Reports

New solar prediction system gives time to prepare for the storms ahead
A new method of predicting solar storms that could help to avoid widespread power and communications blackouts costing billions of pounds has been launched by researchers in the UK.

Off-the-shelf dyes improve solar cells
Scientists report success in boosting the ability of zinc oxide solar cells to absorb visible light simply by applying a blended mixture of various off-the-shelf dyes commonly used in food and medical industries -- in a soak-then-dry procedure not unlike that used to color a tee-shirt in a home washing machine.

200-fold boost in fuel cell efficiency advances 'personalized energy systems'
The era of personalized energy systems -- in which individual homes and small businesses produce their own energy for heating, cooling and powering cars -- took another step toward reality as scientists reported discovery of a powerful new catalyst that is a key element in such a system. The advance could help free homes and businesses from dependence on the electric company and the corner gasoline station.

Self-cleaning technology from Mars can keep terrestrial solar panels dust free
Find dusting those tables and dressers a chore or a bore? Dread washing the windows? Imagine keeping dust and grime off objects spread out over an area of 25 to 50 football fields. That's the problem facing companies that deploy large-scale solar power installations, and scientists have now developed a possible solution -- self-dusting solar panels -- based on technology developed for space missions to Mars.

Major hurdle cleared for organic solar cells
The basis for solar energy is absorbing light and then effectively disassociating electrical charges. Researchers report that conjugated polymers are excellent materials for such a system, thanks to their light absorption and conduction properties.

Selenium makes more efficient solar cells
By embedding the element selenium in zinc oxide, researchers have made a relatively inexpensive material that could be promising for solar power conversion by making more efficient use of the sun's energy.

New inexpensive solar cell design
One of the most promising technologies for making inexpensive but reasonably efficient photovoltaic cells just got much cheaper. Scientists in Canada have shown that inexpensive nickel can work just as well as gold for one of the critical electrical contacts that gather the electrical current produced by colloidal quantum dot solar cells.

New solar energy conversion process could double solar efficiency of solar cells
A new process that simultaneously combines the light and heat of solar radiation to generate electricity could offer more than double the efficiency of existing solar cell technology, say the engineers who discovered it and proved that it works. The process, called 'photon enhanced thermionic emission," or PETE, could reduce the costs of solar energy production enough for it to compete with oil as an energy source.

'Sea urchin'-shaped nanostructures grown in the lab
Researchers have succeeded in growing sea-urchin shaped nanostructures from minute balls of polystyrene beads using a simple electrochemical process. The spines of the sea urchin consist of zinc oxide nanowires. The structured surface should help increasing the efficiency of photovoltaic devices.

Graphene organic photovoltaics: Flexible material only a few atoms thick may offer cheap solar power
A research team has produced flexible transparent carbon atom films that the researchers say have great potential for a new breed of solar cells.

Charging up electric car batteries in environmentally-friendly way
Electromobility makes sense only if car batteries are charged using electricity from renewable energy sources. But the supply of green electricity is not always adequate. An intelligent charging station can help, by adapting the recharging times to suit energy supply and network capacity.

Quantum entanglement in photosynthesis and evolution
Recently, academic debate has been swirling around the existence of unusual quantum mechanical effects in the most ubiquitous of phenomena, including photosynthesis, the process by which organisms convert light into chemical energy. In a new paper, these ideas are put to the test.

Breakthrough in thin-film solar cells: New insights into the indium/gallium puzzle
Scientists have made a major breakthrough in their search for more efficient thin-film solar cells. Computer simulations designed to investigate the so-called indium/gallium puzzle have highlighted a new way of increasing the efficiency of CIGS thin-film solar cells.

Reports detail global investment and other trends in green energy
Investment in green energy in China, most notable in wind energy, leapt 53 per cent in 2009, bucking a trend during the recession that saw global investments dip 7 per cent overall from 2008 levels. However, if spending on solar water heaters (now used in 70 million world households) and total installation costs for rooftop solar were included, renewables investment worldwide increased last year.

Energy yield of тcheapт solar panels raised from 7 to 9 percent
Researchers have shown how the energy yield of relatively cheap solar panels, made of amorphous silicon, can be considerably raised: from around 7 percent to 9 percent.

Renewables account for 62 percent of the new electricity generation capacity installed in the EU in 2009
The "Renewable Energy Snapshots" report, published by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, shows that renewable energy sources accounted for 62 percent of the new electricity generation capacity installed in the EU27 in 2009. The share rose from 57 percent in 2008. In absolute terms, renewables produced 19.9 percent of Europe's electricity consumption last year.

Molecules found in blue jean and ink dyes may lead to more efficient solar cells
Researchers have discovered a simple process -- employing molecules typically used in blue jean and ink dyes -- for building an organic framework that could lead to economical, flexible and versatile solar cells.

Life of plastic solar cell jumps from hours to 8 months
A team of researchers has extended the operating life of an unsealed plastic solar cell, from mere hours to eight months. The team developed a longer lasting, polymer coating for the electrode. Prior to the new coating the team's plastic solar cell could only operate at high capacity for about 10 hours.

Scientists discover heavenly solar music
Musical sounds created by longitudinal vibrations within the Sun's atmosphere, have been recorded and accurately studied for the first time by researchers, shedding light on the Sun's magnetic atmosphere.

Highly efficient solar cells could result from quantum dot research
Conventional solar cell efficiency could be increased from the current limit of 30 percent to more than 60 percent, suggests new research on semiconductor nanocrystals, or quantum dots.

Towards nanowire solar cells with a 65-percent efficiency
Researchers want to develop solar cells with an efficiency of over 65 percent by means of nanotechnology. In Southern Europe and North Africa these new solar cells can generate a substantial portion of the European demand for electricity.

'Nanocoax' solves solar cell 'thick and thin' dilemma
Researchers report developing a "nanocoax" technology that can support a highly efficient thin film solar cells. The nanocoax structures prove to be thick enough to absorb a sufficient amount of light, yet thin enough to extract current with increased efficiency.

Imec significantly reduces cost of germanium-based thermophotovoltaic cells
Researchers have presented an improved processing technique for germanium-based thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells resulting in significant reduction of cell cost, an essential step to develop a market for thermophotovoltaic applications. The newly developed TPV cells are fabricated on germanium substrates with an optimized surface, specifically designed and manufactured for this application.

Solar panels can attract breeding water insects ... but scientists propose a simple fix
Solar power might be nature's most plentiful and benign source of energy, but shiny dark solar cells can lure water insects away from critical breeding areas, scientists warn. Applying white grids or other methods to break up the polarized reflection of light, however, makes mayflies and other aquatic insects far less likely to deposit eggs on the panels thinking that they are water, the group discovered.

Semiconductor manufacturing technique holds promise for solar energy
Thanks to a new semiconductor manufacturing method, the future of solar energy just got brighter. Researchers have developed a more efficient, lower-cost method of manufacturing compound semiconductors such as gallium arsenide for many electronic device applications, including solar cells. The group deposits multiple layers of the material on a single wafer, creating a layered stack of gallium arsenide thin films, then transfers one layer at a time to another substrate -- glass, plastic or silicon.

Solar power manufacturing makes good business sense for governments, study finds
Canadian and provincial governments could spend $2.4 billion to build a large scale solar photovoltaic manufacturing plant and then give it away for free and still earn a profit in the long run, according to a financial analysis.

Mapping system for photovoltaic surfaces to improve performance of solar panels
A group of researchers in Spain has designed a new mapping system for the study of photovoltaic surfaces. The system can detect, at the micrometric level, all the defects existing in a solar panel. This should have a significant influence on the overall performance of these photovoltaic cells.

Sunlight with cooling factor
Although it sounds like a contradiction in terms, using the power of the sun for refrigeration is proving to be an original energy concept. In Tunisia and Morocco, research scientists are using solar energy to keep perishable foodstuffs such as milk, wine and fruit fresh.

Storing green electricity as natural gas
Renewable electricity can be transformed into a substitute for natural gas. Until now, electricity was generated from gas. Now, a German-Austrian cooperation wants to go in the opposite direction. In the future, these researchers and entrepreneurs would like to store surplus electricity т such as from wind power or solar energy т as climate-neutral methane, and store it in existing gas storage facilities and the natural gas network.

Purple bacteria best for harvesting solar energy
Purple bacteria seem to have the best structural solution for harvesting solar energy. A physicist thinks its cellular arrangement could be adapted for use in solar panels and other energy conversion devices to offer a more efficient way to garner energy from the sun.

U.S. could eliminate CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from coal in 20 years, experts say
The United States could completely stop emissions of carbon dioxide from coal-fired electric power plants -- a crucial step for controlling global warming -- within 20 years by using technology that already exists or could be commercially available within a decade. That's the conclusion of an article by a group of scientists, engineers, and architects.

Purple pokeberries hold secret to affordable solar power worldwide
Pokeberries -- the weeds that children smash to stain their cheeks purple-red and that Civil War soldiers used to write letters home -- could be the key to spreading solar power across the globe, according to researchers.

Roof Integrated Solar Energy
Putting solar panels onto houses and offices once seemed good for the environment but a nuisance for architects. Now buildings can easily be green and beautiful, says a Spanish and German EUREKA partnership, which found a way to make photovoltaic film virtually invisible.

Solar energy: Cheaper solar concentrator with fewer photovoltaic cells
A new solar concentrator design from an electrical engineering Ph.D. student could lead to solar concentrators that are less expensive and require fewer photovoltaic cells than existing solar concentrators.

House with an edible wall: Runs on sun, wind, rain and wastes
Students and researchers are constructing a house to run on solar power, as well as harness wind, rain and the building's wastes. Its also features include an edible wall.

Advance made in thin-film solar cell technology
Researchers have made an important breakthrough in the use of continuous flow microreactors to produce thin film absorbers for solar cells -- an innovative technology that could significantly reduce the cost of solar energy devices and reduce material waste.

Engineers generate electricity by tapping into algae cells
Engineers have generated electrical current by tapping into the electron activity in individual algae cells. Photosynthesis excites electrons, which can then be turned into an electrical current using a specially designed gold electrode. This study could be the first step toward carbon-free electricity directly from plants.

Solar power in Ontario could produce almost as much power as all U.S. nuclear reactors, studies find
Solar power in southeastern Ontario has the potential to produce almost the same amount of power as all the nuclear reactors in the United States, according to two new studies.

Cutting costs in silicon production
A producer of solar-grade silicon, has combined basic and applied research to develop production methods that cut costs and consume less energy than conventional silicon production.

Inexpensive highly efficient solar cells possible
The scientific and commercial future of solar cells could be totally transformed. Scientists have come up with solutions for two problems that, for the last twenty years, have been hampering the development of efficient and affordable solar cells.

Viruses harnessed to split water: Biologically based system taps the power of sunlight directly
Researchers have found a novel way to mimic the process by which plants use the power of sunlight to split water and make chemical fuel to power their growth. In this case, scientists used a modified virus as a kind of biological scaffold that can assemble the nanoscale components needed to split a water molecule into hydrogen and oxygen atoms.

Closing in on a carbon-based solar cell
To make large sheets of carbon available for light collection, chemists have devised an unusual solution -- attach what amounts to a 3-D bramble patch to each side of the carbon sheet. Using that method, the scientists say they were able to dissolve sheets containing as many as 168 carbon atoms, a first.

Scientists address 'wrinkles' in transparent film development
A closer look at a promising nanotube coating that might one day improve solar cells has turned up a few unexpected wrinkles, according to new research.

New path to solar energy via solid-state photovoltaics
Researchers have found a new mechanism by which the photovoltaic effect can take place in semiconductor thin-films. This new path to energy production brightens the future for photovoltaic technology by overcoming voltage limitations that plague conventional solid-state solar cells.

LOW3: A bioclimatic solar house
LOW3 is prototype of sustainable housing that reduces energy consumption and is made of renewable materials. It is being designed and built by students of the School of Architecture of the VallУЈs (ETSAV) in Spain.

Mini generators make energy from random ambient vibrations
Tiny generators could produce enough electricity from random, ambient vibrations to power a wristwatch, pacemaker or wireless sensor.

Nanowire advances promise improved light-emitting diodes and solar-energy generation
Researchers are making improvements to semiconductor alloys that will help overcome some of the technical roadblocks to producing more effective photovoltaic cells for generating solar energy and will enable light-emitting diodes to provide more versatile and efficient lighting.

Frogs, foam and fuel: Solar energy converted to sugars
In natural photosynthesis, plants take in solar energy and carbon dioxide and then convert it to oxygen and sugars. The oxygen is released to the air and the sugars are dispersed throughout the plant -- like that sweet corn we look for in the summer. Unfortunately, the allocation of light energy into products we use is not as efficient as we would like. Now engineering researchers are doing something about that.

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