Engineers at the University of Chicago have created a new kind of solar cell that efficiently converts atmospheric carbon dioxide into usable hydrocarbon fuel—and it does so using only sunlight for energy.
A new study on solar energy from Deutsche Bank bears very good news. Thanks to technology and innovation, solar energy will be just as cheap as energy from fossil fuels by 2016. That's basically tomorrow, and it's awesome.
Introducing the world's first solar battery. The device — which is part solar cell, part battery — recharges itself using air and light. Nano-scale holes allow air to enter the battery (inset), while rods of titanium dioxide gather light (larger image). The researchers from Ohio State say it'll help tame the costs of…
Solar power has an efficiency problem. When the electrons move from the solar panel to the battery that stores them, about 20 percent of the energy is lost. But now, thanks to new type of solar cell, nearly 100 percent of the energy is stored. That's because the solar cell itself is the battery.
A couple of years ago the folks at Signal Snowboards tried their hand at making a board with a thin layer of solar cells on top to charge a battery while it careened down the slopes. Not only was their creation a success, it actually worked so well the company decided to put it into production, and it's now available…
There are over 1 billion cars in the world, and the vast majority of them use batteries made from lead. As lithium batteries replace these old timers, eventually there may be many of the lead suckers sitting in landfills. Which is why MIT wanted to find a way to reuse them—by turning them into a new kind of solar…
The snow melt is running into rivers, giving the grass its first glimpse of sunlight in months. It's warm enough to trade your down parka in for a light jacket, and, any day now, wildflowers will light up the meadows. It's spring, people. Who else is amped to camp?
In the future, the glass that coats our skyscrapers could also serve as the power plant that keeps the lights on. This is not news. However, with an amazing new material being developed in Singapore, that same glass could also turn your city's windows into skyscraper-sized displays.
The power of 1,000 suns? Pfft. That ain't nuthin'. A recent breakthrough in solar panel connections has allowed scientists to create arrays of solar cells that can stand strong under the blazing glare of 70,000 suns. Not that they'd ever have to, but still.
Today's solar panels convert about 20% of the Sun's energy to electricity—which is good, but solar power would be much cheaper to use if the solar cells converted more of our star's energy. Sharp has just made a huge step in this direction, with a new cell that converts a record 44.4% of sunlight into electricity.
You're looking at the Applied Bacini Pegaso—one of the most productive solar cell printing lines on the planet—fabricating electrical circuits on both sides of a solar cell. And by productive, I mean 20 million cells a year, enough to power 10,000 typical US homes.
Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) may be on the cusp of creating something special: Bendable batteries that could have better performance than their stiff, inflexible cousins.
Even the most efficient solar cell loses a lot of energy in the form of wasted heat. But the electron-like particles that photons emit as they enter the cells could be turned into electrical energy, solving the heat loss problem.
Plants are extremely efficient converters of light into energy, setting the bar for researchers creating photovoltaic cells. A team of MIT scientists believe they've created a synthetic chloroplast that can be broken down and reassembled repeatedly, restoring sun-damaged solar cells.
Scientists believe that fly eyes are perfectly shaped for manufacturing efficient solar cells. Specifically, copying the eye of the Blowfly would allow solar cells to "collect sunlight from a larger area than just light that falls directly on a flat surface."
A Switzerland-based chemist who invented solar cells that mimic photosynthesis is the winner of a million-dollar technology prize announced Wednesday. Michael Gratzel invented low-cost solar cells that can be turned into electricity-generating windows, mobile solar panels and other devices.
Apple's got more than one patent devoted to solar powered devices, and today we've got yet another. Patently Apple has dug up plans for a touch-sensitive integrated solar panel for media players.
Researchers at MIT have figured out how to create solar cells thin enough to be pasted onto sheets of paper, with an applicator that works sort of like an inkjet printer. (Note: We are apparently stuck with inkjet printers, forever.)
Jetyo's HDV-T900 solar-powered camcorder is probably not suitable for any nefarious nighttime activities you might have planned for that special anniversary, and judging from how long it would take to recharge, it's probably not good at much else either.
Scientists have discovered that they can coax a tobacco plant into growing temporary solar cells by injecting it with a genetically engineered virus. Freaky, but the process may provide us with cheaper synthetic photovoltaic cells once quirks are sorted out.
