Hasta La Gadget!

No thanks to Microsoft, the word “Windows” tend to invoke one of two things – a computer’s operating system, or the literal meaning of that transparent glass which you see occupy buildings and homes. Well, here is a way to have windows power your Windows, thanks to a group of researchers over at UCLA who have managed to come up with a mostly-transparent “high-performance solar cell. This will definitely pave the way for future architects to incorporate skylights in a building that is capable of generating electricity throughout the day – as long as there is adequate sunlight, of course.

This “high-performance solar cell” that is mostly transparent, and will come with a 4% efficiency rating, which does sound relative low at first, but it is enough to place it within commercially-viable efficiency levels. The panels will be able to absorb solar energy that are within the near-infrared spectrum, and yet allowing up to 66% of the light in the visible wavelengths used by humans to see to pass through so that you won’t end up in a completely dark room. Hopefully future iterations will be able to see the efficiency level increase to an even greater level.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Japanese village relies on solar power to get their juice on, Bsolar develops double-sided solar panels, boosts energy yield by nearly 50%,

Transparent photovoltaics have yet to grace the face of your smartphone, but don’t give up hope — UCLA researchers are working on a new see-through solar cell that’s showing potential. Using a new type of polymer solar cell, the team has been able to build a device that converts infrared light into electrical current. Current prototypes boast 4 percent energy conversion efficiency at 66 percent transparency — not crystal clear, but certainly clean enough to peer through. According to a study in ACS Nano, the technology could be used in “building-integrated photovoltaics or integrated photovoltaic chargers for portable electronics.” Translation? It could one day be used to build solar windows or better sun collecting smartphones. Don’t get too excited though, the technology still has a ways to go before any of these dreams come to fruition. Still, feel free to head past the break for the team’s official press release, or skip to the source to take in the full academic study.

Continue reading UCLA creates transparent solar cell, dreams of current generating windows

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Science

UCLA creates transparent solar cell, dreams of current generating windows originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Jul 2012 03:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Japan is known as a country that is big on preserving the environment, and 80km from Oi, Fukui Prefecture, lies the village of Sanno, Hyogo Prefecture that comprises of 11 households, which makes up the rather paltry population of 42 folks with an average age of slightly more than 60. What is so special about Oi? Well, it has its fair share of nuclear reactors, where one of them was reactivated recently after the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear meltdown crisis happened sometime last year. Well, when we take into consideration a different village – Sanno, which has gone solar. Located alongside the riverbank lies 216 solar panels, where the sign shows, “Sanno Neighborhood Association Solar Power Generating Installation.”

Sanno is said to be the first municipality in Japan that actually gains its entire electrical need from a renewable energy source, which is a way of showing the world that it can be done, being possible under the right circumstances. Will the rest of the world under similar circumstances be willing to follow the steps of the Sanno village?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Japan University to install photovoltaic panels on building, 70 Megawatt Solar Plant Project in the Pipeline for Southern Japan,

Drive west on US Route 50 through a stretch of Nevada highway known as “The Loneliest Road in America” and you’ll eventually find yourself in the rural county of Churchill. Once a solitary leg in the Pony Express route, irrigation transformed swaths of Churchill’s high desert areas into thriving agricultural communities more than a century ago. Fast forward to today and Churchill finds itself playing host to yet another interesting dichotomy — a first-of-its-kind power plant that generates electricity by harvesting renewable resources from both earth and sky.

Continue reading First solar-geo plant blooms in Nevada’s high desert

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

First solar-geo plant blooms in Nevada’s high desert originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Jul 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It was a big week for superlatives in clean tech and green architecture — particularly in Europe. First, construction on The Shard, architect Renzo Piano‘s shimmering, 72-story skyscraper, wrapped up in London, making it the tallest building in Europe. A nighttime celebration, complete with a laser light show accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra was held. Just about a mile down the river, construction is moving forward on Blackfriars Station, the world’s largest solar bridge. The historic bridge is being fitted with a solar array that will produce 900,000 kWh of clean electricity per year. And in Germany, solar producers have set a new world record, pumping an astounding 14.7 TWh of electricity into the grid during the first six months of 2012 — 4.5 percent of the country’s total power production during that period.

Continue reading Inhabitat’s Week in Green: rise of solar power, cardboard forts and a Death Star ping pong ball

Inhabitat’s Week in Green: rise of solar power, cardboard forts and a Death Star ping pong ball originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Jul 2012 20:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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