SpiderFab 3-D robotic printer
Since the 1970’s, space-based solar power has been a futuristic fantasy but the advent of 21st century 3-D printing may bring it a step closer to reality. (Video)
Continue reading… “Will 3D printing bring space-based solar power to reality?”
Homeowners who aimed their panels toward the west, instead of the south, generated 2% more electricity over the course of a day.
Solar panels should face in the general direction of the sun. You would think that would be easy to do. But most installers of solar panels, especially the ones for homes, follow conventional wisdom handed down from architects, which holds that in the northern hemisphere, windows and solar panels should face south.
Continue reading… “Most solar panels are facing in the wrong direction: Study”
Off-grid solar
The off-grid clean energy market is booming. Sub-Saharan Africa is seeing 300 percent compound annual growth in off-grid lighting; Bangladesh is putting up 30,000 to 40,000 solar home systems every month; and d.light, a for-profit seller of solar lights, recently reached its1 millionth customer. (Video)
Continue reading… “Off-grid solar is the next big market in clean energy”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1_mPe8Y0V4[/youtube]
Solar power is a great way to keep robots running indefinitely, in theory. And it’s absolutely possible to do it, provided your robot doesn’t need to do anything urgently, you have a ludicrously powerful light source, or your robot is very efficient and spends a lot of time in the sun. That last category has potential for solar powered micro air vehicles, including the University of Maryland’s Robo Raven, which has just gotten kitted out with solar panel wings.
Continue reading… “Robo Raven – the first solar-powered robotic bird”
The U.S. has massive renewable energy potential.
Transmission lines hold much of the same challenge and promise of the interstate highway system a century ago. The transmission network – the high voltage, long distance power lines that carry electricity from power facilities and into communities – is currently a patchwork system, lacking centralized organization or planning. Assuming that America cannot achieve 100% clean energy with distributed resources, the transport of renewable electric energy across state lines is a major hurdle to realizing a future without fossil fuels.
Continue reading… “The future of the energy infrastructure in the U.S.”
31 percent of South Australia’s total energy came from renewable sources in 2012 and 2013.
In South Australia, one in five houses already has a rooftop solar array. Twenty-seven percent of that region’s power is derived from wind energy. New figures released by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) predict that thanks to new sources of wind and solar power in development, the area could source half of its energy from renewables within the decade. This would make South Australia the first industrialized region to achieve such an accomplishment, surpassing other green-power giants like Denmark and Germany.
Continue reading… “South Australia to reach 50% renewable energy within 10 years”
Solar panels on a rooftop in Yiwu, in China’s Zhejiang Province.
From the last quarter of 2010 until the first quarter of 2013, leading Chinese solar companies were able to drop the cost of manufacturing multi-crystalline solar modules by 54 percent.
Continue reading… “How Chinese companies will produce solar for 36 cents per watt”
The solar industry employs nearly 120,000 Americans.
Solar energy is hot. With a foundation of consistent, long-term deployment policies at both the federal and state levels, solar PV in the U.S. is leading an unparalleled price decline on the strength of enduring high demand from U.S. consumers.
Continue reading… “Solar energy market thriving in the U.S.”
Stella, solar-powered family car.
Eindhoven University of Technology students have unveiled what they claim to be the world’s first solar-powered family car. The vehicle is called Stella and it resembles a squashed, wingless airplane. The vehicle can seat four people and can travel up to 600 kilometers, powered by solar panels mounted on the roof.
Continue reading… “World’s first solar-powered family car”
Photovoltaic solar panels
The drop in cost of solar panel prices will help make solar affordable to more people and it will increase the size of the solar market. But this ongoing cost reduction means much more than that.
Continue reading… “Cost of photovoltaic solar panels to drop $0.36/watt by 2017”
Flexible solar cells.
The Victorian Organic Solar Cell Consortium (VICOSC), CSIRO, and the University of Melbourne has developed a new printer that has allowed researchers at the university to print solar cells up to the size of an A3 sheet of paper. The solar cell printer makes renewable energy even easier to source.
Continue reading… “Printing Australia’s largest solar cells”
Lab demonstration of the group’s new lithium-polysulfide flow battery contained in a simple flask.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University scientists have developed a relatively cheap, long-life “flow” battery that can be used to mitigate power fluctuations from solar and wind energy plants, therefore enabling them to become major suppliers to the electrical grid.
Continue reading… “New battery design efficiently stores solar and wind energy”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.