Solar Energy News

Consider this T-shirt: It can monitor your heart rate and breathing, analyze your sweat and even cool you off on a hot summer's day. Or a solar-powered dress that can charge your MP3 player? This is not science fiction -- this is cotton in 2010.

Isolating the minute crystals of the PSI super complex from the pea plant, a biochemistry researcher suggests these crystals can be illuminated and used as small battery chargers or form the core of more efficient man-made solar cells.

Researchers have found a better way to trap light in photovoltaic cells through the use of vertical arrays of silicon nanowires. This could substantially cut the costs of solar electric power by reducing the quantity and quality of silicon needed for efficient solar panels.

In order to save energy, consumers need to be able to obtain up-to-date information at any time about the energy consumption of their appliances, and be able to control them while away from home. Scientists have developed two new applications that help consumers manage their power use.

Researchers are creating technology that will treat neighborhoods like a miniature power grid, sharing energy generated at each house according to need. Allied to a host of other developments, the concept promises huge energy savings.

Scientists in France have transformed the chemical energy generated by photosynthesis into electrical energy by developing a novel biofuel cell. The advance offers a new strategy to convert solar energy into electrical energy in an environmentally-friendly and renewable manner. In addition, the biofuel cell could have important medical applications.

Using arrays of long, thin silicon wires embedded in a polymer substrate, scientists have created a new type of flexible solar cell that enhances the absorption of sunlight and efficiently converts its photons into electrons. The solar cell does all this using only a fraction of the expensive semiconductor materials required by conventional solar cells.

Smart control units that learn householders' energy habits and provide immediate feedback on consumption could give home energy savings of up to 20 percent without compromising comfort.

Researchers suggest that policy makers examine greenhouse gas emissions implications for energy infrastructure as fossil fuel sources must be rapidly replaced by windmills, solar panels and other sources of renewable energy.

Material scientists have created a system, using nano-sized molecules of gold, that induces and projects electrical current across molecules, similar to that of photovoltaic solar cells.

Chemists have synthesized the first-ever stable derivative of nonacene, creating a compound that holds significant promise in the manufacture of flexible organic electronics such as large displays, solar cells and radio frequency identification tags.

A newly developed 9 cubic millimeter solar-powered sensor system is the smallest that can harvest energy from its surroundings to operate nearly perpetually.

Scientists in Germany have succeeded in developing a method for treating the surface of nanoparticles which greatly improves the efficiency of organic solar cells. The researchers were able to attain an efficiency of 2 percent by using so-called quantum dots composed of cadmium selenide. These measurements, well above the previous efficiency ratings of 1 to 1.8 percent, were confirmed.

Ecosystems of terminus lakes around the world could benefit from a new system being developed to desalinate water using a specialized low-cost solar pond and patented membrane distillation system powered by renewable energy.

Solar-powered drip irrigation systems significantly enhance household incomes and nutritional intake of villagers in arid sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new study.

Scientists have developed tiny glitter-sized photovoltaic cells that could revolutionize the way solar energy is collected and used.

Adding cerium oxide to phosphate glass rather than the commonly used silicate glass may make glasses that block ultraviolet light and have increased radiation damage resistance while remaining colorless, according to researchers. These cerium-containing phosphate glasses have many commercial applications for use in windows, sunglasses and solar cells.

Harnessing the power of "hot" electrons for solar energy has been held as a theoretical possibility. Now researchers report observing the hot electron effect in an ultra-thin solar cell for the first time and collecting the elusive charges, which are typically lost in less than one-trillionth of a second in traditional solar cells.

A team of academics and students has begun work on a solar-electric powered boat which they claim will be one of the most sophisticated to enter the annual Solar Splash competition so far.

Researchers have developed a method to control the atoms and molecules of peptides so that they "grow" to resemble small forests of grass. These "peptide forests" repel dust and water and can also serve as high-density battery capacitors.