We’ve blogged about solar powered airplanes in recent months, but the interest has seemed to be with respect to their novelty, rather than a real potential way to address the massive amounts of fuel consumed by aircraft (and corresponding CO2 emissions).
Recognizing the need for a variety of aircraft to serve multiple purposes, Virginia-based Aurora Flight [...]
Continue reading about Solar-Powered Aircraft on the Horizon
The perfect source for solar power? Solar Power (photovoltaics) is now a one-billion-dollar industry, and it’s poised to grow rapidly in the near future as more pressure is placed on limited fossil fuel resources and as advances in solar technology drive down the costs of residential solar systems. This book helps [...]
Three cheers for solar technology advancements!
This latest one comes from sunny Caltech (you might know it as California Institute of Technology). Researchers there have created a new flexible solar cell, which takes long, thin silicon wires and embeds them into a polymer substrate. The result is an inexpensive solar cell that can efficiently convert photons [...]
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As we search for viable renewable energy sources in recognition of the finite, polluting and and politically-fraught aspects of fossil fuels, the question remains. Can we consider solar power as a primary energy source?
We’ve reviewed the disadvantages of solar energy (along with its many benefits), in order to consider the pros and cons for this [...]
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From Booklist
Reviewed with Christine Petersen’s Wind Power.Gr. 3-5. The familiar small, square format and the large, well-spaced type of volumes in the long-running True Book umbrella series have been preserved in this new offshoot, Environment & Conservation. Petersen provides readers with a lucid picture of the sun and wind as natural forces before introducing some [...]
ddressing the often-cited reason that many choose not to install solar panels on their property, news of the development of attractive glass pyramid-shaped solar cells is certainly welcome! Coupled with a reasonable price tag and high efficiency, the solar technology that scientists at the Center for Architecture Science and Ecology (CASE) could be the next [...]
In the face of steeply rising oil prices and political turmoil in the Middle East, there is new urgency in finding a solution to our uncertain energy future. Breakthroughs in new materials and ingenious designs for solar collectors are transforming the technology into a vastly cheaper, more efficient alternative. NOVA presents the latest thinking [...]
Continue reading about NOVA: Solar Energy – Saved by the Sun (2007)
From the 1967 film, “The Graduate”
Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Benjamin: Yes, sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Benjamin: Yes, I am.
Mr. McGuire: Plastics.
Benjamin: Just how do you mean that, sir?
While plastics surely have changed the world over the past 42 years, Mr. McGuire could hardly have imagined their application [...]
Continue reading about Plastic PV Solar Cells Break Efficiency Record
Flexible solar panels may be one of the most exciting developments in solar technology. Now, paint on solar cells could take that idea to the next level. Imagine being able to literally coat a building or rooftop with solar sheets that can take energy from the sun and convert it to clean, free electricity!
Somenath Mitra, [...]
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While its the 21st century and solar power is on the rise, some may think that solar is the next, great thing. However, there is actually a long history of use of the renewable resource. In other words, perhaps we are finally catching up with our ancestors in harnessing and using energy from the sun.
One [...]
