'Home-made' electricity creating buzz in Germany

Klaus Meier lists three reasons for generating his own electricity in his family hotel in Germany's southern city of Freiburg—"cost savings, energy efficiency, climate protection".

Video: Forecasting desert storms to empower solar panels

Solar energy is ever more becoming an important source of renewable power generation. A serious problem for the productivity of solar power plants is desert dust: it obscures the sun and makes the mirrors dirty. To prevent ...

Clearing up cloudy understanding on solar power plant output

Sandia National Laboratories engineers have been studying the most effective ways to use solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays—a clean, affordable and renewable way to keep the power on. Systems are relatively easy to install ...

Huge US thermal plant opens as industry grows (Update 2)

A windy stretch of the Mojave Desert once roamed by tortoises and coyotes has been transformed by hundreds of thousands of mirrors into the largest solar power plant of its type in the world, a milestone for a growing industry ...

Satellites help power grid keep its balance

Imagine a generator pumping more electricity than a nuclear power plant into the grid, but inconsistently and without the grid's caretakers being able to see what it was doing. How could they maintain the critical balance ...

Renewable sources can provide stable power

Renewable energy sources - an area in which Germany is a leader - are becoming increasingly important for the worldwide power mix. Nevertheless, experts are still deliberating which market model is best for transitioning ...

Compliant materials with a strong impact

The recent Empa spin-off Monolitix AG specialises in compliant mechanisms. These are frictionless and wear-free and are also lighter, more hygienic and cheaper than conventional joint mechanisms. They have an enormous range ...

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