After years of planning , the solar-powered airplane Solar Impulse 2 has successfully started its round the world trip . If everything goes to plan, it will become the first aircraft to fly around the globe without a single drop of fuel. Read more…
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Solar Impulse Has Successfully Started Its Round-the-World Trip
Inspiration lies in the strangest of places—and for researchers at the Agency for Science, Technology & Research in Singapore, that includes the eye of moth. A new antireflective coating inspired by the creature’s ocular faculties could help bump up the efficiency of solar cells. Read more…
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How a Moth’s Eye Could Help Improve the Efficiency of Solar Cells
The Goal Zero Sherpa 100 Solar Kit is a portable solar charging kit capable of recharging tablets, SLR camera batteries, or even your laptop using only power from the sun. We’ve put it to the test everywhere from Iceland to Nepal. Read more…
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Goal Zero Sherpa 100 Solar Kit Review: The Solution To Off-Grid Power?
A new study on solar energy from Deutsche Bank bears very good news . Thanks to technology and innovation, solar energy will be just as cheap as energy from fossil fuels by 2016. That’s basically tomorrow, and it’s awesome. Read more…
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Study: Solar Energy Will Be as Cheap as Fossil Fuel Energy by 2016
There’s a more efficient way to harvest energy from the backyard than by wiring up hapless critters . Researchers at the University of Georgia have proof: they’ve discovered a way to generate electricity from plants through hijacking the photosynthesis process. By altering the proteins inside a plant cell’s thylakoids, which store solar energy, scientists can intercept electrons through a carbon nanotube backing that draws them away before they’re used to make sugar . While the resulting power isn’t phenomenal, it’s still two orders of magnitude better than previous methods, according to the university. The protein modification method may have a rosier future, as well: the team believes that it could eventually compete with solar cells, producing green energy in a very literal sense. Filed under: Science , Alt Comments Via: Gizmag Source: RSC Publishing , University of Georgia
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University of Georgia stops plant photosynthesis to generate solar power
Wysips popped by our trailer at the show this year to celebrate the 90% transparency of its photovoltaic display overlay achievement with us — and therefore with you. Last time we had a chance to peek through Wysips’ solar cell the transparency was sitting at 70% which was way short of today’s level and manufacturer requirements if this thing is ever to see the light of day. The current setup will not generate enough power to negate the need for a charger, not even close but what it could do is power all your music playback, for example while your phone is exposed to the sun. Wysips’ goal for 2014 is to reach a power return of 10 mWc per cm² as of today the output is closer to 3, though seeing as most of the effort has been focused on reaching this production-ready transparency, they’ve hope this will be attainable. Sampling should begin in march this year with potential for a product in the marketplace in September this year. Honestly, the demo sets available were pretty worn out looking, though the overlay spoke for itself in that it was still visible at extreme angles but barely when viewing straight on. Part of our demo was plugging an LED into the array that had been retrofit into an iPhone and seeing the LED light come on when the solar cell is exposed and go out when covered. Here’s hoping we get a proper working demo in the coming months though for the here and now, consider us guardedly impressed. A few pics comparing overlay versus no overlay are in the gallery below. Gallery: Wysips solar-cell display reaches 90% transparency milestone, we go eyes-on Filed under: Cellphones , Peripherals , Science Comments
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Wysips solar-cell display reaches 90% transparency milestone, we go eyes-on