Alternative Energy

A new joint venture research work at Stanford and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, supported by Department of Energy and DARPA has come up with a new solar energy conversion process that can potentially double the efficiency of solar cells. Stanford engineers have discovered this new and totally different process to harvest energy from sun. 3 Comments

Inventions, PhotoVoltaics, Solar Power

The entrepreneurial Audi is planning to take advantage of changes portended in the automobile market with an eye towards emission-free vehicles. Until now Audi has not shown any interest in electric car production but now that there is a growing demand for small and electronically-driven cars, Audi is keen to join the race. 1 Comment

Electric Cars, Industry, Transportation

Renewable energy production and demand growth is gaining momentum in many ways across the world. There is a booming demand of wind power today and all wind energy equipment manufacturers are gearing up to meet the demand and take advantage of it. Wind power capacity growth will be reaching 447GW in the next five years and by year 2014 end, Asia will lead the world in installed wind capacity. Enercon is amongst the other manufacturers who are focusing on 3MV-class wind turbines based on E-82/2.0. Without increasing the component sizes, there are new designs to operate at 3MW power. There will be a 3-6% increased yield because of these innovative designs as claimed by the Enercon. 1 Comment

Wind Farms, Wind Power, Wind Turbines

A southern California University team has come up with what could be the alternative new breed of economical and flexible solar cells. For some decades now, organic photovoltaic cells (OPV) have been acclaimed as the new solar cell prototypes and extolled for their light weight, flexible substrates, low cost and easy manufacturability. Research is now being done on them. 4 Comments

Inventions, PhotoVoltaics, Solar Power

In strict adherence to guidelines released by the Department of Energy, the United States Postal Service gets on a fast track to reach the goal for energy reduction. Green roofs, green buildings and an optimally efficient management system of energy consumption form part of the energy-reduction strategy. 5 Comments

Environment, Industry, Transportation

International Green Energy Expo Korea 2010 was chosen as the venue where SunPods SP-300 was first displayed. This is the first factory built-to-order solar-powered integrated electric-vehicle charging station - ready for powering up immediately. This ready-to-use solar power platform from SunPods is called EV Plug-N-Go. 6 Comments

Industry, PhotoVoltaics, Solar Power

Success greets the research team of National Research Council's National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) and the University of Alberta. The plastic solar cells have now an operating life of 8 months instead of mere hours. And they are low-cost, environmentally efficient, unsealed plastic dollar cells - a green energy source. Developing economically viable plastic solar panels and to produce them in large scale has been the long time goal for the scientists as the cost of ultra high-purity silicon used in the traditionally manufactured solar cells is quite prohibitive. These are the solar cells of future - to be available to common man easily. A University of Alberta-NINT team has been focusing on this for quite some time. 12 Comments

Industry, PhotoVoltaics, Solar Power

Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have come out with positive news about increased efficiency of thin-film solar cells. As we know that scientists are trying to increase the efficiency of the solar cells so that they can be considered as serious alternative to the fossil fuels. Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) too are working at this angle. They opted for the computer simulations to probe deeper into the indium/gallium combination to increase the efficiency of Copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS) thin-film solar cells. Till now CIGS has shown only about 20% efficiency though theoretically they can attain the efficiency levels of 30%. 1 Comment

Inventions, PhotoVoltaics, Solar Power

There has been research work going on to increase the efficiency of the cost-effective amorphous solar panels. TU Delft has been the center where this research work is being developed. The research will directly help in increasing the efficiency of amorphous solar cells - from a 7% to a 9%. Crystalline silicon is most commonly used in silicon solar cells which increases the production cost quite significantly. There is a more economical type of solar panels using amorphous silicon using rather thin films of silicon. The production cost is comparatively less with these panels. 6 Comments

Inventions, PhotoVoltaics, Solar Power

The Chevrolet Volt is giving its extended range electric vehicle customers a great deal with an eight year/100,000 mile (whichever comes first) warranty for its lithium-ion battery. The battery pack has some 161 components, nine modules and 288 cells. The warranty is offering coverage for all the parts. The battery is basically made up of Chem. cells by LG but almost 95% of other battery components have been designed and are manufactured by GM. The thermal management system, electric drive system and the charging system also come under the warranty coverage. 5 Comments

Electric Cars, Industry, Transportation

Research is on for the organic production of isobutene (isobutylene). Thomas Bobik, Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology and David Gogerty, a doctoral student are doing pioneer research for producing isobutylene with the help of a new but natural enzyme rather than from the traditional petroleum-based products. The enzyme is awaiting patent process completion. 1 Comment

Ethanol

Today a long-standing electronic dream has become a reality thanks to research done by a team of scientists from Bar-Ilan University, Israel, supported by U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Producing superconducting nano-scale wires to facilitate faster and more powerful electronic devices has been the long-time ambition which had eluded achievement until now. 1 Comment

Future Energy, Industry, Inventions

Today cell-phones have become an integral part of our life and are the most used mode of communication. More prevalent the use of cell-phone, more imperative is the need to curtail eco-pollution that emanates from the huge number of still-in-use and out-of-use cell phones. Toxic products like lead, mercury, cadmium and other materials pose a real threat to our ecosystem. Handset manufactures, recognizing the need of the hour, are showing great interest and emphasis on manufacturing not only environmentally-friendly handsets but also eco-friendly chargers. 6 Comments

Future Energy, Industry, Solar Power

This could very well be the magic formula for future power generation. Yes, scientists are busy crafting what is now called as "solid organic electric battery based upon treated potatoes." These are absolutely eco-friendly batteries - based on the hidden powers of potatoes - which will be an economical answer to the growing power needs of developing and developed countries. 10 Comments

Ethanol

Imagine a cool poolside with golden sunlight, lifting music and relaxing time – sounds great, no! Now great music, wireless speakers, and excellent audio quality - all these are possible with Devotec Solar Sound 2 Stereo Bluetooth Speakers. Almost all phones, MP3 players and music players can be connected to these speakers wirelessly to get instant clear, resonant music. 2 Comments

Industry, Inventions, Solar Power

Thermo-photovoltaic (TPV) cells are great for converting radiation from any heat source to power. These cells can generate power from the wasted heat which gets released when glass or steel is produced. Adding these TPV cells to domestic power systems can help generate power along with heating water. TPV systems are also too complex for everyday use. Both of these reasons have made the TPV systems beyond industrial and domestic consumer routine set-up. 3 Comments

Inventions, PhotoVoltaics, Waste Energy

The ultimate step in utilizing solar power is to convert maximum energy from sun into electricity. This will make solar power highly cost-advantageous compared to other traditional power sources. Capturing energy wasted as heat from the sun can increase solar conversion efficiency greatly. Research funded by the U.S. Department of Energy is on-going to make this happen. 4 Comments

Inventions, PhotoVoltaics, Solar Power

A trip around the eCRP plant headquarters at Modena: The eCRP is the first of its kind of purpose-built electric superbikes, and today it is pitting against the legendary gas-powered Ducati, MV Agusta et al in the Italian TTXGP. With classic gorgeous looks and efficiently designed high performing parts, Moto2 bikes are packed with top-notch specifications. Agni 95 DC twin motors, battery packs from 7.4KWh, Marzocchi D.43 Superbike forks, CRP-built aluminum cast alloy Chassis and other features make the eCRP 1.2 a great bike. CRP has strictly adhered to the TTXGP rules and specifications in the making of eCRP 1.2. 3 Comments

Electric Cars, Industry, Transportation

A new process is being tested by chemical engineers of Purdue University to get high hydrogen production at fuel-cell temperature-level with no catalyst use. This is full of promise for vehicles powered by hydrogen and other portable electronic items like dig-cams, medical diagnostic devices, defibrillators, cell phones and notebook computers. The research funded by US Department of Energy is ushering in a new process. 9 Comments

Fuel Cells, Hydrogen Fuel, Inventions

A fresh-water wind farm is taking shape at Lake Erie and when completed will provide 20 megawatts and get on to about one gigawatt power by 2020. Huge individual turbines 300 feet tall, to be built by GE will be erected off Ohio, Cleveland. Better designs: These are special gearless super-efficient turbines, with three 176-foot long blades, which run with the help of a giant ring of magnets. The blades are longer due to strategically placed carbon fibre, and lighter too. Many moving parts like gearbox, coils and starter brushes are eliminated with resultant reduced maintenance. The giant magnetic ring array helps the turbine generate power even at very low speed. Rejuvenating wind energy industry: As land-based turbines are facing a lack of interest and demand, wind energy industry is facing a setback. This new-design turbines to tap ... 5 Comments

Industry, Wind Farms, Wind Power