New solar panels suck water from air to cool themselves down

Solar panels

Intense summer sun can spike temperatures of solar panels, causing their electrical production to plummet.

Like humans, solar panels don’t work well when overheated. Now, researchers have found a way to make them “sweat”—allowing them to cool themselves and increase their power output.

It’s “a simple, elegant, and effective [way] to retrofit existing solar cell panels for an instant efficiency boost,” says Liangbing Hu, a materials scientist at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Today, more than 600 gigawatts of solar power capacity exists worldwide, providing 3% of global electricity demand. That capacity is expected to increase fivefold over the next decade. Most use silicon to convert sunlight to electricity. But typical silicon cells convert only 20% of the Sun’s energy that hits them into current. Much of the rest turns into heat, which can warm the panels by as much as 40°C. And with every degree of temperature above 25°C, the efficiency of the panel drops. In a field where engineers struggle for every 0.1% boost in power conversion efficiency, even a 1% gain would be an economic boon, says Jun Zhou, a materials scientist at Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

Decades ago, researchers showed that cooling solar panels with water can provide that benefit. Today, some companies even sell water-cooled systems. But those setups require abundant available water and storage tanks, pipes, and pumps. That’s of little use in arid regions and in developing countries with little infrastructure.

Continue reading… “New solar panels suck water from air to cool themselves down”

These hyper-efficient solar panels could actually live on your roof soon

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The clean energy boffins in their labs are always upping the theoretical limit on how much power you can get out of sunshine, but us plebes actually installing solar cells are stuck with years-old tech that’s not half as good as what they’re seeing. This new design from Insolight could be the one that changes all that.

Insolight is a spin-off from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, where they’ve been working on this new approach for a few years — and it’s almost ready to hit your roof.

Usually solar cells collect sunlight on their entire surface, converting it to electricity at perhaps 15-19 percent efficiency — meaning about 85 percent of the energy is lost in the process. There are more efficient cells out there, but they’re generally expensive and special-purpose, or use some exotic material.

Continue reading… “These hyper-efficient solar panels could actually live on your roof soon”

These Origami solar panels generate electricity for apartments

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Solgami wants to help people living in cities.

A new design of solar panel could help apartment dwellers harvest electricity from their windows without prohibitive installation costs. Solgami, designed by Australian architect Ben Berwick, is a window blind that generates power while bouncing more light into the room using a folded origami design.

“It’s a bit of a reconnection to the natural setting,” Berwick, who founded architecture firm Prevalent, told Fast Company* this weekend. “It’s making your apartment a better place to be.”

Continue reading… “These Origami solar panels generate electricity for apartments”

Tesla’s new solar roof will cost less and keep your house off the Grid all day

We all know that nature is a powerful force. I was reminded just how powerful after last week’s wind storm, when the next day I found shingles from my roof littered on the lawn. I’ve been driving around the last week, and observing all the damage that storm caused, getting quotes from roofers, dealing with insurance, and realizing that I was not alone. One contractor said that they received 300 hundred calls in one day. All that damage caused by one storm. My roof looks like it needs to be replaced, and by the look of the other roofs in my neighborhood, I am not alone. Which of course left me day-dreaming about upgrading to include the new Solar Panels being produced by Tesla and Panasonic in Buffalo.

Continue reading… “Tesla’s new solar roof will cost less and keep your house off the Grid all day”

Clear solar panel could turn windows into a power source

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Michigan State University researchers have developed a transparent solar cell capable of being used as a replacement for windows.  Due to the fact traditional solar panels absorb light and convert it into energy, this concept was once deemed impossible as transparent surfaces are not capable of absorbing light.   Continue reading… “Clear solar panel could turn windows into a power source”

Roll to roll manufactured decorative solar panels to be 10 times cheaper

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Based on printing technologies, VTT Technical Centre of Finland has developed and utilized a mass production method allowing the manufacturing of decorative, organic solar panels.  Freedom of design increases the range of panel applications on the surfaces of interior and exterior building spaces.

Continue reading… “Roll to roll manufactured decorative solar panels to be 10 times cheaper”

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

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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)

 

 

Continue reading… “The sky’s the limit for 3D printing solar panels”

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