Energy Production in Motion: The Advantages of Single-Axis Solar Tracking Systems
Despite the fact that tracking systems are more complex than fixed-tilt systems, they represent the future of the industry and a glimpse of all that is possible in terms of solar energy capacity.
Energy From Stars
This paper proposes possible new energy sources. One of these sources can be the "energy from stars".
Cloaking Principle Could Boost Solar Cell Performance
Invisibility cloaking may be a long way from reality, but the principle could help improve the performance of solar cells in the near term.
In a series of simulations, researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have demonstrated how cloaks made of metamaterials or freeform surfaces could eliminate shadows cast by energy-harvesting components onto the active surfaces of solar cells.
Contact fingers, which extract electric current, cover up to one-tenth of the surface area of a solar cell. By guiding light around these features, more of the sun's energy could be captured by the solar cell.
"Our model experiments have shown that the cloak layer makes the contact fingers nearly completely invisible," said doctoral student Martin Schumann. Cont'd...
Two Explosions a World Apart: From Disaster Comes New Power
How Roys Poyiadjiss and Martua Sitoruss Partnership is Creating the Largest Biofuel Plant in Japan
Germany & China Lead in Solar Installed Capacities
Germanys top place in the ranking is not surprising given its Energiewende focus to transition away from fossil fuels & its declared war on coal.
Molten Salt Energy Storage - Time to Bottle the Sun
A total of about 2,125 MW of molten salt energy storage projects are in pipeline which are scheduled for deployment by 2018.
SolarCity claims highest efficiency solar panel
Tristan Edist for the Business Spectator: SolarCity, the largest retailer of solar systems in the US (over 30% market share) and partly owned by Tesla’s Elon Musk, has announced it will produce the most efficient solar module available on the market at 22.04% conversion efficiency. SolarCity is claiming it has therefore managed to pip SunPower who have been the longstanding holder of the most efficient conventional silicon solar module on the market.
However in a subsequent discussion with Greentech Media, Peter Rive’s Chief Technology Officer conceded the majority of the panels coming off its pilot 100MW manufacturing line were hitting 21.8%. In 2017 the company will be then moving production to a new 1 gigawatt per annum capacity plant in Buffalo which can sometimes encounter challenges with achieving stable quality levels during production start-up.
SunPower claims 21.5% efficiency for its X-Series panel although often manufacturers will have some variance in performance of panels and make claims based on conservative estimates of performance. Greentech Media quotes an anonymous Sunpower source saying that 22% efficient panels are already coming off its production lines. In addition the company is targeting achieving 23% conversion efficiency from panels it will manufacture from its fifth fabrication line, scheduled for start-up in 2017.
Cont'd...
Renewable Energy Surpasses Coal in the UK
Written by Keith Kohl for Energy & Capital: For the first time ever, more energy in the UK was supplied by renewable sources than coal. For an entire quarter. Wind, solar, and bioenergy checked in at 25% of the energy supplied.
All of this was possible due to the fact that more wind turbines and solar panels were installed, which must be a good amount if you want to compare it to the same period last year, for which these energy options only accounted for 16.4% of electricity.
Recently, the UK has been working to close aging coal and nuclear power plants.
Of course, this will lead to its own issues...
[Solar Panels] Conservative ministers collectively believe that the subsidies given to renewable energy were too numerous, going so far as to suggest plans for an 87% reduction of solar power, and to cut support for onshore wind farms.
With that kind of spending cut, it's not surprising to hear that industry execs believe these actions would unjustly put an end to renewable energy just as it was gaining traction. Cont'd...
Technical Summaries of Wave Energy Prize Official Qualified Teams
Judges have completed reviewing the technical submissions and a total of 20 Qualified Teams are advancing to next phase of the Wave Energy Prize! Here are the entries.
Algenol to Partner in China to take Climate Action
China Looks to Algenols Carbon Mitigation Technology to Reduce Rising Global CO2 Levels and Help Combat Climate Change
Can the U.S. Jump-Start Offshore Wind Power?
By Camille von Kaenel and ClimateWire: The Department of Energy has awarded around a half-million dollars to New York, Maine, Rhode Island and Massachusetts state organizations to cooperate on scaling up the offshore wind industry in the region. Under the leadership of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the group will lay out a collaborative road map by the end of the year on how to build up the new industry. The project largely aims to reduce the cost of offshore wind projects, which has been a barrier to development, and establish a regional supply chain. Industry and state representatives learned about the federal grant at the first-ever offshore wind summit hosted by the White House yesterday. Offshore wind has struggled to take off in the United States. Europe, meanwhile, has more than 80 offshore wind farms with more than 10,000 megawatts of capacity. The White House summit marks a renewed effort to get the industry going in the United States, said various attendees. Cont'd...
Five More Myths About Solar Energy - And The Real Facts
In an earlier article, Midsummers CEO Sven Lindström outlined some of the most common myths about solar power. Here are five more of the most common solar energy myths - coupled with the real facts.
Energy Storage from UGE onDEMAND
onDEMAND combines Samsungs lithium-ion battery technology and Princeton Power Systems energy management technology, with UGEs project financing and system design expertise, for a complete energy storage solution.
Balls of DNA Could Fix Geothermal Energy's Biggest Problem
Shara Tonn for Wired.com: Geothermal Power has the potential to be cheap, reliable, and abundant—running off the heat of the Earth 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That’s especially true thanks to a new generation of home-grown geothermal plants, which don’t run off the steam of natural hot springs and geysers. No need to find those hydrothermal gems; today, geothermal engineers are making their own reservoirs by drilling down into hot rock and pumping in water.
The catch? Engineers can’t see what’s happening underground. Drilling wells in just the right spot can be like playing golf blindfolded: Even if someone faces you in the right direction, you could still hit the ball way off the green. But tiny fragments of DNA dropped into the wells could soon help engineers follow the path of water underground, helping them sink their putts every time.
In a basic geothermal plant set-up, engineers actually have to drill two types of wells. The first kind, which goes down two or three miles, carries cold water down deep, where it fractures the hot rock and creates new paths for water to move. It’s kind of like fracking, but without the chemicals. Cont'd...
Balls of DNA Could Fix Geothermal Energy's Biggest Problem
Shara Tonn for Wired.com: Geothermal Power has the potential to be cheap, reliable, and abundant—running off the heat of the Earth 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That’s especially true thanks to a new generation of home-grown geothermal plants, which don’t run off the steam of natural hot springs and geysers. No need to find those hydrothermal gems; today, geothermal engineers are making their own reservoirs by drilling down into hot rock and pumping in water.
The catch? Engineers can’t see what’s happening underground. Drilling wells in just the right spot can be like playing golf blindfolded: Even if someone faces you in the right direction, you could still hit the ball way off the green. But tiny fragments of DNA dropped into the wells could soon help engineers follow the path of water underground, helping them sink their putts every time.
In a basic geothermal plant set-up, engineers actually have to drill two types of wells. The first kind, which goes down two or three miles, carries cold water down deep, where it fractures the hot rock and creates new paths for water to move. It’s kind of like fracking, but without the chemicals. Cont'd...
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Featured Product
OMCO Origin® Factory-Direct Trackers
A One-In-Portrait (1P) solution for a wide range of solar projects within utility scale, distributed generation (DG), and community solar markets manufactured and factory preassembled in the USA at OMCO Solar with full-scale support, and design for quick, easy and safe installation, and fewer trackers per MW. OMCO makes all structural components with domestic steel and this balanced design allows for more accurate targeting and reduced energy consumption. OMCO Origin® Factory-Direct Trackers include universal module mounts with options for all commercially available modules, labor-saving bearings with 6 adjustable ways to compensate for posts and terrain issues, and foundation solutions for every terrain including OMCO C Piles.
