Monthly Archives: May 2011
Bioengineers from the University of Auckland have developed cheap, lightweight rubber power generators that could harvest up to a watt of power if embedded in shoes. Their generators employ "dielectric elastomer generator" technology that uses the movements of a flexible, non-conductive material to build up charge in attached electrodes. Until now, dielectric elastomer generators. or "artificial muscles", have usually been thought of for harvesting energy from ocean waves. Other research groups have developed motion-powered electronics using the piezoelectric effect. But, while piezoelectric materials are good for quick motions, artificial muscles are more suitable for large, slow motions like walking and … Continue Reading
Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Brookhaven and Los Alamos National Laboratories have created a new type of transparent photovoltaic film that can be spread over large areas to absorb light and create an electrical charge. The technology could lead to the development of power-generating windows and transparent solar panels. The material consists of a semiconducting polymer doped with carbon-rich fullerenes (soccer-ball-shaped, cage-like molecules composed of 60 carbon atoms). When the polymer is applied to a surface under controlled conditions, it spreads over a large area in a repeating pattern of micron-sized hexagonal-shaped cells resembling a honeycomb The densely … Continue Reading
A Stanford University research group says that it has found a way to more than double current solar power production efficiency. Most current technology either converts light into electricity at relatively low temperatures or converts the heat onto electricity at very high temperatures. The Stanford engineers have developed a "photon enhanced thermionic emission" technology which works best at higher temperatures, Photon enhanced thermionic emission would be used with solar comcentrators to produce electricity from photovoltaic cells at high temperatures. The techology would be most effective when used in solar farms, where any waste heat which cannot be converted using photovoltaic … Continue Reading
Researchers at Virginia Tech, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Georgia have produced hydrogen gas pure enough to power a fuel cell from cellulosic materials (from wood chips) using a mixture of 14 enzymes, one coenzyme and water heated to about 32°C. Jonathan Mielenz, leader of the Bioconversion Science and Technology Group at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory said that "It is exciting because using cellulose instead of starch expands the renewable resource for producing hydrogen to include biomass." The "one pot" process involves three advances a novel combination of enzymes an increased hydrogen generation rate — to … Continue Reading
Videos
Renewables News- Dysol Aiming to Print Storage with Solar CellsAustralia's Dyesol Limited has acquired an equity stake in Printed Power Pte Ltd, a spinoff company of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Printed Power is focussing on integrating dye solar cell technology with printed storage and power management systems to … Continue Reading → […]
- CSIRO Printer Makes 10m of Solar Cells a MinuteCSIRO researchers have built a gigantic printer that spits out solar cells at a rate of about ten metres a minute. The printer system uses existing technology to embed polymer solar cells (also known as organic solar cells) in thin … Continue Reading → […]
- New Aussie Technology to Clean Polluted WaterScientists from Deakin University, together with French colleagues, say that they have manufactured a lightweight and reusable material that can absorb up to 33 times its weight in a wide range of spilt oils, chemical solvents and dyes, while repelling … Continue Reading → […]
- Dysol Aiming to Print Storage with Solar Cells
