Merck KGaA has teamed up with the global Massachusetts-based company Nano-C, Inc. in the material development sector. Specifically, the two companies are working in the field of energy electronics to develop nanocarbon materials for organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells.
The company Fujitsu Ten is trying to interact with the community — in the City Office in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, they are now holding the 4th Annual Summer Vacation Craft Classroom.
First Solar has set a new world record for converting the energy from sunlight into electricity. One of its latest cadmium-telluride photovoltaic cells, which are used in its thin film solar PV panels, achieved a 17.3% conversion efficiency in testing at the NREL in Colorado, blowing away the previous record of 16.7%, which was set back in 2001.
The Department of Defense has made headlines for using biofuels to power its’ planes and ships, but clean energy innovations may have a bigger impact by reducing the carbon bootprint of military while saving lives on the battlefield. New technologies are reducing the weight of equipment soldiers carry into battle, powering military bases, and creating a fleet of electric vehicles.
Solar start-up Semprius is on the verge of generating more than 250 new green jobs over the next five years with a new ultra-small solar cell that is half the size of a pinhead, called a high concentration photovoltaic cell. The company has just announced plans to build a new factory to make the cells in Henderson, NC, which has been struggling with an unemployment rate as high as 13.3 percent this year.
One of the nation’s largest solar lead generation companies, Clean Energy Experts, just announced that it has launched a new website, Solar-California.org to help CA homeowners save money by investing in solar. According to the company press release, the goal of the site is to “present facts about solar power, how to prepare for a solar installation, available financing and leasing programs, current solar tax rebates and incentives in California, and estimates on the costs of a system.”
Seoul designer, Kukil Han, has come up with the idea of combining buses and bikes into a safe–and relatively green–touring package. The bus, which has a solar-power roof, takes bicycles and riders from point to point, eliminating the need for individuals to navigate traffic in order to explore Seoul.
One of the essential questions we ask with solar PV installation is “what will the return on the investment (ROI) be?” Many considerations are used to calculate a result. Researchers at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, under the direction of professor for environmental engineering Jan Kleissl, have recently provided us with yet another consideration to incorporate into these equations — the energy efficiency benefit of solar panel shade. Using a thermal infrared camera, they were able to calculate the value of solar panel roof shading.
Japanese power companies have fell short of their target to procure 11 billion kWh during 2010.
Top solar energy news of the the week (other than what we’ve already covered):
