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Stories about: solar


Scottish Communities to Benefit from Green Energy Projects

The Scottish government wants to make sure local communities will be able to experience the benefits of renewable energy while receiving the fair price from developing companies. In order to offer this chance to its residents, the authorities announced a new public register would start being implemented next year. ...

2 December 2011
07:59 GMT

Pre-Orders Start for Solar-Powered Samsung Laptop

Samsung has finally set up for pre-order a certain entry-level mobile personal computer which is unique thanks to the fact that it can harness the energy of the sun thanks to having solar panels on the lid.End-users may or may not have learned of the fact that companies specializing in the making of solar panels hav...

12 July 2011
05:33 GMT

Nature's Solar and Wind Power the World

The global tendency today is to get to a completely clean energy, for the industry and for people's homes and transportation, by developing wind and solar power.As research evolves, it develops even more advanced wind and solar energy production and in the near future this green energy will take over fossil fuel...

25 August 2010
03:09 GMT

Green Energy Will Generate $240 Billion by 2021

Today, over 400 international experts gathered at the University of Southampton, for Photon 10, the biggest optics and photonics conference in Europe, where the latest developments in “green photonics” will be shared.The president of the United States' Optoelectronics Development Association (OIDA), ...

23 August 2010
05:27 GMT

Endeavour Crew's Mission Near Perfect

Following a spectacular launch, the shuttle Endeavour reached its target, the International Space Station, on Sunday, nearly two days after take-off. The ISS and the Endeavour crews greeted each other warmly and after the newly-arrived accommodated, they proceeded to their tasks. The main goals were to unload and ins...

19 November 2008
03:40 GMT

Energy Alternatives for Mars Colonies

With all the events going on, including Phoenix Mars Lander's recent demise and the discoveries provided by the two twin rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, as well as the uncertainty raised by the space shuttle retirement process and its replacement system, scientists still find the time to think about the future o...

13 November 2008
11:27 GMT

Tiny Solar Cells for Future Soldiers

A recently-developed tiny solar array is sparking a very vivid interest in Army officials. The array is comprised of 20 small solar cells, each a little over a millimeter long. This early version of the solar device built from organic polymers is able to generate only 7 volts of electric power for the time bein...

8 November 2008
06:00 GMT

SolFocus to Power Up Spain with Sun Energy

SolFocus, a Californian provider of concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) solar energy solutions, has recently announced the signing of a $103 million (€80 million) deal with a Spanish customer, EMPE Solar, to install more than 10 megawatts worth of CPV solar power projects throughout Spain in 2 years’ time. It ...

5 November 2008
04:26 GMT

Tons of Energy from Solar Powered Satellites

The old idea of building an ample array of satellites and send them in the orbit of the Earth to collect and transmit energy via microwaves has been added estimative numbers. Although highly feasible in the long run, the project that would change economy, life and environment altogether is still a distant dream for a...

17 October 2008
06:47 GMT

Sun About to Beat Its Spotlessness Record

Following the recent discovery of the Sun being at a record low in wind, another surprise came from its observers when they claimed that more than 200 days had passed without a spot on our star. It's been more than half a century since this last happened. The previous record was registered in 1954, when th...

4 October 2008
05:45 GMT

Researchers Develop Solar Paint that Generates Energy

The latest association between the scientists from a UK university and the steel industry yielded a photovoltaic paint which, when applied on steel, produces energy.The photovoltaic paint is formed of a paste mix of electrolytes and dye which can be spread on sheets of steel, four layers of paint per sheet. When expo...

2 October 2008
06:00 GMT

More Solar Charging Solutions for Your iPod

Need more on-the-go recharging solutions? What do you mean no? Of course you do. Don't dismiss anything until you've read. Why don't you have a look at this here Solio Magnesium Edition solar charger. It works perfectly with iPods. Better Energy Systems has just announced its availability for $199.99. ...

25 March 2008
06:53 GMT

Solar Cells of the Future Will Mimic Moth Eyes!

The idea of solar cells is so cool! They would come with such cheap energy, and everybody would be a Captain Planet fighting pollution. But what many people still do not understand is that they are so inefficient at this moment. A new research published in "Applied Physics Letters" could come with a step further to t...

23 February 2008
06:33 GMT

Testing The Solar Mice

Wireless mice are all too common nowadays in a computing environment that is more and more centered on mobility. The main drawback of most such wireless mice is that after a few days at most the batteries must be changed, or if rechargeable units are used they must be left several hours to replenish their energy leve...

7 August 2007
06:42 GMT

Silicon Solar Cells and Plasmons Produce Highest Efficieny Ever

Silicon may soon find the limit of its efficiency, as miniaturization is starting to take its tall on the nanoscale properties of this wonder material, but if it is on the brink of extinction in computing technology, it may have a promising life ahead in solar cells, now at its beginnings.These solar cells are typic...

30 July 2007
11:00 GMT

Could We Explain the Appearance of Killer Electrons in Space?

A truly rare opportunity presented itself to astronomers, allowing the conjunction of ground-based instrumentation and a dozen satellites in order to explain the mysterious phenomenon of "killer" electrons.They are an occurrence in space above Earth, where plasma that is constantly ejected from the Sun's upper ...

26 July 2007
09:07 GMT

Space Solar Power Fans: The Pentagon Wants Your Ideas!

The Pentagon opened up a web-based system for soliciting ideas on space-based solar power and it wants as many citizens as possible to participate to the quest for potential applications of the technology, according to one of the officials leading the effort.Although the idea isn't exactly new, it's the fi...

26 July 2007
06:33 GMT

The Planet with Four Sunsets

It's a common sight in numerous science fiction stories and movies: a planet with two suns (often of drastically different colors) producing double shadows, multiple sunrises and sunsets and other exotic phenomena that would appear utterly alien to us Earthlings, like Luke Skywalker's home planet, Tatooine...

26 July 2007
03:32 GMT

The Sun Is Losing Its Spots

The heat wave that struck the US and Europe has made NASA keep a close eye on the sun, in an effort to predict future events, since these weather extremes are happening despite the fact that solar activity is at minimum.For now, the Sun is almost spotless, marking the solar minimum, one of two major characteristics ...

25 July 2007
10:40 GMT

New World Record in Solar Cell Efficiency

A real breakthrough has been made by a team of scientists in the field of solar energy converters. The new discovery is a fuel cell that, for the first time, surpassed the 40% efficiency milestone, the highest efficiency achieved for any photovoltaic device.Using a new technology that combines several innovations to...

25 July 2007
09:05 GMT

The House That Turns with the Sun

Some people are more aware than others when it comes to protecting the environment. While some of them think that by not dumping trash wherever they are at the moment is a huge environmental act, others are building entirely self-sufficient houses that take everything from nature without hurting it.When it comes to ...

20 July 2007
05:47 GMT

New Solar Panels Could Be Produced at Home with Inkjet Printers

Harvesting solar energy is a clever way to make use of a clean and renewable fuel. You don't need to dig the ground for it, there are no pipes and powerplants, and best of all, it's ecological. Unfortunately, existent solar cells are not too efficient and often too expensive.A new development made by resea...

19 July 2007
09:02 GMT

Could This Comet Hit Earth in the Next Millennium?

This comet is one of the few that really spawned some controversy regarding the possibility of a collision with Earth and was even classified as having "a non-zero possibility of impact." This means it could hit our planet or the Moon, sometime around 3044, or at least that is what astronomers thought about four dec...

17 July 2007
06:31 GMT

Ultra-thin Solar Cells Made Through Exfoliation Are Cheaper and Lighter

Exfoliation is not only a cosmetic technique aimed at removing dead skin cells from the face and body, but it also causes the breaking up particle aggregates in material science and what promises to produce a new generation of solar cells that are much lighter and cheaper than existing models.Researchers, from the C...

16 July 2007
05:34 GMT

Most Efficient Organic Solar Cells Ever Created

Solar cells are regarded as one of the key technologies towards a sustainable energy supply and have already found many applications, mostly in situations where electrical power from the grid is unavailable, such as in remote area power systems, Earth-orbiting satellites and space probes.Recently they have become mo...

13 July 2007
05:13 GMT

Our Solar System Comes from Another Galaxy!

Have you ever looked at the sky at night and found the famous band of stars called the Milky Way? Probably, but did you notice it's tilted at an angle? Well, this thing really puzzled astronomers for quite some time.That's because what you saw is actually our galaxy itself, seen from the side. The classica...

26 June 2007
09:51 GMT

Samba and Tango in Space

Samba and Tango are the names of two of ESA's four satellites in the Cluster mission that are now orbiting in formation, separated by only 17 km, the closest two ESA satellites have ever been. It is hoped that this tight formation will allow new scientific discoveries about the Sun and the solar wind.The Cluste...

21 June 2007
12:22 GMT

Powering Tomorrow's Homes with Solar Shingles

Harvesting solar energy is a clever way to make use of a clean and renewable fuel. You don't need to dig the ground for it, there are no pipes and powerplants, and best of all, it's ecological. Using the roof to produce electricity is a good idea, but many people don't want to use the inaesthetical an...

21 June 2007
11:44 GMT

Solar Powered Air Conditioning

Air conditioning appliances work by cooling and often dehumidifying the indoor air, typically through refrigeration. Unfortunately, some of these appliances are huge energy consumers that also contribute to air pollution through emissions of fluorinated greenhouse gases.A company is providing an alternative way of b...

18 June 2007
09:02 GMT

The Grim Fate of Pluto

Pluto is the ninth planet of our solar system, the smallest and the farthest. No, wait, it's not a planet anymore. Trouble never seems to end for this little fellow, after the "embarrassment" of being degraded to a lower rank.The former planet has been dissed again. As it turns out, it's not even the bigge...

15 June 2007
02:48 GMT

Caution: Spacewalkers at Work!

Yesterday, two of the astronauts on board the International Space Station floated outside to work on the retraction of the starboard solar array. They helped fold up an old solar wing and to resurrect a rotating joint that will make the new pair of solar arrays follow the Sun.Last week, two Russian cosmonauts on bo...

14 June 2007
05:38 GMT

Most Effective Solar Cells Surpass the 40% Efficiency Milestone

A real breakthrough has been made by a team of scientists in the field of solar energy converters. The new discovery is a fuel cell that, for the first time, surpassed the 40% efficiency milestone, the highest efficiency achieved for any photovoltaic device.Solar cells have many applications. They have been used for...

4 June 2007
15:41 GMT

Hot Gas and Sound Waves Escape Sun's Surface through Magnetic Portals

A mystery about the interior of the Sun lasting for centuries has been solved by scientists at National Science Foundation (NSF) and NASA. They now proved that sound waves escape the interior of the sun and form fountains of hot gas that shape and provide fuel for a region of the sun's atmosphere.This thin regi...

30 May 2007
15:31 GMT

New Low Temperature Laser Creates Powerful Silicon Solar Cells

Harvesting solar energy is a clever way to make use of a clean and renewable fuel. You don't need to dig the ground for it, there are no pipes and powerplants, and best of all, it's ecological. Unfortunately, existent solar cells are not too efficient and can't convert more than 10 percent of the sola...

30 May 2007
10:41 GMT

Dude, Where's My Planet?

It may sound strange, but it seems some planets are ejected from the solar system where they were born, while still in an early development stage, and set to wander the interstellar space. That's kind of a scary thought, even though actual pictures of such planets may look good.Remember the sci-fi series of the...

30 May 2007
04:18 GMT

Our Solar System Did Not Form After a Supernova!

Most astronomers believe that our solar system formed from the gravitational collapse of a giant molecular cloud, which was likely several light-years across and probably birthed several stars. But a new find contradicts that nebular hypothesis, saying it wasn't a black hole that gave birth to the Sun and the p...

25 May 2007
06:53 GMT

The World's First Solar Powered Mobile Phone: S116

Hi-Tech Wealth Inc., a Chinese top consumer sales and marketing company that develops and distributes proprietary and branded digital mobile devices, presented and launched the first light-powered cell phone, named S116. The phone was exhibited today at the world's famous electronic, IT and telecommunication p...

15 May 2007
10:09 GMT

Shampoo Makes More Efficient Solar Panels

Harvesting solar energy is a clever way to make use of a clean and renewable fuel. You don't need to dig the ground for it, there are no pipes and powerplants, and best of all, it's ecological.Unfortunately, existent solar cells are not too efficient and can't convert more than 10 percent of the sola...

9 May 2007
02:48 GMT

New 3D Solar Cells

Photovoltaic cells, as the word implies (photo = light, voltaic = electricity), convert sunlight directly into electricity. Once used almost exclusively in space, photovoltaics are used more and more in less exotic ways. They could even power your house, but they are more widely used for satellites and spacecrafts, ...

13 April 2007
05:32 GMT

How to Get Free Electricity

The sun is an incredible ball of energy that provides a free, renewable resource in the form of heat and light. Just 20 days of sunshine produces the same amount of energy as all of Earth's reserves of oil, coal and natural gas. Solar energy can be harnessed passively through appropriate design principles as we...

11 April 2007
10:50 GMT

Seven Times More Efficient Solar Cells

Solar cells, or photovoltaic cells are devices that convert light energy into electrical energy, that is, they specifically capture energy from sunlight, which is non-pollutant and, most of all, free of charge, and turn it into electricity in order to power appliances or even an entire house.They are regarded as one...

11 April 2007
09:02 GMT

Cheaper New More Effective Solar Cells Imitate Photosynthesis

Solar energy would be the best energy source: cheap, renewable and non-contaminant. Now, after 10 years of research, a new solar cell technology developed by Massey University's Nanomaterials Research Centre could generate electricity from sunlight at a 10th of the cost of current silicon-based photo-electric so...

6 April 2007
03:40 GMT

After Glow: The Most Light-Absorbing Material

Scientists have created the world's first film that has practically no reflection. This is a breakthrough compared to current nonreflective materials, and the new technology could greatly improve solar cells, empower light-emitting diodes, and boost research in quantum mechanics by imitating a "black body," an o...

2 March 2007
11:37 GMT


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