and online access in an area where most people lack electricity or piped water. There students and monks will be able to learn from materials such as lectures on MIT s Opencourseware (with added Tibetan subtitles.
-or bicycle-powered electricity and creating awareness about sustainable farming and improved water systems. Besides encouraging the development of locally useful technologies the program aims to improve the teaching of math and science.
Among other things, she is now studying the financing of small-scale distributed solar power in areas of Kenya without either a formal grid or established banking systems;
hoists for workers at dams, buildings, bridges, and massive wind turbines; as well as for first responders. here a broad spectrum of users people who use rope access as part of their work for
Doug Arent, a research scientist at the National Renewable energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo. who was involved not in this work,
For example, the turbine blades in electric power plants become less efficient if water builds up on their surfaces. f you can make the blades stay dry longer,
When an earthquake and tsunami struck Japan Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2011, knocking out emergency power supplies,
crews sprayed seawater on the reactors to cool them to no avail. One possible reason:
and nuclear engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic institute who was involved not in this research, says, xtending the surface temperature at which this phenomenon occurs is a challenging task that has been a century-long research effort.
even at the extremely low power levels characteristic of tiny solar cells. Previous ultralow-power converters that used the same approach had efficiencies of only 40 or 50 percent.
Where most of its ultralow-power predecessors could use a solar cell to either charge a battery
Ups and downs The circuit chief function is to regulate the voltages between the solar cell, the battery,
and falls depends on the voltage generated by the solar cell, which is highly variable. So the timing of the switch throws has to vary, too.
whose selection is determined by the solar cell voltage. Once again, when the capacitor fills, the switches in the inductor path are flipped. n this technology space,
and provide backup for renewable energy sources that produce intermittent output, such as wind and solar power. But Chiang says the technology is suited also well to applications where weight
and release electrical power in such bursts, which are needed for brief transmissions of data from wearable devices such as heart-rate monitors, computers,
and water to promote the desired reactions critical guidance for the design of commercial-scale reactors.
In both cases, they removed samples from their reactor vessel at regular intervals up to 30 minutes.
Knowing what those conditions are inside a practical reactor is a parallel challenge. When oil is injected into flowing SCW,
Power electronics is a ubiquitous technology used to convert electricity to higher or lower voltages and different currents such as in a laptop power adapter
or in electric substations that convert voltages and distribute electricity to consumers. Many of these power-electronics systems rely on silicon transistors that switch on
Currently, these data centers eat up about 2 percent of electricity in the United states. But Gan-based power electronics
#New technique helps probe performance of organic solar cell materials A research team led by North carolina State university has developed a new technique for determining the role that a material's structure has on the efficiency of organic solar cells
which are candidates for low-cost next generation solar power. The researchers have used the technique to determine that materials with a highly organized structure at the nanoscale are not more efficient at creating free electrons than poorly organized structures#a finding
There have been a lot of studies looking at the efficiency of organic solar cells but the energy conversion process involves multiple steps
Broadly speaking organic solar cells convert light into electric current in four steps. First the cell absorbs sunlight which excites electrons in the active layer of the cell.
In previous organic solar cell research there was ambiguity about whether differences in efficiency were due to dissociation or charge collection#because there was no clear method for distinguishing between the two.
so that it runs parallel to the long axis of organic solar cell molecules it will be absorbed; but if the light runs perpendicular to the molecules it passes right through it.
The researchers created highly organized nanostructures within a portion of the active layer of an organic solar cell meaning that the molecules in that portion all ran the same way.
or just the disorganized section#even though they were on the same active layer of the same solar cell.
and nanostructure features are needed to advance organic solar cell technology. Explore further: Hybrid materials could smash the solar efficiency ceiling More information:
Awartani O. Kudenov M. W. Kline R. J. and O'connor B. T. 2015) In-Plane Alignment in Organic solar cells to Probe the Morphological Dependence of Charge Recombination.
The collaborating group from Rensselaer Polytechnic institute is led by Diana Borca-Tasciuc, associate professor of mechanical, aerospace and nuclear engineering.
#Researchers create novel nanobowl optical concentrator for organic solar cell Geometrical light trapping is a simple and promising strategy to largely improve the optical absorption and efficiency of solar cells.
Solar energy is one of the most promising renewable energy resources and represents a clean and ultimate replacement for fossil fuels in the future.
Organic photovoltaic (OPV) has been regarded as one of the promising candidates for large-scale low-cost and efficient solar energy harvesting.
Meanwhile light trapping by nano-textured substrate is an appealing strategy to improve solar cell efficiency.
The novel nanobowl optical concentrator developed by Professor Zhiyong Fan can largely enhance the optical absorption in the active layer of organic solar cell
In addition they have investigated the effect of geometry of nanobowl on the solar cell performance and three types of nanobowl with pitch of 1000 nm 1200 nm and 1500 nm were studied.
Solar cells based on nanobowl with pitch of 1000 nm exhibited the best photon absorption in photoactive layer leading to the highest short-circuit current density of 9. 41 ma cm-2 among all nanobowl substrates.
With open-circuit voltage of 0. 573 V and fill factor of 57.9%this nanobowl solar cell achieved a solar energy conversion efficiency of 3. 12
#Carbon nanoballs can greatly contribute to sustainable energy supply Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have discovered that the insulation plastic used in high-voltage cables can withstand a 26 per cent higher voltage
which are needed to achieve a sustainable energy system. The renewable energy sources of tomorrow will often be found far away from the end user.
Wind turbines, for example, are most effective when placed out at sea. Solar energy will have the greatest impact on the European energy system
if focus is on transport of solar power from North africa and Southern Europe to Northern europe.""Reducing energy losses during electric power transmission is one of the most important factors for the energy systems of the future,
"says Chalmers researcher Christian Müller.""The other two are development of renewable energy sources and technologies for energy storage."
"Together with colleagues from Chalmers University of Technology and the company Borealis in Sweden, he has found a powerful method for reducing energy losses in alternating current cables.
The results were published recently in Advanced Materials. The researchers have shown that different variants of the C60 carbon ball,
a nanomaterial in the fullerene molecular group, provide strong protection against breakdown of the insulation plastic used in high-voltage cables.
Carbon nanoballs can greatly contribute to sustainable energy supply An electrical tree, which is a major electrical breakdown mechanism of insulation plastic.
Carbon nanoballs can greatly contribute to sustainable energy supply Wind turbines are most effective when placed out at sea.
the researchers tested a number of molecules that are used also within organic solar cell research at Chalmers.
whether the crystalline structure of the materials is mismatched-lowering the manufacturing cost for a wide variety of semiconductor devices such as solar cells lasers and LEDS.
For example in photonic devices like solar cells lasers and LEDS the junction is where photons are converted into electrons or vice versa.
This manufacturing cost is a major reason why semiconductor devices such as solar cells lasers and LEDS remain very expensive.
and harvest hydrogen is one of the most intriguing ways to achieve clean energy. Automakers have started introducing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles
But making hydrogen which mostly comes from natural gas requires electricity from conventional carbon dioxide-emitting power plants.
Producing hydrogen at low cost from water using the clean energy from the sun would make this form of energy
not much material is needed for microsensors, miniature through-flow reactors, or other potential applications. Ensinger's team has tested already successfully one use of the gold nanotubes:
The gold nanotubes conduct electricity especially well due to their one-dimensional structure. In addition, they are relatively long
#Lengthening the life of high capacity silicon electrodes in rechargeable lithium batteries A new study will help researchers create longer-lasting higher-capacity lithium rechargeable batteries
In a study published in the journal ACS Nano researchers showed how a coating that makes high capacity silicon electrodes more durable could lead to a replacement for lower-capacity graphite electrodes.
Understanding how the coating works gives us an indication of the direction we need to move in to overcome the problems with silicon electrodes said materials scientist Chongmin Wang of the Department of energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Silicon electrodes aren't very durable#after a few dozen recharges they can no longer hold electricity. That's partly due to how silicon takes up lithium#like a sponge.
and thoroughly#an improvement over earlier silicon electrodes#but only partly alleviates the fracturing problem. Last year materials scientist Chunmei Ban and her colleagues at the National Renewable energy Laboratory in Golden Colorado and the University of Colorado Boulder found that they could cover silicon nanoparticles with a rubberlike coating made from aluminum glycerol.
The coated silicon particles lasted at least five times longer#uncoated particles died by 30 cycles but the coated ones still carried a charge after 150 cycles.
Ban's group#which developed the coating for silicon electrodes called alucone and is currently the only group that can create alucone-coated silicon particles#took high magnification images of the particles in an electron microscope.
and nanoporous graphene a pure form of carbon that's remarkably strong and can efficiently conduct heat and electricity.
And their energy storage abilities may help smooth out the power flow from alternative energy systems such as wind energy. They can power a defibrillator open the emergency slides on an aircraft
Fuel cells use oxygen and hydrogen as a fuel and convert the input chemical energy directly into electricity.
and inorganic-based energy devices such as battery solar cell and self-powered devices that require high temperature processes s
Using the components in 20 million TVS is projected to save 600 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year worldwide enough electricity to power 50,000 average U s. homes. ee been able to show, cradle to grave,
When associate professor Qi Hua Fan of the electrical engineering and computer science department set out to make a less expensive supercapacitor for storing renewable energy he developed a new plasma technology that will streamline the production of display screens.
#New nanocomposites for aerospace and automotive industries The Center for Research in Advanced Materials (CIMAV) has developed reinforced graphite nanoplatelets seeking to improve the performance of solar cell materials.
#Graphene/nanotube hybrid benefits flexible solar cells Rice university scientists have invented a novel cathode that may make cheap, flexible dye-sensitized solar cells practical.
The discovery was reported online in the Royal Society of Chemistry's Journal of Materials Chemistry A. Dye-sensitized solar cells have been in development
While they are not nearly as efficient as silicon-based solar cells in collecting sunlight and transforming it into electricity,
dye-sensitized solar cells have advantages for many applications, according to co-lead author Pei Dong, a postdoctoral researcher in Lou's lab."The first is that they're low-cost,
because they can be fabricated in a normal area, "Dong said.""There's no need for a clean room.
The hybrid material solves two issues that have held back commercial application of dye-sensitized solar cells,
Lou's lab built and tested solar cells with nanotube forests of varying lengths The shortest,
Tests found that solar cells made from the longest nanotubes produced the best results and topped out at nearly 18 milliamps of current per square centimeter
The new dye-sensitized solar cells were as much as 20 percent better at converting sunlight into power,
Current computer systems represent bits of informationhe 1's and 0's of binary codeith electricity Circuit elements,
They believe it can be used to improve electrical energy storage water filtration and radiofrequency shielding in technology from portable electronics to coaxial cables.
This approach to growing nanomaterials will improve the efficiency of various devices including solar cells and fuel cells.
These semiconducting nanowires could also replace thin films that cover today's solar panels. Current panels can process only 20 percent of the solar energy they take in.
By applying the nanowires the surface area of the panels would increase and allow more efficient solar energy capture and conversion.
The wires could also be applied in the biomedical field to maximize heat production in hyperthermia treatment of cancer.
We see anodization as a route to materials for multiple platforms in the next generation of alternative energy devices Tour said.
The new kind of nanotubes also could lead to flexible solar panels that can be rolled up and stored or even"painted"on clothing such as a jacket,
and aluminum (NCA) offers high enough energy density a measure of the stored electricity in the battery that it works well in large-scale and long-range vehicles including electric cars and commercial aircraft.
Danny Porath, the Etta and Paul Schankerman Professor in Molecular Biomedicine at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, reports reproducible and quantitative measurements of electricity flow through long molecules made of four
thus favouring the use of this renewable source of energy, "affirms Eudald Casals, ICN2 researcher participating in the project.
thereby greatly increasing the production of biogas, a renewable energy which is growing steadily and is accessible to everyone,
-and it conducts heat and electricity with great efficiency. The global market for graphene is reported to have reached US$9 million this year with most sales concentrated in the semiconductor electronics battery energy and composites.
thus becoming a useful technology in all industrial applications using heat transfer systems such as solar power plants, nuclear power plants, combined-cycle power plants and heating, among other.
cores of nuclear reactor, solar farms, etc. to the system that is going to use it (thermal storage systems, steam generators, chemical reactors, etc..
This technology provides the capability to modulate neural function by applying programmed pulses of electricity
and reduce the cost of solar cells and increase the capacity and reduce the charging time of batteries he says.
The resulting batteries and solar cells are also mechanically flexible and thus can be integrated with flexible electronics.
Breakthrough for carbon nanotube solar cell l
#See-through one-atom-thick carbon electrodes powerful tool to study brain disorders Researchers from the Perelman School of medicine and School of engineering at the University of Pennsylvania and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have used graphene
and renewable energy storage, high-density energy storage systems are needed. Lithium-ion batteries, though mature and widely utilized, have encountered the theoretical limit
when consuming a unit amount of electric power which is an important index to compare the energy-efficiency of different lighting devices Shimoi said.
The ability to mold inorganic nanoparticles out of materials such as gold and silver in precisely designed 3-D shapes is a significant breakthrough that has the potential to advance laser technology microscopy solar cells electronics environmental testing
this area of research could revolutionise renewable energy production. Working in collaboration with researchers at the University of Sheffield,
and replace them with synthetic components to create a new generation of solar cells. Professor Evans concludes:"
#Blades of grass inspire advance in organic solar cells Using a biomimicking analog of one of nature's most efficient light-harvesting structures blades of grass an international research team led by Alejandro Briseno of the University of Massachusetts Amherst
has taken a major step in developing long-sought polymer architecture to boost power-conversion efficiency of light to electricity for use in electronic devices.
or discontinuous pathways that pose a serious drawback when using blended systems known as bulk heterojunction donor-acceptor or positive-negative (p-n) junctions for harvesting energy in organic solar cells.
He says This work is a major advancement in the field of organic solar cells because we have developed
and converting it to electricity. The breakthrough in morphology control should have widespread use in solar cells batteries
and vertical transistors he adds. Briseno explains: For decades scientists and engineers have placed great effort in trying to control the morphology of p-n junction interfaces in organic solar cells.
We report here that we have developed at last the ideal architecture composed of organic single-crystal vertical nanopillars.
We envision that our nanopillar solar cells will appeal to low-end energy applications such as gadgets toys sensors and short lifetime disposable devices s
#Nanoengineering enhances charge transport promises more efficient future solar cells Solar cells based on semiconducting composite plastics and carbon nanotubes is one of the most promising novel technology for producing inexpensive printed solar cells.
Physicists at Umeå University have discovered that one can reduce the number of carbon nanotubes in the device by more than 100 times
Carbon nanotubes are more and more attractive for use in solar cells as a replacement for silicon. They can be mixed in a semiconducting polymer
and deposited from solution by simple and inexpensive methods to form thin and flexible solar cells.
and transport electrical charges generated from solar energy. Earlier this year, Dr. David Barbero and his research team at Umeå University,
and electricity than had previously been possible using the same materials. This means that the transport of electric charges occurs with a very little energy loss.
and discharge electricity and even be recharged. These talents could make them valuable for powering autonomous MEMS#microelectromechanical machines
#How to make a perfect solar absorber The key to creating a material that would be ideal for converting solar energy to heat is tuning the material's spectrum of absorption just right:
When harnessing solar energy you want to trap it and keep it there Chou says; getting just the right spectrum of both absorption and emission is essential to efficient STPV performance.
Most of the sun's energy reaches us within a specific band of wavelengths Chou explains ranging from the ultraviolet through visible light and into the near-infrared.
which would add greatly to the complexity and expense of a solar power system. This is the first device that is able to do all these things at the same time Chou says.
and materials science to advance solar energy harvesting says Paul Braun a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who was involved not in this research.
Of course much work remains to realize a practical solar cell however the work here is one of the most important steps in that process.
We achieved this using graphene a material that can conduct electricity and interpret touch commands
#Solar cell compound probed under pressure Gallium arsenide Gaas a semiconductor composed of gallium and arsenic is well known to have physical properties that promise practical applications.
In the form of nanowires and nanoparticles it has particular potential for use in the manufacture of solar cells
Silicon nanoparticles such as those in RM 8027 are being studied as alternative semiconductor materials for next-generation photovoltaic solar cells and solid-state lighting,
#Self-organized indium arsenide quantum dots for solar cells Kouichi Yamaguchi is recognized internationally for his pioneering research on the fabrication and applications of'semiconducting quantum dots'(QDS.
Our main interest in QDS is for the fabrication of high efficiency solar cells says Yamaguchi. Step by step we have pushed the limits of'self-organization'based growth of QDS
The realization of an unprecedented QDS density of 5 x 1011 cm-2 in 2011 was one of the major milestones in the development of'self-organization'based semiconducting QDS for solar cells by Yamaguchi
The resulting external quantum efficiency of these solar cell structures in the 900 to 1150 nm wavelength range was higher than devices with the QD layer.
Theoretical studies suggest QDS solar cells could yield conversion efficiencies over 50%explains Yamaguchi. This is a very challenging target
but we hope that our innovative approach will be an effective means of producing such QD based high performance solar cells.
efficiency of intermediate-band solar cells J. Appl. Phys. 112 124515 (2012
#Magnetic field opens and closes nanovesicle Chemists and physicists of Radboud University managed to open and close nanovesicles using a magnet.
#Researchers uncover properties in nanocomposite oxide ceramics for reactor fuel Nanocomposite oxide ceramics have potential uses as ferroelectrics fast ion conductors
In the context of nuclear energy composites have been proposed for the fuel itself as a way for example to improve the basic properties of the material such as the thermal conductivity.
Composites have also been created to store the by-products of the nuclear energy cycle nuclear waste where the different components of the composite can each store a different part of the waste.
Reactor fuel behavior better understood with phonon insights More information: The research is described in a paper out this week in Nature Communications Termination chemistry-driven dislocation structure at Srtio3/Mgo heterointerfaces s
and solar cells crafted with inorganic compound semiconductor micro-rods are moving one step closer to reality thanks to graphene and the work of a team of researchers in Korea.
With nanoparticles, they produced temperature-sensitive devices that transmit electrical energy to the system but do not cause overheating.
electric power is applied and removed for some time, whith the purpose of determining how long it takes to return to its original condition i
and pump protons through a membrane, creating a form of chemical energy. They also know that water can be split into oxygen
Graphene is a super strong, super light, near totally transparent sheet of carbon atoms and one of the best conductors of electricity ever discovered.
can create new sources of clean energy. Her team's discovery may provide future consumers a biologically-inspired alternative to gasoline."
and conduct both heat and electricity. Last year the Rice group created films of overlapping nanoribbons
or conducts electricity. Doping typically effects this change by increasing the number of available electrons,
and electricity it is transparent harder than diamond and extremely strong. But in order to use it to construct electronic switches a material must not only be an outstanding conductor it should also be switchable between on and off states.
and collaborators at Rensselaer Polytechnic institute The latter has a direct impact on the power yield of solar cells.
and his colleagues describe a possible use of graphene strips for instance in solar cells. Ruffieux and his team have noticed that particularly narrow graphene nanoribbons absorb visible light exceptionally well
and are therefore highly suitable for use as the absorber layer in organic solar cells. Compared to normal graphene
and electricity better than any other known materialas potential industrial uses that include flexible electronic displays, high-speed computing, stronger wind turbine blades,
and more-efficient solar cells, to name just a few under development. In the decade since Nobel laureates Konstantin Novoselov and Andre Geim proved the remarkable electronic and mechanical properties of graphene
In digital electronics these transistors control the flow of electricity throughout an integrated circuit and allow for amplification and switching.
#Atomically thin material opens door for integrated nanophotonic circuits A new combination of materials can efficiently guide electricity
at this time organic photovoltaic devices are hindered by low efficiency relative to commercial solar cells in part because quantifying their electrical properties has proven challenging.
"This measurement breakthrough should allow us to more rapidly optimize solar cells,"Richter states.""We're able to look at what happens electronically throughout the entire device.
The larger the difference between the charge lifetime and device transit time greatly improves the likelihood that a photovoltaic device will be a more efficient source of electrical power."
But, when the device does not perform as a"textbook"or"ideal"solar cell then the picture of
Photovoltaic devices, also known as solar cells, produce electrical power when exposed to light, and that technology has enabled a fast-growing industry.
and ultimately more closely connect materials properties with processing methods and solar cell performance.""And since the physical process governing organic photovoltaics is very similar to other organic semiconductors (organic light-emitting diodes, for example,
Understanding how materials grow at the nanoscale level helps scientists tailor them for everything from batteries to solar cells.
or LEDS, and solar technologies.""Heterojunctions are fundamental elements of electronic and photonic devices, "said senior author Xiaodong Xu, a UW assistant professor of materials science and engineering and of physics."
and solar cells to be developed for highly integrated electronic and optical circuits within a single atomic plane."
which is encouraging for optoelectric and photonic applications like solar cells c
#Competition for graphene: Researchers demonstrate ultrafast charge transfer in new family of 2-D semiconductors A new argument has just been added to the growing case for graphene being bumped off its pedestal as the next big thing in the high-tech world by the two-dimensional semiconductors
The separation of photoexcited electrons and holes is essential for driving an electrical current in a photodetector or solar cell."
#Conductive nanofiber networks for flexible unbreakable and transparent electrodes Transparent conductors are required as electrodes in optoelectronic devices, such as touch panel screens, liquid crystal displays, and solar cells.
Examples of applications are large displays, large interactive touch screens, photovoltaic solar panels, light-emitting diode panels, smart phones,
Not what we thought they were For the past 10 years scientists have been fascinated by a type of electric bacteria that shoots out long tendrils like electric wires using them to power themselves
and transfer electricity to a variety of solid surfaces. Today a team led by scientists at USC has turned the study of these bacterial nanowires on its head discovering that the key features in question are not pili as previously believed
Understanding the way these electric bacteria work has applications well beyond the lab. Such creatures have the potential to address some of the big questions about the nature of life itself including
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