Applied Materials Opens Advanced Solar Research Facility

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Applied Materials, Inc. recently opened an advanced solar research and demonstration facility in Xi’an, China. Applied Materials’ Solar Technology Center, the largest non-government solar energy research facility in the world, is comprised of laboratory and office buildings …

Solar Energy Harvesting Development Tool

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: The eZ430-RF2500-SEH from Texas Instruments is a complete Solar Energy Harvesting development kit to help create a perpetually powered wireless sensor network based on the ultra-low-power MSP430 microcontroller.The Solar Energy Harvester module includes a high-efficiency solar (2.25x2.25”) …

US Military Installs 500 MW Solar Plant

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: The U.S. military is tackling a new mission in the field of alternative energy, moving to power up a 500-megawatt solar facility at Fort Irwin's sprawling desert complex in California. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers launched its first phase of the project on October 15th, 2009. The project, locate …

Grätzel Cells Increase Photovoltaic Efficiency

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Grätzel cells are photovoltaic devices that take advantage of the interaction of a structured semiconductor less than one nanometre in size and an organic dye that acts as a solar collector.According to Elena Guillén, member of UPO's Coloides y Celdas Solares Nanoestructuradas (Nanostructured …

DOE Announces $87 Million to Support Solar Energy Development

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: At the opening of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Solar Decathlon on the National Mall, Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced up to $87 million will be made available to support the development of new solar energy technologies and the rapid deployment of available carbon-free solar energy syst …

Stirling Energy to Build 750 MW by Early 2010

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: On June 30, 2008, Stirling Energy Systems Solar Two, LLC (SES Solar Two, LLC) submitted an Application for Certification (AFC) to construct and operate the Stirling Energy Systems Solar Two project (SES Solar Two), a solar dish Stirling systems project in Imperial County, California.The proposed …

NREL’s High Flux Solar Furnace

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: The power generated at NREL's High-Flux Solar Furnace (HFSF) can be used to expose, test, and evaluate many components—such as receivers, collectors, and reflector materials—used in concentrating solar power systems.The 10-kilowatt HFSF consists of a tracking heliostat and 25 hexagonal mirro …

Solar Shingles Poised to take Residential Markets

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Inventors and designers have long envisioned a roof or window that produced solar power affordably.  However, until now no company had mass produced such a device.  Instead, the consumer market was dominated by rooftop panels which require a fair amount of maintenance, are relatively fragile, and …

Photovoltaic Power System in New England

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Constellation Energy Group of Baltimore said that it will build a photovoltaic system to generate solar power at an entertainment complex adjacent to the New England Patriots' stadium in Massachusetts. The power system will generate about 525 kilowatts at Patriot Place, the 1.3-million-square-foot e …

Heat Reduction Increases Photovoltaic Efficiency

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Photovoltaic modules generate electricity, but the electrical output is only one component of the total energy produced by a photovoltaic array. A typical photovoltaic (PV) module has an ideal conversion efficiency in the range of 15%. The remaining energy produced is heat, which is neither captured …