Solar Power

Weizmann Institute created a milestone in the field of alternative energy in association with AORA. AORA is a leading Israeli solar energy technology company. It launched the world's first hybrid solar thermal power station at Kibbutz Samar in southern Israel. During the inaugural launch of the powerhouse, guests from other countries such as Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Chile and Australia were also present. Yehoshua Fried, who is the chief executive officer of the AORA, thanked American investor Meir Reiss and Canadian Director of Corporation and Consultant to Management, Zev Rosenzweig, for believing in his dream. 3 Comments

Not even in our wildest dreams have we anticipated that while we are simply looking out the window enjoying the outside view our windows can simultaneously produce energy for our household needs! Not only windows but the facade of the house, too, might be harnessing the power of solar energy. This might be our future domestic power supply scenario. This can be possible with the help of transparent solar cells. These solar cells can increase the surface area to produce energy. 5 Comments

What a wonderful age we are living in! We hear about so many possibilities in the field of alternative energy. Scientists all over the world are thinking about alternatives to fossil fuel. On every scale be it large or small progress is being made. Here the researchers are inspired by the Greek legend Dionysius' ear. Dionysius erected a cave. It was shaped like an ellipse. Dionysius’ purpose was to hear the words whispered by a prisoner in one of the foci of the cave. Some of the present day science day museums are following the same features where two people standing the extreme ends of a room can hear each other’s whisper. This feature motivated physicists Roberto De Luca and Aniello Fedullo, both of the University of Salerno in Italy, to design sunlight traps. They are using two elliptical mirrors, with one collecting sunlight and another (they named it zozzaroid) focusing sunlight back to the vertex of previous one and into the blackbody. Here they are using mirror for steam generation. 6 Comments

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland have developed flexible solar panels that could be installed on roofs like shingles. This technology was originally used to protect flat panel televisions from dampness. They used to cover television screen with transparent, thin films that acted as barriers. These transparent thin film barriers are now becoming the basis for flexible solar panels that would be installed on roofs like shingles. These flexible rooftop solar panels are known as building-integrated photovoltaics, or BIPVs. They could replace today's boxy solar panels. We all know that current solar panels are made with rigid glass or silicon and mounted on thick metal frames. If we compare present solar panels and flexible solar shingles we will find the later ones less expensive to install than current panels and made to last 25 years. 13 Comments

How we see things around us without noticing it! We know the peculiar habit of the sunflower. How it moves with the movement of the sun everyday. But if we want to move anything with the help of sunlight we are not as lucky as the sunflower is. We first have to convert sunlight into heat or electricity and then convert any of this into mechanical energy. Scientists are trying to imitate the action of the sunflower at nanoscale right now. It is no less than a miracle but scientists are the greatest magicians on this earth. Coming generations will reap the benefits of their hard work. A team of the University of Florida chemists is trying a new mechanism to transform light straight into motion – albeit at a very, very, very tiny scale. 4 Comments

For centuries we have been using fossil fuels for industrial and domestic purposes. Most of us consider fossil fuels cheap. But now we are realizing the "real" costs of using fossil fuels. It is destroying our environment and making us pay in other terms. Another problem we are facing is, what were luxuries for the previous generation have become the necessities for current generation. We are using lots of gadgets such as computers, cell phones, iPhones and kitchen and home appliances. They all run on electricity. It is now clear that most of us will be driving electric cars in future. So the problem will be compounded by our growing energy needs. According to the newest forecast from the World Energy Council (WEC) global electricity requirements will double in the next 40 years. At the same time, we know that prices for the dwindling resources of petroleum and natural gas are mounting. 5 Comments

What a delightful combination for environmentalists! While you are waiting for your bus to arrive you can happily stay in touch with the cyber world. San Francisco bus stops produce solar electricity and offer Wi-Fi connectivity too. By 2013, San Francisco is planning to have 1100 such solar-powered bus shelters put in throughout the city. This project can act as a catalyst for other states and even countries to follow. They have taken care of the bus stops at the grass root level too. They have used recycled materials to develop these bus stops. The bus stops’ roofs will have solar panels. The underutilized energy of these bus shelters will be directed back to the grids. 5 Comments

Bye Aerospace Inc. (Denver, Colorado), is collaborating with thin film PV manufacturer Ascent Solar. This is not one of those tie ups taking place everyday. The echo of this tie up will be heard for a long time in the alternative energy scenario. Ascent Solar is providing necessary solar energy technology to Bye Aerospace to develop a hybrid unmanned aerial vehicle (H-UAV). The aerial vehicle is named as Silent Sentinel. This aircraft will be stored using electric power, thin film solar photovoltaics (PV) and some additional technologies to enhance its low emissions, quiet operations and endurance. Bye Aerospace will also utilize a Williams International FJ33 turbofan engine for primary propulsion. Silent Sentinel would be a robust, long-range UAV that would integrate various clean-energy features. 1 Comment

If you happen to travel to Las Vegas, you can come across a tall tower surrounded by around 1,800 mirrors. Mirrors size may be equivalent to a billboard. Don’t confuse it with a futuristic movie set. It is an alternative energy power plant committed to produce clean and green energy in desert areas. The project could be completed by 2013. It might utilize an array of 15,000 heliostats to direct sunlight to a solar collecting tower. The solar collector might be at a height of 600 feet. Twenty five feet wide mirrors can also be utilized to direct sunlight to the tower. 15 Comments

It’s official now. Taiwan will hold the World Games 2009 in July. This international sporting event will include games like korfball, billiards, dragon boat racing and women’s tug-of-war. But why are we discussing World Games 2009 in an alternative energy spectrum? Actually Taiwan can boast of Asia's first fully solar-powered stadium. The stadium gives a dragon-like impression if you happen to view it from the sky. In their culture dragon is associated with good fortune. If you happen to spot the dragon scales, look carefully again. These dragon scales are actually 8,844 solar panels. These solar panels are enough to meet the stadium’s energy needs. The roof covers an area of 14,155m2 . They can produce about 1.14 gigawatt hours of electricity every year. This amount of electricity is enough to power 80% of the stadium’s surrounding neighborhood when it’s not in use. The stadium has 3,300 lights and two giant TV screens. 5 Comments

We keep hearing about harnessing the solar power from space. Some call it tall claims and some dismiss it as too costly an affair or pie in the sky. But it seems that in near future harvesting solar energy from space is becoming a reality. Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) from San Francisco is in the energy sector for decades. They have produced power from atomic energy, natural gas and water. Now PG&E has gone ahead and collaborated with Manhattan Beach start-up called Solaren Corporation. But what put this deal apart from others? Actually Solaren Corporation aims to launch a series of giant solar collectors into orbit 23,000 miles above Fresno. They will beam the energy to earth in the form of radio waves. Now PG&E has finalized a contract with Solaren to buy the power on one condition if they can make the technology work. 6 Comments

The alternative sources of energy are constantly evolving. Scientists and manufacturers are trying to come up with better products that are user friendly and economical. Government is drawing policies that encourage use of alternative sources of energy. Researchers, entrepreneurs and common people are devising their own ways to use clean and green sources of energy. We are reading almost everyday about some innovation in the area of alternative energy by one university or another. Recently, University of Lleida has designed a concentration solar power module that produces heat, cold and electricity. The unique feature of these solar power modules is that they can be integrated to façades or building roofs. People instrumental in this project are Daniel Chemisana who is a member of the research group in Agrometeorology and Energy for Environment, Manel Ibáñez and Joan Ignasi Rosell. Both Manel Ibáñez and Joan Ignasi Rosell are lecturers in University of Lleida. 4 Comments

These days we are incessantly debating over one of the hottest issues, i.e. environmental pollution and rise in temperature throughout the world. An intelligent person always likes to foresee the near future a bit and try to prepare himself /herself for the impending battle raising from the horizons of the past. He or she won’t start digging a well when the thirst strikes. Most of us want to do something about this and contribute positively to make this earth a better place to live. But we are most of the time clueless. We don’t know from where to begin? Where we can find relevant information? If we are able to track down information then how to process it for our own and community’s good? 10 Comments

Akira Fujishima, thirty-five years ago, discovered the electrochemical properties of titanium dioxide. He showed that titanium dioxide functioned as a photocatalyst. It produced hydrogen gas from water, electricity and sunlight. Scientists are quite hopeful regarding the qualities of Titania (or titanium dioxide). This is also known as white pigment. It’s used in many products be it paint, toothpastes or sunscreen lotions. Researchers have been exploring different ways to optimize the process started by Akira Fujishima. They want to develop a commercially viable technology that transforms cheap sunlight into hydrogen, a pollution-free fuel that can be stored and shipped. 4 Comments

When in distress we often look towards the heaven to find an answer to our problems. West coast energy giant, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) is doing the same. They are heading towards heaven to trap the sources of renewable energy. This company’s main operations are in San Francisco and northern California. They are trying to get approval from US regulators to purchase 200 megawatts worth of solar energy delivered from solar panels located in space. There is nothing new in this proposal. Pentagon conducted a study on similar lines in 2007. Pentagon study concluded that satellite based solar power is feasible but not economical. It will cost a leg for potential consumers. But PG&E and its partner Solaren that will build the solar panels, quash those fears. They assure that their costs will be comparable to rates for other lines of renewable power. But how? They are not answering that! But Solaren claims it has developed a technology that would make it commercially viable within the next seven years. 7 Comments

Scientists are constantly working on alternative energy sources to make its use widespread like fossil fuels. They are tirelessly working on the drawbacks of alternative energy sources so that they can be all pervasive like traditional sources of energy. Engineers at Oregon State University have found out a method to use an ancient life form to create one of the newest technologies for solar energy. These life forms can be successfully incorporated into the solar devices. 3 Comments

A team of scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology has developed a new treatment for silicon photovoltaic solar cells. This new method generates bumps and peaks on the surface that increase cell efficiency in two ways. The uneven surface protects the cells from water and dust. When water falls on the surface, it flows off taking away dust and dirt. This auto-cleaning mechanism will help the solar cells to absorb maximum sunlight most of the time. We all know that the three-dimensional structures manage to trap more light and reflect less. If the efforts of researchers of the Georgia Institute of Technology succeed, that will increase the light absorption, reduce reflection and keep cells neat and clean of dirt particles. 5 Comments

Now scientists are working on metallic nanoparticles to manipulate light in more effective ways than conventional optical materials to tap extra energy from the sunlight. Rice University researchers are paying attention to cup-shaped gold nanostructures that can bend light in a more manipulative manner. Here the cup behaves like three-dimensional nano-antennas. 4 Comments

We have been hearing about artificial leaves and artificial trees for energy generation for quite sometime. Our life giver green plants are performing this function called photosynthesis for millions of years. The green plants trap sunlight energy and convert it into electrochemical energy. Now scientists want to imitate the process of photosynthesis to produce clean and green liquid fuels from carbon dioxide and water. 4 Comments

If you think planting trees is going to save the planet from global warming, you're thinking in the right direction but a problem — we may call it a problem due to the situation we have gotten ourselves in — with mother nature is it takes its own good time to show results. It doesn't mean that we should stop planting new trees and stop all efforts at forestation. Everything artificial doesn't have to be bad for Earth; a London based company called Solar Botanic intends to use Energy Harvesting Trees to generate solar as well as wind energy. The solution is unique in a sense that the same installation can use two alternative energy sources to produce clean electricity. 6 Comments