News tagged with solar panels

New solar energy conversion process could revamp solar power production

Stanford engineers have figured out how to simultaneously use the light and heat of the sun to generate electricity in a way that could make solar power production more than twice as efficient as existing ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Aug 02, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (64) | comments 38 | with audio podcast

Japan plans to build robot moon base by 2020

(PhysOrg.com) -- Believing that a moon base is essential for exploration of the solar system, Japan has recently announced plans to send humanoid robots to the moon to construct a robot lunar base. As part ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created May 28, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (48) | comments 77 | with audio podcast weblog

Japanese firm wants to transform the Moon into a giant solar power plant

(PhysOrg.com) -- The Shimizu Corporation, a Japanese construction firm, has recently proposed a plan to harness solar energy on a larger scale than almost any previously proposed concept. Their ambitious plan ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jun 02, 2010 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (51) | comments 96 | with audio podcast weblog

Researchers harness viruses to split water: Crucial step toward turning water into hydrogen fuel

(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of MIT researchers has found a novel way to mimic the process by which plants use the power of sunlight to split water and make chemical fuel to power their growth. In this case, the ...

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Apr 11, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (40) | comments 13 | with audio podcast

Sahara desert project aims to power half the world by 2050

(PhysOrg.com) -- A joint project by universities in Algeria and Japan is planning to turn the Sahara desert, the largest desert in the world, into a breeding ground for solar power plants that could supply ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Dec 02, 2010 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (44) | comments 13 | with audio podcast report

Quantum physicists turn waste heat into power

(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Arizona physicists have discovered a new way of harvesting waste heat and turning it into electrical power. Taking advantage of quantum effects, the technology holds great promise ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Sep 24, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (38) | comments 35 | with audio podcast

New water-splitting catalyst found

(PhysOrg.com) -- Expanding on work published two years ago, MIT's Daniel Nocera and his associates have found yet another formulation, based on inexpensive and widely available materials, that can efficiently ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created May 14, 2010 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (33) | comments 14 | with audio podcast

Solar power coming to a store near you

(AP) -- Solar technology is going where it has never gone before: onto the shelves at retail stores where do-it-yourselfers can now plunk a panel into a shopping cart and bring it home to install.

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (31) | comments 28

Plastic electronics could slash the cost of solar panels

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new technique developed by Princeton University engineers for producing electricity-conducting plastics could dramatically lower the cost of manufacturing solar panels.

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Mar 30, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (29) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Obama gives $2 billion to solar energy companies

US President Barack Obama announced on Saturday the awarding of nearly two billion dollars to two solar energy companies that have agreed to build new power plants in the United States, creating thousands ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Jul 03, 2010 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (32) | comments 27

Affordable solar: It's closer than you think

It's time to stop thinking of solar energy as a boutique source of power, says Joshua Pearce.

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Dec 01, 2011 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (31) | comments 59 | with audio podcast

200-fold boost in fuel cell efficiency advances 'personalized energy systems'

The era of personalized energy systems -- in which individual homes and small businesses produce their own energy for heating, cooling and powering cars -- took another step toward reality today as scientists ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Aug 23, 2010 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (29) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

British engineers slam home wind turbines as 'eco-bling'

Installing wind turbines and solar panels in people's homes is "eco-bling" that will not help meet Britain's targets on cutting carbon emissions, engineers warned Wednesday.

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Jan 20, 2010 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (29) | comments 9

Could solar wind power Earth?

(PhysOrg.com) -- As we strive to find sources of alternative energy, a number of researchers continue to look to what we consider the ultimate in renewable energy -- the sun. However, on earth creating efficient ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Oct 04, 2010 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (27) | comments 24 | with audio podcast weblog

Discovery of a 'dark state' could increase maximum theoretical efficiency of solar cells from 31 to 44 percent

The efficiency of conventional solar cells could be significantly increased, according to new research on the mechanisms of solar energy conversion led by chemist Xiaoyang Zhu at The University of Texas at Austin.

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Dec 15, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (23) | comments 12 | with audio podcast

Photovoltaic module

A photovoltaic module or photovoltaic panel is a packaged interconnected assembly of photovoltaic cells, also known as solar cells. The photovoltaic module, known more commonly as the solar panel, is then used as a component in a larger photovoltaic system to offer electricity for commercial and residential applications.

Because a single photovoltaic module can only produce a certain amount of wattage, installations intended to produce larger electrical power capacity require an installation of several modules or panels and this is known as a photovoltaic array. A photovoltaic installation typically includes an array of photovoltaic modules or panels, an inverter, batteries and interconnection wiring.

Photovoltaic systems are used for either on- or off-grid applications, and for solar panels on spacecraft.

For more information about Photovoltaic module, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.