Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory announced that they have found a way to create more efficient photovoltaic cells using 50% less energy. The technique uses a new optical furnace that uses intense light instead of a conventional furnace to heat silicon to make solar cells. The new furnace utilizes “highly reflective and heat-resistant ceramics to ensure that the light is absorbed only by a silicon wafer, not by the walls inside the furnace.”
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Tags: cheaper solar cells, cheaper solar energy, less energy, optical furnace, solar cells 
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Wouldn’t it be great if the next coat of paint you put on the outside of your home generates electricity from the sunlight it gets? Well, now it may be possible! Read on to see how!
Posted in Solar Energy Tags: new solar research, renewable energy, solar cells, Solar Energy, solar paint, solar painting No Comments »
A UK company called Eight19 has announced a solution called IndiGo, a pay-as-you-go, personal electricity system for the developing world. The system combines solar energy and mobile phone technology and allows users to light their homes and charge mobile phones as a service, paid for using scratchcards.
Scientists from the Universities of Sheffield and Cambridge have published research on manufacturing ultra-cheap solar energy panels for large-scale domestic and industrial use. The idea is to use high-volume printing to produce nanoscale films of polymer solar cells.
The National Institute for Nanotechnology and the University of Alberta succeeded to prolong the operating life of plastic solar cells from mere hours to 8 months. As they are low-cost and environmentally efficient they are a real green energy source.
Can small actions lead to great changes?
See the impact of renewable energy systems on poverty reduction.
