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.
New solar prediction system gives time to prepare for the storms ahead

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.
Off-the-shelf dyes improve solar cells

Americans using less energy, more renewables

Americans are using less energy overall and making more use of renewable energy resources. The United States used significantly less coal and petroleum in 2009 than in 2008, and significantly more wind power. There also was a decline in natural gas use and increases in solar, hydro and geothermal power, according to the most recent [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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.
Major hurdle cleared for organic solar cells

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 inexpensive solar cell [...]

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.
Selenium makes more efficient 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 [...]

‘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.
‘Sea urchin’-shaped nanostructures grown in the lab

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