Two solar power giants in the US are embroiled in a legal face off which has industrial espionage and intrigue written all over it. Commercial solar supplier Sunpower is hitting solar installer SolarCity with a lawsuit claiming it stole confidential information.
by Ovidiu Sandru
A team of scientists at the University of Cambridge have developed a new kind of solar cell which uses a phenomenon called “singlet exciton fission” to extract two electrons with the energy of a single photon hitting the semiconductor. Currently available silicon solar cells can only extract one electron, so this would give solar cells a 25 percent boost in efficiency.
Cambridge’s new solar cell has been named “hybrid,” and its creators say it’s able to achieve a 44 percent efficiency, 10 percent higher than what the most cutting edge technology can, 34 percent.
By Britt Mauriss
Going solar is a beautiful thing. It not only saves money on your electrical bills for decades to come—it conserve the earth’s precious resources as well. But where to turn for current, insightful resources on solar panels, pricing, financing and incentive options in 2012? How to know how much energy your home consumes right now, and how much you can save down the road with solar-powered renewable energy?
I’ve gathered eight amazing resources to get you started on the path to solar independence. Here’s how to go solar in 2012.
By Kevin Bullis
Semprius, a startup that makes miniscule solar cells capable of capturing concentrated sunlight without costly cooling systems, announced this week that it had made the world’s most efficient solar panel.
The company’s solar panels use tiny solar cells made of gallium arsenide—the record-breaking solar module contains hundreds of such solar cells, each about the width of a line drawn by a ball-point pen, arranged under lenses that concentrate sunlight 1,100 times.
Gallium arsenide is far better at absorbing sunlight than silicon, the material used in most solar cells, but it’s also more expensive. Furthermore, although concentrated solar modules use less semiconducting material, they usually require expensive optics, cooling systems, and tracking systems to keep them aimed at the sun. Semprius’s microscaled solar cells are inherently much better at dissipating heat, making them cheaper.
Over the last decade, the number of electronic gadgets in use across the globe has risen dramatically. With the growth of the personal electronics segment, the demand for electricity is growing at an unprecedented rate. However, since the infrastructure that produces and distributes electricity, called the grid, cannot be upgraded at the same rate at which the demand for the electricity is increasing, alternative methods of electricity generation are being investigated. Since around a third of the electricity produced is lost in transmission. This additional dependence on fossil fuels too can be lessened if more sustainable methods of electricity production like solar power are made more accessible to the public.
Green is the way to go and now you can look for ‘greener times ahead’ by sporting an eco friendly and green watch. You no longer need to worry about your battery weakening, as you can power them with solar energy. Batteries keep getting disposed in the most inappropriate manner and eventually end up overspilling landfills. You can show your responsibility toward the environment by buying yourself a battery free watch. Not only are these solar powered watches eco friendly, they are visually cool too. (more…)
India’s remarkable growth in solar power, which TreeHugger has been following for some time, has gained the nation another superlative: According to new analysis by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, India led the world in 2011 for green power growth.
In 2011 India invested $10.3 billion in renewable energy, creating 52% growth in the sector. Solar power growth was particularly impressive, with investment increasing 700% over 2010 levels last year. Even then, the $4.2 billion invested in solar power in 2011 slightly trailed investment in wind power, which reached $4.6 billion.
Designer Omer Sagiv’s futuristic Solar Powered Vehicle (SPV) is an ideal vehicle for long rides in deserts or other open lands. The SPV is a typical solar vehicle design. The aluminum structure mounts plenty of flexible thin film modules, which can generate much energy for long rides. In form, the SPV almost resembles Nuon solar car, developed by Delft University.
The UK’s only Green MP, Caroline Lucas, takes to the pages of The Guardian to launch a broadside against the UK Government’s investment policy in relation to solar energy.
The UK Government this week lost an appeal in the High Court against a lower court’s ruling that its retrospective attempt to change the solar feed-in tariff rates imposed by the previous Labour Government was “legally flawed”. The Cameron Government had tried to reduce the rates before the agreed consultation period had expired.
The court’s decision is considered to be a victory for the UK solar industry however the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) is threatening to take the case to the Supreme Court. The future of solar investment therefore remains in an unhealthy limbo.
Intriguingly the Hon. Ms Lucas touches on a theme returned to often in these pages: certainty.
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