Menu

Blog

Archive for the ‘solar power’ category: Page 24

Jul 14, 2023

NASA begins tests on most powerful solar electric propulsion thrusters

Posted by in categories: chemistry, solar power, space travel

The thrusters will play an important role on NASA’s Gateway, the outpost orbiting the Moon.

Engineers from NASA and Aerojet Rocketdyne have begun the multiyear qualification testing of the most powerful solar electric propulsion (SEP) thrusters, which are expected to radically change propulsion in space, a press release from the space agency said.

For decades, space research has relied on chemical propulsion to generate millions of pounds of thrust and has attempted to make bigger and more powerful rockets to take us further in our space voyages. While this is a standard even with the most advanced methane-powered rocket engines, it is not necessarily the most efficient way to move about in space.

Jul 13, 2023

This 1 GW solar + salt + shrimp farm is a 3-in-1 power station

Posted by in categories: food, solar power, sustainability

A huge solar power station in China is generating clean energy, producing salt from sunlight, and serving as a shrimp-breeding site.

State-owned China Huadian Corporation said the 1-gigawatt (GW) Huadian Tianjin Haijing power station will generate 1.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year – enough to power around 1.5 million households in China.

Continue reading “This 1 GW solar + salt + shrimp farm is a 3-in-1 power station” »

Jul 10, 2023

How quantum dots can revolutionize solar energy

Posted by in categories: particle physics, quantum physics, solar power, sustainability

There’s a new way to harness the power of the sun and it may just revolutionize how we approach solar energy. The development is called quantum dots and it consists of tiny semiconductor particles only a few nanometers in size.

This is according to a report by Fagen Wasanni published on Saturday.

“Quantum dots have unique properties that make them ideal for use in solar cells. Their small size allows them to absorb light from a wide range of wavelengths, including those that traditional solar cells cannot capture. This means that quantum dot-based solar cells can potentially convert more sunlight into electricity, significantly increasing their efficiency,” states the report.

Jul 8, 2023

Solar panels could be about to get much better at capturing sunlight

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

Silicon-based solar cells have a theoretical efficiency limit of around 30 per cent, but adding a perovskite layer enables new designs to harvest more energy.

By Alex Wilkins

Jul 4, 2023

Robotic ‘Light Bender’ on the moon could help Artemis astronauts keep the lights on

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, solar power, space, sustainability

“Part of what we’re doing is conceptually simple, reflecting sunlight to a solar panel located in the dark,” said Maxar Chief Robotics Architect and lead for Light Bender Sean Dougherty in a Maxar statement. “Where it gets complex is doing that without humans involved. We’re leveraging investments in autonomy to study how NASA can use robots to assemble and deploy a set of reflectors that keep sunlight focused on a solar panel operating in the shadows. It’s never been done before.”

Light Bender works by hoisting two 33-foot (10-meter) reflectors up a 65-foot (20-meter) telescoping mast. One mirror autonomously tracks the sun and reflects that light to the second mirror, which then reflects those rays towards the intended solar panels.

The Light Bender project is a collaboration between Maxar and NASA’s Langley Research Center, and is scheduled for its first terrestrial demonstration in 2025. The company was awarded the contract in May 2023, under NASA’s Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity Program. For their part, NASA’s team is responsible for Light Bender’s structural design, and Maxar is taking the lead on the robotics — an aptitude for which the company has demonstrated in the past.

Jun 29, 2023

Combining nuclear and solar tech could make a powerful pair

Posted by in categories: engineering, nuclear energy, policy, solar power, sustainability

In energy policy debates, nuclear energy and renewable energy technologies are sometimes viewed as competitors.

In reality, they could be better, together.

At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ben Lindley, an assistant professor of engineering physics and an expert on nuclear reactors, and Mike Wagner, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and a solar energy expert, are studying the feasibility and benefits of such a coupling.

Jun 28, 2023

Astrophotographer Captures Astronauts on a Spacewalk While the ISS Crosses the Sun

Posted by in categories: cosmology, solar power, sustainability

This photographer drove six hours from his home in order to find the perfect position for this event that would take place for less than a minute!

Jun 27, 2023

This tiny glass pyramid could make solar panels cheaper than ever

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

Photovoltaic cells work best when sunlight is incident directly on them. To make the most of sunlight available during the day, scientists have relied on solar tracking to move panels in sync with the Sun as its travels across the sky. However, installing these systems increases the cost of deploying solar panels, which is a significant obstacle to their wide-scale adoption.

Jun 25, 2023

Passive cooling system could benefit off-grid locations

Posted by in categories: food, solar power, sustainability

As the world gets warmer, the use of power-hungry air conditioning systems is projected to increase significantly, putting a strain on existing power grids and bypassing many locations with little or no reliable electric power. Now, an innovative system developed at MIT offers a way to use passive cooling to preserve food crops and supplement conventional air conditioners in buildings, with no need for power and only a small need for water.

The system, which combines radiative cooling, evaporative cooling, and thermal insulation in a slim package that could resemble existing solar panels, can provide up to about 19 degrees Fahrenheit (9.3 degrees Celsius) of cooling from the ambient temperature, enough to permit safe food storage for about 40 percent longer under very humid conditions. It could triple the safe storage time under dryer conditions.

The findings are reported today in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science, in a paper by MIT postdoc Zhengmao Lu, Arny Leroy PhD ’21, professors Jeffrey Grossman and Evelyn Wang, and two others. While more research is needed in order to bring down the cost of one key component of the system, the researchers say that eventually such a system could play a significant role in meeting the cooling needs of many parts of the world where a lack of electricity or water limits the use of conventional cooling systems.

Jun 24, 2023

Perovskite solar cells set new world record for power conversion efficiency

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

Perovskite solar cells designed by a team of scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have attained a world record efficiency of 24.35% with an active area of 1 cm2. This achievement paves the way for cheaper, more efficient and durable solar cells.

To facilitate consistent comparisons and benchmarking of different solar cell technologies, the photovoltaic (PV) community uses a standard size of at least 1 cm2 to report the efficiency of one-sun in the “Solar cell efficiency tables.” Prior to the record-breaking feat by the NUS team, the best 1 cm2 recorded a of 23.7%. This ground-breaking achievement in maximizing from next-generation will be crucial to securing the world’s energy future.

Perovskites are a class of materials that exhibit high light absorption efficiency and ease of fabrication, making them promising for solar cell applications. In the past decade, perovskite solar cell technology has achieved several breakthroughs, and the technology continues to evolve.

Page 24 of 140First2122232425262728Last