Most renewable power technologies are weather dependent. Wind farms can only operate when there's a breeze, and solar power plants rely on sunlight. Researchers at EPFL are working on a method to capture an energy source ...
Materials Science
May 23, 2019
1
95
Inside all of us are trillions of tiny molecular nanomachines that perform a variety of tasks necessary to keep us alive.
Nanomaterials
May 22, 2019
0
89
An international team of researchers has brought a new generation of solar cells a step closer to commercialisation, by showing how sunlight can trigger a 'healing process' in the cells to improve their efficiency and stability.
Energy & Green Tech
May 21, 2019
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16
A Loughborough University Ph.D. student has helped shed light on a solar panel puzzle that could lead to more efficient devices being developed.
Energy & Green Tech
May 14, 2019
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114
Solar power, wind power and the lot – the growing use of renewable energy sources is resulting in substantial fluctuations in energy production. Fraunhofer researchers have now made it possible to design industrial processes ...
Energy & Green Tech
May 06, 2019
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7
The answer to the climate crisis could be seizing social and political tipping points where a modest intervention can lead to massive change, suggest leading University of Oxford economists.
Earth Sciences
Apr 12, 2019
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150
In the past ten years the UK's electricity mix has changed dramatically. Coal's contribution has dropped from 40 percent to 6 percent. Wind, solar power and hydroelectric plants now generate more electricity than nuclear ...
Energy & Green Tech
Apr 09, 2019
2
11
Clothes are usually made of textiles and have to be both wearable and washable for daily use; however, smart clothing presents a challenge with its power sources and moisture permeability, which causes the devices to malfunction. ...
Energy & Green Tech
Mar 21, 2019
0
8
Stanford researchers have devised a way to generate hydrogen fuel using solar power, electrodes and saltwater from San Francisco Bay.
Materials Science
Mar 18, 2019
18
10071
Access to clean water remains one of the biggest challenges facing humankind. A breakthrough by engineers at The University of Texas at Austin may offer a new solution through solar-powered technology that absorbs moisture ...
Materials Science
Mar 14, 2019
0
115
Solar power is the result of converting sunlight into electricity. Sunlight can be converted directly into electricity using photovoltaics (PV), or indirectly with concentrating solar power (CSP), which normally focuses the sun's energy to boil water which is then used to provide power. The largest solar power plants, like the 354 MW SEGS, are concentrating solar thermal plants, but recently multi-megawatt photovoltaic plants have been built. Completed in 2008, the 46 MW Moura photovoltaic power station in Portugal and the 40 MW Waldpolenz Solar Park in Germany are characteristic of the trend toward larger photovoltaic power stations. Much larger ones are proposed, such as the 550 MW Topaz Solar Farm, and the 600 MW Rancho Cielo Solar Farm.
Solar power is a predictably intermittent energy source, meaning that whilst solar power is not available at all times, we can predict with a very good degree of accuracy when it will and will not be available. Some technologies, such as solar thermal concentrators with an element of thermal storage, have the potential to eliminate the intermittency of solar power, by storing spare solar power in the form of heat; and using this heat overnight or during periods that solar power is not available to produce electricity. This technology has the potential to make solar power "dispatchable", as the heat source can be used to generate electricity at will. Solar power installations are normally supplemented by storage or another energy source, for example with wind power and hydropower.
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