itsfullofstars: The Solar Revolution Is HappeningChile has just...

itsfullofstars:

The Solar Revolution Is Happening

Chile has just contracted for the cheapest unsubsidized power plant in the world, Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) reports.

In last week’s energy auction, Chile accepted a bid from Spanish developerSolarpack Corp. Tecnologica for 120 megawatts of solar at the stunning price of $29.10 per megawatt-hour (2.91 cents per kilowatt-hour or kwh). This beats the 2.99 cents/kwh bid Dubai received recently for 800 megawatts. For context, the average residential price for electricity in the United States is 12 cents per kilowatt-hour.

👏🏻

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Scientists have invented a solar cell as light as a soap bubble

Scientists have invented a solar cell as light as a soap bubble:

mindblowingscience:

Scientists have invented incredibly thin, flexible photovoltaic cells that are so lightweight, they can rest on top of soap bubbles without breaking them. Cells this thin and light could eventually be placed almost anywhere, from smart clothing to helium balloons.

“It could be so light that you don’t even know it’s there, on your shirt or on your notebook,” said one of the researchers, Vladimir Bulović from MIT. “These cells could simply be an add-on to existing structures.”

It’s that versatility that makes the experiment so exciting - even if it’s still only a proof-of-concept at this stage. Key to the creation of the new cell is the way the researchers have combined making the solar cell itself, the substrate that supports it, and its protective coating, all in one process.

Continue Reading.

Awesome.

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thebeakerblog: skunkbear: Morocco just switched on a massive...

thebeakerblog:

skunkbear:

Morocco just switched on a massive solar power plant in the middle of the Sahara Desert. It’s called Noor I. When Noor II and Noor III are built next door, it will be the largest solar power production facility in the world.

Full story here.

Image credits: Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Images, NASA

Fascinating! -Patrick

Why isn’t the US focusing more of our desert space on solar energy production?

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materialsscienceandengineering: New battery made of molten...

materialsscienceandengineering:

New battery made of molten metals may offer low-cost, long-lasting storage for the grid

A novel rechargeable battery developed at MIT could one day play a critical role in the massive expansion of solar generation needed to mitigate climate change by midcentury. Designed to store energy on the electric grid, the high-capacity battery consists of molten metals that naturally separate to form two electrodes in layers on either side of the molten salt electrolyte between them. Tests with cells made of low-cost, Earth-abundant materials confirm that the liquid battery operates efficiently without losing significant capacity or mechanically degrading—common problems in today’s batteries with solid electrodes. The MIT researchers have already demonstrated a simple, low-cost process for manufacturing prototypes of their battery, and future plans call for field tests on small-scale power grids that include intermittent generating sources such as solar and wind.                                

The ability to store large amounts of electricity and deliver it later when it’s needed will be critical if intermittent renewable energy sources such as solar and wind are to be deployed at scales that help curtail climate change in the coming decades. Such large-scale storage would also make today’s power grid more resilient and efficient, allowing operators to deliver quick supplies during outages and to meet temporary demand peaks without maintaining extra generating capacity that’s expensive and rarely used.

Read more.

This would be cool

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materialsscienceandengineering: New Device Harnesses the...

materialsscienceandengineering:

New Device Harnesses the Energy of Small Bending Motions

Using a new method based on electrochemical principles, engineers at MIT have developed a new device that could provide electrical power source from walking and other ambient motions.

For many applications such as biomedical, mechanical, or environmental monitoring devices, harnessing the energy of small motions could provide a small but virtually unlimited power supply. While a number of approaches have been attempted, researchers at MIT have now developed a completely new method based on electrochemical principles, which could be capable of harvesting energy from a broader range of natural motions and activities, including walking.

The new system, based on the slight bending of a sandwich of metal and polymer sheets, is described in the journal Nature Communications, in a paper by MIT professor Ju Li, graduate students Sangtae Kim and Soon Ju Choi, and four others.

Most previously designed devices for harnessing small motions have been based on the triboelectric effect (essentially friction, like rubbing a balloon against a wool sweater) or piezoelectrics (crystals that produce a small voltage when bent or compressed). These work well for high-frequency sources of motion such as those produced by the vibrations of machinery. But for typical human-scale motions such as walking or exercising, such systems have limits.

“When you put in an impulse” to such traditional materials, “they respond very well, in microseconds. But this doesn’t match the timescale of most human activities,” says Li, who is the Battelle Energy Alliance Professor in Nuclear Science and Engineering and professor of materials science and engineering. “Also, these devices have high electrical impedance and bending rigidity and can be quite expensive,” he says.

Read more.

Cool.

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Fully transparent solar cell could make every window in your house a power source

Fully transparent solar cell could make every window in your house a power source:

engineeringisawesome:

So, to achieve a truly transparent solar cell, the Michigan State team created this thing called a transparent luminescent solar concentrator (TLSC), which employs organic salts to absorb wavelengths of light that are already invisible to the human eye. Steering clear of the fundamental challenges of creating a transparent photovoltaic cell allowed the researchers to harness the power of infrared and ultraviolet light.

The TLSC projects a luminescent glow that contains a converted wavelength of infrared light which is also invisible to the human eye. More traditional (non-transparent) photovoltaic solar cells frame the panel of the main material, and it is these solar cells that transform the concentrated infrared light into electricity.

Guys, this is huge.

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materialsscienceandengineering: Organic Photovoltaic Material...

materialsscienceandengineering:

Organic Photovoltaic Material Offers Great Promise for Solar Energy

Scientists at MIT believe modeling electron excitation in organic photovoltaic material could change the future of solar energy.

The semi-conducting plastic is lightweight, flexible, relatively inexpensive, and easy to make. The problem is that, unlike inorganic photovoltaic material, it is not very efficient or stable. But work by Adam Willard, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at MIT, has the potential to change that.

Willard is a theoretical chemist who uses modeling and simulation to study molecular systems. The goal of his research group is to explore and understand the fundamentals and consequences of molecular disorder — which lies at the heart of the challenge posed by organic photovoltaic material.

While organic photovoltaic films may appear smooth and homogeneous to the naked eye, they are extremely disordered at the molecular scale, where they appear as a giant tangle of unaligned molecules. That tangle makes it difficult to understand how electrons, when excited by photons, could more easily travel through the structure and reach an external electrode. Even understanding the behavior of a single electron is a challenge.

Read more.

Hopefully this can get into the market sooner rather than later.

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randdmag: Authored by Greg Watry, www.rdmag.com Though capable...

randdmag:

Authored by Greg Watry, www.rdmag.com

Though capable in laboratory settings of achieving 25% efficiency, commercially produced silicon solar cells typically reach levels between 13% and 14%.

Challar V. Kumar, of the Univ. of Connecticut’s Dept. of Chemistry, unveiled an edible and digestible light antenna capable of increasing the efficiency of commercial solar panels. He presented his findings at the 250th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.

Simply put, the process uses an edible protein (bovine serum albumin) and mixes it with a fatty acid from coconut oil. When warmed, the combination forms a gel, made up of around 95% water. The gel is mixed with four dye molecules, allowing the substance to absorb the blue, green and yellow regions of the solar spectrum and emit in the red region. Thus, low-energy photons can successfully be used for electrical currents.

Read more: http://bit.ly/1FgocGx

I mean, this is cool, but I feel like this is a solution to a problem that we don’t really have… People aren’t skipping solar because it’s “not efficient.”

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