50 years. Get ready for a painful correction - here are four interconnected resources that are headed for a catastrophic squeeze within our lifetime. Read More

Plan to turn rooftops, walls and windows into cheap solar cells

By Jeff Salton

19:23 August 25, 2009 PDT

Chemical engineering Professor Brian Korgel tests one of his printed solar cells

Cheaper solar cells – roughly one-tenth the cost of current day prices – could be available within three to five years thanks to a manufacturing procedure that uses nanoparticle ‘inks’ to print them like newspaper or to spray-paint them onto the sides of buildings or rooftops. Even windows could become solar cells thanks to the semi-transparent inks. 'Painting' solar cells on buildings has been an idea in the making for some time – Gizmag investigated the possibilities of 'solar paint' in 2008. Read More

Arty sunflowers look good and provide power, too

By Paul Ridden

17:38 August 24, 2009 PDT

By day the sunflowers collect the sun's energy to provide power for the LEDs after dark

A boring and unattractive loading area at the rear of a retail development in Austin, Texas is now hidden from view by a collection of 15 huge blue sunflowers, the petals of which collect energy from the sun to power the artwork's LED lighting and generate funds to help towards costs. Whether driving past or walking through the Electric Garden, onlookers will be treated to an awe-inspiring panorama where art meets functionality. Read More

Not your average solar panel: The SRS solar roof tile

By Paul Ridden

18:35 August 23, 2009 PDT

The Solé Power Tile is the first building-integrated photovoltaic roofing product and...

Thanks to a system created by SRS Energy and offered exclusively as an upgrade option to customers of US Tile (the largest manufacturer of clay tile in the United States), those wishing to benefit from rooftop solar energy will no longer have to worry about any panels being stuck on the side of the roof and spoiling the aesthetics. The Solé Power Tile system is the first building-integrated photovoltaic roofing product designed to blend in with curved roof tiles commonly found in the Pacific West and Southwest of the United States. Read More

Portable USB drive and solar charger boosts gadgets on the move

By Paul Lester

17:40 August 23, 2009 PDT

The Sun Drive is superbly portable and can be charged with solar power or via USB

If you’re lucky enough to live somewhere that gets a decent amount of sun every year, investing in a solar charger to give portable devices a boost when out and about would be a wise idea and Korean company Zyrus has come up with something tidy and practical enough to hold genuine appeal. Read More

Korean electric vehicle solution

By Paul Ridden

00:08 August 20, 2009 PDT

KAIST Online Electric Vehicle uses non-contact magnetic charging to draw its power needs f...

Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have developed an electric transport system where the vehicles get their power needs from cables underneath the surface of the road via non-contact magnetic charging. As well as potentially saving Koreans a lot of money by reducing crude oil imports, widespread adoption of the technology also offers the potential of improving air quality in currently polluted cities. Read More

Process to clean wastewater also produces electricity and desalinates water

By Darren Quick

00:05 August 17, 2009 PDT

Penn State researchers, Bruce Logan, and Maha Mehanna, with the three-chambered microbial ...

Desalination plants generally employ one of two methods to produce clean water – reverse osmosis or electrodialysis. Unfortunately, both processes require large amounts of energy, but an international team of researchers has proven a process that cleans wastewater can also remove 90 percent of salt from brackish water or seawater while generating electricity. Read More

Entech Solar energy hybrid has hopes for bright future

By Jeff Salton

02:44 August 14, 2009 PDT

The new prototype ThermaVolt II - improved technology delivering more energy at a reduced ...

Renewable energy technology company Entech Solar has completed a preliminary design review and prototype of its next-generation concentrating solar product, ThermaVolt II, which combines concentrating photovoltaic and thermal (CPVT) technology. The company says its product delivers four to five times the amount of energy compared to traditional photovoltaic systems and costs less to produce. Read More

Milan trade fair to commission world’s biggest rooftop solar power installation

By Karen Sprey

20:27 August 10, 2009 PDT

The Milan trade fair will commission the world’s biggest rooftop voltaic power insta...

Bigger may not always be better but when it comes to solar power generation it's a plus. The rooftop photovoltaic power installation at the Milan trade fair will cover around 270,000 square meters (2.9 million square feet) and have a peak installed capacity of at least 18 megawatts (MW). This will put it ahead of the biggest existing rooftop solar plant at General Motors in Zaragoza in Spain, which has a peak capacity of 12MW. Read More

Going Green: Renewable energy on the move

By Paul Lester

20:23 August 10, 2009 PDT

The Solio H1000 hybrid is perhaps the most versatile solar charger on the market

Learning more about consumption levels and investing in a standby-saver or two to cut down on waste energy is a great way to start becoming more green in the home, but there are also ways to utilize renewable energy when you're out and about. Read More

Going Green: Standby savings in the home

By Paul Lester

01:38 August 7, 2009 PDT

Prevent TV and computer equipment from wasting energy when on standby

Cutting down on unnecessary electricity usage has clear benefits for both the environment and your hip pocket, and devices that tackle the issue of standby power are an obvious place to start. Paul Lester takes a closer look at some of the current solutions on the market. Read More

MotionPower energy system testing expanded

By Darren Quick

22:58 August 3, 2009 PDT

Generating electricity from vehicles driving over small plates, MotionPower can be put to ...

When we first came across MotionPower, a prototype system that converts the kinetic energy from cars driving over it into electricity, we mentioned we would keep tabs on the technology to see if it could make the leap to real world implementation. Well, the company behind the MotionPower system, New Energy Technologies, has taken the next step along that road by expanding the durability field tests of the device. Read More

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