Category: Solar Power

Impact Lab > Solar Power
Analysis, Energy, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News, Solar Power, Wind Power

We are headed into an era of unlimited and free clean energy

clean energy

Inexpensive renewable sources will provide more energy than the world needs in less than 20 years.

Leading consultants were skeptical about cellular phones in the 1980’s. McKinsey & Co. noted that the handsets were heavy, batteries didn’t last long, coverage was patchy, and the cost per minute was exorbitant. It predicted that in 20 years the total market size would be about 900,000 units and advised AT&T to pull out.

 

 

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Analysis, Energy, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News, Solar Power

Are homes with solar worth more than non-solar homes?

SolarHomePrices

We have been talking about how much solar panels increase the value of your home for years. We use a simple calculation to determine the increase in value: We add the energy savings you’ll see per year for 20 years. Well, it looks like we’re not just blowing solar smoke; study after  study after study comparing sales of solar and non-solar houses show clearly that homes—even near-identical homes in the same community—sell for more with solar. But we know you don’t want to read a 200-page PDF to find out, so we’ve collected some of the most important information below.

 

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Analysis, Energy, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News, Solar Power, Wind Power

Wildpoldsried, Germany produces 500% of its energy from renewable sources

wildpoldsreid

Wildpoldsried produces 500% more energy than it needs.

Wildpoldsried, Germany, a Bavarian village of about 2,600 residents, is leading the way in Germany’s extraordinary renewable energy transformation. The village has invested in a holistic range of renewable energy projects over the past 17 years that include 4,983 kWp of photovoltaics, five biogas facilities, 11 wind turbines and a hydropower system. As a result, the village has gone beyond energy independence – and it now produces 500% more energy than it needs and profits from sales of the surplus power back to the grid.

Analysis, Business, Energy, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News, Solar Power, Wind Power

$100B invested in wind or solar will produce more energy than oil

Solar-panel-array-and-wind-turbines-

By the late 2020s or early 2030s renewables could be competing much more aggressively with the oil market.

Kepler Chevreux, a French investment bank, has produced a fascinating analysis that has dramatic implications for the global oil industry. The investment bank estimates that $100 billion invested in either wind energy or solar energy – and deployed as energy for light and commercial vehicles – will produce significantly more energy than that same $100 billion invested in oil.

 

 

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3D Printer, Analysis, Business, Energy, Great Videos, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News, Solar Power

The sky’s the limit for 3D printing solar panels

solar-cell-printer

Solar cell printers.

We’ve come a long way from the solar-powered calculator to waiting to see when innovators are going to give us solar-powered smartphones, where most of our calculators are these days.  While the average energy consumer is busy worrying about such everyday concerns, scientists at the Victorian Organic Solar Cell Consortium (VICOSC) are wondering how to power entire buildings, and pretty much the whole planet, as the technology they are creating will be easily transferred inexpensively to developing and third-world areas, thanks to 3D printing and design. (Video)

 

 

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Business, Energy, Science & Technology News, Solar Power

Japan to build the world’s largest floating solar power plants

Solar-Power-Plant

One of Kyocera’s existing solar power plants in Japan, which has 70 MW of power capacity.

Being short on free land space is not stopping Japan from investing in renewable energy. Solar panel company Kyocera Corp, Century Tokyo Leasing Corp and Ciel Terre have announced that they’re teaming up to create two huge floating solar power plants which will be up and running by April next year.

 

 

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Analysis, Business, Energy, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News, Solar Power, Wind Power

The next big challenge for energy storage

solar energy

Solar is now the fastest growing segment in the energy business in the U.S.

The energy storage era is upon us. States like California and New York have adapted energy policies that will make it possible to economically deploy storage systems, while technology advancements have boosted performance and trimmed costs. For the first time in history it will become feasible to store electric energy.

Animals, Business, Energy, Great New Product, Science & Technology News, Solar Power

New transparent solar cells can be used on windows, smartphone screens to produce solar energy

solar-clear

Transparent solar cell.

Developed by researchers in Michigan State University, a new material, called a transparent luminescent solar concentrator, can be used to cover anything that has a flat, clear surface. Transparent solar cell technology has been attempted before, but the energy the cells produced was poor and the materials they were made out of were highly colored.

 

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Animals, Big Problems, Business, Energy, Science & Technology News, Solar Power

Design flaw turns solar plant into a death trap for birds

bird

Super-concentrated sunbeams from BrightSource Energy Plant are deadly for birds flying overhead.

In February, the $2.2 billion BrightSource Energy Plant opened up in the Mojave Desert with good intentions: to harvest clean, sustainable solar power, by using 300 mirrors to reflect sunbeams onto a steam-producing water boiler. But a design flaw has turned the plant into a death trap for birds flying overhead.

 

 

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3D Printer, Business, DIY, Great New Product, Great Videos, People Making a Difference, Science & Technology News, Solar Power

DIY ‘Solar Pocket Factory’ can 3D print a solar panel every 15 seconds

open-source solar panel

Solar Pocket Factory

Two young inventors based in the Philippines, Shawn Frayne and Alex Hornstein, are taking their passion for clean free energy and developing a way to make it accessible and cheap for everyone. These guys are working hard to provide a product that could be used by practically anyone to make homemade solar panels. (Videos)

 

 

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Analysis, Energy, New Discoveries, Science & Technology News, Solar Power

New spongelike material converts solar energy into steam

solar sponge

The DLS that consists of a carbon foam supporting an exfoliated graphite layer.

MIT has developed a new material structure that generates steam by soaking up the sun. The structure — a layer of graphite flakes and an underlying carbon foam — is a porous, insulating material structure that floats on water. When sunlight hits the structure’s surface, it creates a hotspot in the graphite, drawing water up through the material’s pores, where it evaporates as steam. The brighter the light, the more steam is generated.

 

 

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Discover the Hidden Patterns of Tomorrow with Futurist Thomas Frey
Unlock Your Potential, Ignite Your Success.

By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.

Learn More about this exciting program.