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solar power

06/13/2018 / By Edsel Cook

Water-based battery with potential to store solar and wind energy developed by researchers

In a Stanford News article, researchers have invented a cheap water-based battery. If successful, a much bigger version will serve solar and wind farms, storing excess electricity for later redistribution in the power grid. The three-inch tall prototype stores enough power for a small LED flashlight. The researchers believe they can scale up this initial design […]

05/23/2018 / By Edsel Cook

Solar power, rain or shine: Hybrid solar cells can generate power from raindrops

Solar power has finally come across a way to overcome one of its greatest weaknesses: Rain. In a Science Daily article, Chinese researchers presented a hybrid solar cell that can produce electricity even when it is raining cats and dogs. In addition to gathering power from sunlight, the new cell can also harvest electrical power from rainwater […]

05/16/2018 / By David Williams

Improvements in solar cell technologies increase their lifespan tenfold

As the saying goes: “All good things come to an end.” Solar panel technology is certainly no exception – this doesn’t mean that solar power technology is about to go away soon, but that solar cell technologies currently offer limited lifespans that can still be greatly improved. Now, new research shows exactly how it can be […]

05/04/2018 / By David Williams

New nanomaterials will increase the efficiency of organic solar cells

The hard work of nanomaterials researchers looking to get more performance out of organic solar cells has paid off. They have reportedly found a method to “significantly improve” the efficiency of these cells while opening the door to a number of different applications. It is said that their work is built on top of previous […]

04/21/2018 / By Edsel Cook

Scientists have developed new semiconductors that are more environmentally friendly

Concerned with the prevalence of useful but toxic perovskites in photovoltaic cells, a group of Iowa-based researchers devised alternative materials. They reported creating cheaper and eco-friendly semiconductors with similar performance, according to a ScienceDaily article. Perovskites are light-gathering materials used as semiconductors in solar panels. While highly efficient – called “wonder materials” by the solar […]

04/07/2018 / By David Williams

Researchers discover a method to generate power from falling raindrops

Solar panels have proven to be highly effective sources of electricity, and they are shaping up to be the absolute best source of renewable energy now and in the future. A team of researchers wants to improve it even further, and now they’ve announced their latest innovation: Solar panels that can generate power from falling […]

04/07/2018 / By Edsel Cook

The solar energy industry is exploding with new technologies, including “solar paint”

Solar power has come a long way from when Bell Labs presented the first photovoltaic cell in 1954. Researchers are brainstorming all kinds of ways to improve the collection of solar energy, reported Green America. For example, Los Angeles-based startup Sunflare has developed solar panels that are incredibly thin, flexible, and light. They replaced the traditional silicon […]

04/01/2018 / By David Williams

Layered oxides may be the key to extending the life of the environmentally-friendly zinc-ion battery

The future of battery storage technology hangs in the balance. The standard lithium-ion battery technology that is widely used today, as it turns out, may not be the best solution for large-scale applications due to a number of reasons. Now a team of researchers has developed a way to create a viable alternative, in the […]

03/22/2018 / By Lance D Johnson

Scientists have improved the efficiency of converting solar energy into hydrogen with a metal-free photocatalyst

Scientists from Tianjin University in China have discovered a more efficient way to convert solar energy into hydrogen, for more novel energy production in the absence of sunlight. The breakthrough discovery uses a metal-free photo-catalyst to convert solar energy into hydrogen. The discovery proves to be eleven times more efficient than previous energy generators that used […]

03/15/2018 / By David Williams

World’s largest solar park currently under construction in Egypt

It was a long time coming, but the world has finally begun to fully embrace solar as an alternative source of energy. Egypt, in particular, wants to invest in solar in a major way, and as of this time’s writing, it’s the site of what will soon be known as the world’s largest solar park. […]

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