Science

NREL Teams with Berkeley Lab to Analyze Solar Pricing Trends and Benchmark “Soft” Costs for…

Downward pricing for solar projected to continue; soft costs made up 40-50 percent of residential and commercial PV prices in 2010 The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE)’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBL) jointly released two reports examining solar photovoltaic (PV) pricing in the U.S. … [continued]

Graphene Carbon Nanotube Hybrid Created, A Seamless 3-D Material For Energy Storage & Electronics

  Researchers from Rice University have created a ‘seamless’ graphene and nanotube hybrid. The material is probably the best electrode interface material possible for energy storage usages and other related electronics applications, according to the researchers. The new hybrid material appears as “forests of carbon nanotubes that rise quickly from … [continued]

Say Goodbye To The Fluorescent Buzz

  Scientists at Wake Forest University have developed a flicker-free, shatterproof alternative for large-scale lighting that they claim is at least twice as efficient as CFL technology and less expensive than LEDs. The lighting is based on field-induced polymer electroluminescent (FIPEL) technology, which uses a nano-engineered polymer matrix to convert … [continued]