solar energy
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Tesla has installed over 200,000 Powerwall home batteries
Despite issues with its Solar Roof, Tesla's Powerwall has apparently been a hot-selling item over the last year.
UK’s biggest solar plant gets the official go-ahead
The Cleve Hill Solar Park would consist of 880,000 solar panels, according to The Guardian, and have a peak capacity of 350 megawatts (MW). The solar energy generated would help the UK reach its goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, developers said on the Cleve Hill website.
Clear skies and social distancing help Europe shatter solar energy records
The coronavirus pandemic is helping multiple countries in Europe set new records for solar energy generation. Production in the UK peaked at 9.68 gigawatts on Monday, according to a tracker developed by The University of Sheffield in collaboration with the National Grid.
Solar energy 'breakthrough' could replace fossil fuels in some industries
If solar energy is truly going to take over from fossil fuels, it needs to be hot enough for not only generating power, but replacing industrial processes outright -- and even the 1,049F of the best solar concentrator systems wouldn't cut it. Heliogen, however, may have finally cracked that barrier. The Bill Gates-backed startup has successfully concentrated solar energy at "breakthrough" temperatures above 1,832F, making it toasty enough to replace fossil fuels for industrial tasks like producing cement or steel.
Tesla and Walmart settle lawsuit over solar panel fires
Tesla and Walmart clearly weren't ready for a knock-down-drag-out fight over solar panel fires. The two companies have settled a lawsuit that accused Tesla of neglecting and botching installations for solar panels that caught fire on the roofs of seven Walmart stores. In a joint statement to Engadget, the companies said they were "pleased" and that concerns had been "addressed." The duo looks forward to a "safe re-energization of [their] sustainable energy systems," according to the companies. You can read the full statement below.
Tesla may open 'Centers' to get around pro-dealership laws
Tesla may be planning an end-run around state laws that bar direct car sales and protect dealerships. Electrek sources claim the automaker is planning to open "Tesla Centers" in major urban areas that would theoretically avoid legal trouble by focusing on the sale of energy, not cars. These large outlets would offer sales, service and delivery seven days a week, even in states where "blue" laws prevent conventional car dealerships have to stay closed on Sundays. The strategy would take effect in the fourth quarter of this year.
Walmart sues Tesla after solar panels catch fire at stores (updated)
So much for Tesla's renewed solar power efforts getting off to a good start. Walmart has sued Tesla after rooftop solar panels on seven of the retailer's stores caught fire, allegedly due to poor safety practices. Tesla supposedly didn't ground its electrical and solar systems properly, according to Walmart, and regularly sent inspectors who "lacked basic solar training and knowledge." Walmart also asserted that Tesla's panels were rife with visible defects.
Tesla's relaunched solar power efforts include $50 panel rentals
Tesla has relaunched its troubled solar power efforts, and that now includes an option that might be more affordable for some homeowners. The company has debuted a Rent Solar program that lets residents in six states (Arizona, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New Mexico) pay a monthly fee instead of making an expensive up-front purchase. You'll typically pay $50 per month ($65 in California), but Tesla will do all the hard work. There's no long-term contract -- Tesla is simply betting that you'll keep it for long enough for those fees to add up.
Researchers boost solar energy by tapping infrared light
Our sun blasts out over 50 percent of its energy as "near-infrared" light, but solar cells only harvest visible light. As a result, the best commercial panels only convert about 20 percent of solar energy to electricity. Researchers from UC Riverside have now figured out how to "upconvert" infrared energy into much more useful visible light, a process that could make solar panels up to 30 percent more efficient. To do it, the team combined semiconductors with organic molecules, resulting in a material that essentially helped them "reshape the solar spectrum," according to lead researcher Christopher Bardeen.
The world's largest solar thermal power plant is incinerating thousands of local birds
A common sight in the sky above the world's largest solar thermal power plant is a "streamer," a small plume of smoke that occurs without warning. Closer inspection, however, reveals that the source of the smoke is a bird that has inadvertently strayed into the white-hot heat above the plant's many reflecting mirrors. Because the BrightSource Energy plant near Ivanpah, California, uses supercritical steam rather than photovoltaic energy, the sun's heat is reflected off more than 300,000 mirrors to a single point, which is used to drive a steam turbine. The downside of that, of course, is that it's lethal for any wildlife that strays into the picture -- a problem that was recognized well before the facility opened, but now the government has gotten involved.
Scientists solve solar energy's burning question: how to make it cheaper than fossil fuels
In a fight between solar and fossil fuels, the latter has always had a killer question up its sleeve: "What about supercritical steam?" That's the method by which the most advanced power stations generate electricity, superheating water until it instantly becomes steam, a feat that's only possible (and affordable) by burning coal or gas. Or, at least it was. Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization has managed to use solar energy to the same effect, boiling liquid to temperatures of 570 degrees Celsius in a test chamber. What does this mean for all of us? "Power plants of the future could instead be using the free, zero-emission energy of the sun," explains Dr. Alex Wonhas.
NC State nanoflowers can boost battery and solar cell capacity, make great prom accessories
We see a lot of sleek-looking technology pass through our doors, but it's rare that the inventions could be called beautiful by those who aren't immersed in the gadget world. We'd venture that North Carolina State University might have crossed the divide by creating an energy storage technology that's both practical and genuinely pretty. Its technology vaporizes germanium sulfide and cools it into 20-30 nanometer layers that, as they're combined, turn into nanoflowers: elegant structures that might look like the carnation on a prom dress or tuxedo, but are really energy storage cells with much more capacity than traditional cells occupying the same area. The floral patterns could lead to longer-lived supercapacitors and lithium-ion batteries, and the germanium sulfide is both cheap and clean enough that it could lead to very efficient solar cells that are more environmentally responsible. As always, there's no definite timetable for when (and if) NC State's technology might be commercialized -- so call someone's bluff if they promise you a nanoflower bouquet.
Sharp unveils semi-transparent solar panels, lets you see the sun while reaping its benefits
Sharp has announced an unusual photovoltaic panel for the Japanese market that collects energy from the sun while still allowing the light to shine on through. Though it's rated at a lowly 6.8 percent / 98 watt max efficiency, the glass-like properties make it useful as a construction material (as shown in the balcony railing above), with the semi-transparent nature giving occupants privacy, to boot. The energy-producing cells are embedded in a laminated glass structure and an air slot provides a thermal barrier, allowing the panels to also be used as "windows, curtain wall and eaves" according to Sharp's PR. Though the system won't win any potency prizes, it has garnered a design award in Japan, so it won't blight any landscapes. There's no mention of pricing or western availability so far, but you can hit the source for all the technical details.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: fluorescent bulb moon, fuel-efficient supersonic jet and a toxin-eating oyster park
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. Man-made technology is great, but Mother Nature is the greatest inventor of them all -- and scientists are discovering new ways to take advantage of the tools found in nature. Take, for example, a team of researchers from Vanderbilt University who developed a solar cell using the photosynthetic protein found in spinach. In New York, Scape Studio has proposed to use the oyster's natural cleaning ability to help clean up the contaminated waters of the Gowanus Canal. The firm has received funding to create Oyster-tecture, an oyster park at the mouth of the canal where millions of mollusks will "eat" toxins. Meanwhile, the US Forest Service has been deriving cellulose nanocrystals from wood pulp extract to create a material that's stronger than Kevlar and carbon fiber.
Spherical glass lens concentrates sunlight by up to 10,000 times, boosts solar cell efficiency
Eking out more power from solar cells is an ongoing challenge for scientists, and now architect André Broessel has developed a spherical glass energy generator that's said to improve efficiency by 35 percent. Acting as a lens, the rig's large water-filled orb concentrates diffused daylight or moonlight onto a solar cell with the help of optical tracking to harvest electricity. In certain configurations, the apparatus can be used for solar thermal energy generation and even water heating. In addition to the oversized globe, Broessel has cooked up a mobile version of the contraption for domestic use and an array of much smaller ball lenses with dual-axis tracking that offers 40 percent efficiency. These devices aren't the first venture into concentrated photovoltaics, but they are likely among the most visually impressive. If the Barcelona-based architect's vision of the future comes true, you'll be seeing these marbles incorporated into buildings and serving as standalone units. Hit the source links below for the picture spread of prototypes and renders.
IBM alliance sets efficiency record for solar power cells using common materials
There have been more than a few solar power efficiency records set in the past few months, let alone years. What makes IBM, DelSolar, Solar Frontier and Tokyo Ohka Kogyo think they can just waltz in and claim a record of their own? By using more commonplace elements in the periodic table, that's how. The partnership's new photovoltaic cell based on copper, zinc and tin (CZTS for short) can convert light rays to electric power with a 11.1 percent efficiency rate -- still nothing to upset traditional silicon power, but a large 10 percent more efficient than anything else in the class. In its early form, CZTS can already be manufactured through ink printing and could be produced in quantities equivalent to about 500 gigawatts of power per year, or five times more than some of the next-closest alternatives. The group wants to improve CZTS' efficiency over the course of the next several years, ideally reaching the point where it's useful as a truly cheap, ubiquitous source of power. We're looking forward to the day when there's a little slice of solar energy in just about everything, hopefully including a few more hybrid cars and private aircraft.
Researchers create record-breaking solar cell, set bar marginally higher
Solar cell development is typically a small numbers game, and a group of researchers at the University of Toronto have managed to eke out a few more percentage points in efficiency with a new record-breaking cell. Setting a high mark for this type of cell, the team's Colloidal Quantum Dot (CQD) film harvests both visible and non-visible light at seven percent efficiency, a 37 percent increase over the previous record. The breakthrough was achieved by leveraging organic and inorganic chemistry to make sure it had fewer nooks and crannies that don't absorb light. With the advantages of relatively speedy and cheap manufacturing, the technology could help lead the way for mass production of solar cells on flexible substrates. In the meantime, check out the source for the scientific lowdown.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: energy-harvesting toilet, LED lightbulb overhaul and a floating, solar-powered resort home
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. LED technology shone brighter than the summer sun this week as artist Bruce Munro unveiled plans for his largest lighting installation ever -- a field of thousands of LED flowers that will spring up next year at Australia's Ayers Rock. Best of all, the entire installation will be powered by solar energy! We also saw Rice University flip the switch on its new Epiphany Skyspace -- a green-roofed pavilion that's topped with a brilliant blue canopy of light. If you're still not convinced that LEDs are the future, we recently produced two videos that are sure to show you the light -- check out our interview with five professional lighting designers on today's state of the art LED bulbs and watch as we give Inhabitots editor Julie Seguss a light bulb overhaul that shaves over $400 off her utility bills. And if you're ready to make the switch, check out our guide to 24 gorgeous green lamps that look great with LED bulbs. This week saw some exciting new developments in the realm of renewable energy. First, a group of scientists in the UK developed a new energy-harvesting device that attaches to the joint between the thigh and shin. The device could be used to power monitors and mobile devices, to name a few possible applications. Meanwhile, scientists from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have invented a new toilet that turns human waste into electricity while reducing the amount of water needed for flushing by up to 90 percent. That's what we call, win-win!
All-carbon solar cell draws power from near-infrared light, our energy future is literally that much brighter
What's this orange-like patch, you ask? It's a layer of carbon nanotubes on silicon, and it might just be instrumental to getting a lot more power out of solar cells than we're used to. Current solar power largely ignores near-infrared light and wastes about 40 percent of the potential energy it could harness. A mix of carbon nanotubes and buckyballs developed by MIT, however, can catch that near-infrared light without degrading like earlier composites. The all-carbon formula doesn't need to be thickly spread to do its work, and it simply lets visible light through -- it could layer on top of a traditional solar cell to catch many more of the sun's rays. Most of the challenge, as we often see for solar cells, is just a matter of improving the energy conversion rate. Provided the researchers can keep refining the project, we could be looking at a big leap in solar power efficiency with very little extra footprint, something we'd very much like to see on the roof of a hybrid sedan.
Apple breaks ground on second solar farm for North Carolina data center
Last February, Apple came clean about its efforts to clean up the environment, detailing intentions to make its Maiden, NC data facility a greener place. That site, already home to one solar farm, is now set to host a second 20 megawatt photovoltaic array spanning 100 acres, a one-two power punch that'll jointly generate 84 million kWh annually. Combined with the company's in-development biofuel cell plant, scheduled for opening later this year, that theoretic yield should hit the 124 million kWh mark -- an amount sufficient to power nearly 11,000 households -- providing 60 percent of the center's electric demands. Still, that's not enough to adequately keep operations afloat, so for that very necessary, leftover 40 percent, the house that Jobs built plans to purchase similar clean energy from outside local sources. When all is finally up and running smoothly, the southern facility will earn the distinction of "most environmentally sound data center ever built." Or, at least until another well-heeled competitor comes along to contest that title. Now that's a friendly competition we can get behind.
