SOLAR TODAY‘s January/February issue launches the magazine’s first major redesign since its launch in 1987 with a free online digital edition.
Issue highlights include –
— American Solar Energy Society [ASES]
This technology, using organic dye coated windows to concentrate solar energy on photovoltaic cells at glass edges, has been released for like 4 months but is still pretty fascinating stuff and the company is now online.
  |
 |
MIT Research May Bring Down Cost of Solar Energy from Renewable Energy World
from celcias.com
The Mountain View company announced Tuesday that it will open its deep pockets to foster innovation in solar, wind and geothermal technology in the hopes of making green energy cheaper than power produced by burning coal. The plan is to generate one gigawatt of renewable energy -and do it soon- enough to power a city the size of San Francisco.
In general, Google said it will make investments and give grants to projects that show promise in developing energy at a cost below coal-fired power plants. Companies, universities and research and development labs will be eligible.
Last year the company said it would become carbon-neutral by the end of this year, meaning that it will be responsible for zero carbon emissions. Already, Google has built a solar panel installation at its headquarters that generates 1.6 megawatts, making it among the biggest corporate arrays in the country. In addition, the company has put out a request for proposals to fund up to $10 million in research and development of electric and hybrid cars.
—
Current Solar Electricity Generated at the Googleplex
Last 7 days: 7,394 kilowatt-hours
Last 24 Hours: 1,067 kilowatt-hours
Since Jun 18, 2007: 606,229 kilowatt-hours
Traditional photovoltaic solar cells use the sun’s energy to knock electrons away from the positive charges (holes) in doped silicon. In this manner, the two cannot recombine until the electrons have traveled the entirety of the circuit with an applied load. The University of Delaware have devised solar cells being far more efficient, as they could implement up to some six different material substrates to generate power from different parts of the solar spectrum. The solar light coming into the cell is concentrated 20 times and passes through a high-energy absorbing material (purple) to a reflective splitter that directs medium (green) and low (red) energy light to the other appropriate absorption materials.
....................................................
above 3 from becauseaction network
|
