Fridges rank as one of the biggest energy users in the home. If you’re looking at replacing/upgrading for the sake of lowering your utility bills and carbon footprint, here are some things to consider.
Originally published on 1Sun4All. EASI (Efficient, Aesthetic, Solar, Innovation) Living Home, is the design of first-time competitors in the US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, the Western New England University, Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá, and Universidad Tecnológica Centroamericana team, according to Solar Decathlon 2015. The team wants its project to reflect … [continued]
Originally published on RenewEconomy by Sophie Vorrath A new facility to pilot the development of Australian-grown, ARENA-backed technology aimed at creating more efficient and affordable solar panels has been launched in Queensland. Brisbane Materials, whose landmark technology produced anti-reflection and other coatings for solar panels which significantly improves efficiency … [continued]
There are two ways to lower the cost of producing energy through photovoltaics – more efficient solar cells (more power per square foot) and lower production costs (lower cost per square foot). The ETAlab of the Fraunhofer ISE has devised a way to do both simultaneously. The research team in the laboratory for new solar cell structures and processing steps has not only made the solar cell contacts out of 100% cost-effective materials (replacing expensive silver with cheaper copper and nickel), but the process also increases the efficiency of the solar cell to a very respectable 21.4%.
The Institute of Industrial Science of Tokyo University, widely regarded as the top university in Japan, has erected a “smart house” on their Komaba Campus, in cooperation with LIXIL Housing Corporation’s Eyeful Home Company. The current structure, the COMMA house (COMfort MAnagement), is the start of a series of prototypes and tests geared toward creating more-or-less self-sufficient home. The project is expected to have plans for a standard smart house by 2020.
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.
Sometimes, the best technologies are the ones that are largely developed, but have yet to be widely embraced. An excellent example is the monolithic dome technology, developed over the past several decades by the Monolithic Dome Institute and their head inventor, David South.
Vertical farm concepts for the urban environment are not new, but now, a Swedish-American architectural design company (Plantagon) seems to have solved once of the biggest challenges of urban vertical farming: the need for uniform, sufficient natural light to provide even growth of vertically-farmed plants.
What most of us see as the ubiquitous blight of modern convenience consumerism, i.e., littered plastic shopping bags, Japanese inventor Akinori Ito sees as the “fuel of the future”. Like most sensible inventions, Ito’s began with the simple realization that plastic bags are made from oil. Thus, it should be … [continued]
Lighting Science Corporation has just announced a new breakthrough in high efficiency LED (light emitting diode) technology that outperforms existing LED streetlights, providing an even greater incentive for the nation’s roadways and institutions to make the switch from standard streetlights to more sustainable LED lighting. [social_buttons] The new LEDs, dubbed … [continued]
