Alternative Energy / Solar Energy

• Proof that the Solar Industry is on the Brink of a Huge Expansion

  A new report from the prominent global consulting firm McKinsey shows why solar photovoltaics have hit a tipping point.As the economics of solar PV continue to improve steadily and dramatically, McKinsey analysts conclude that the total “economic potential” of solar PV deployment could reach 600-1,000 gigawatts (1 million megawatts) by 2020.In the year 2000, the global demand for solar PV was 170 megawatts.That doesn’t mean 1 million megawatts will get developed by 2020; it’s just an estimate of the economic competitiveness of solar PV. When factoring in real-word limitations like the regulatory environment, availability of financing, and infrastructure capabilities, the…

• The US Solar Revolution: Sometimes Smaller is Bigger

  Solar, wind and geothermal power sources accounted for only around 1.5 percent of US energy consumption last year, but a number of factors are merging to make solar a more realistic option, from the failure of the first round of high-profile projects to the redirecting of government land for renewable power programs and the emerging trend of leasing solar energy systems to make them more affordable. It was to much fanfare on 4 May that the US unveiled its first large-scale solar power project on federal land in Clark County, Nevada. The project will produce enough energy to power some…

• Solar Cells that can be Painted or Printed Onto Materials

  Scientists at USC think they have the material made of nanocrystals that could be painted on surfaces for making a solar cell. If the team gets to commercial market, the projection is a pathway to cheap, stable solar cells made with a liquid ink that can be painted or printed onto clear surfaces. Richard L. Brutchey, assistant professor of chemistry at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and USC postdoctoral researcher David H. Webber developed the new surface coating for the nanocrystals, which are made of the semiconductor cadmium selenide. Their research was featured as a “hot…

• New Nanotechnology That Turns Windows Into Transparent Solar Panels

  Our modern world is consuming energy at insatiable rates. The high-tech complexity of contemporary society has created a demand for energy resources that are both easily accessible and infinitely available, and unfortunately the energy sources of yesterday simply do not hold up to the rapid evolution of the times. Perhaps the major flaw in our previous approach to discovering a renewable energy source was not the narrowness, but the broadness of our scientific focus. Yesterday’s Energy Market looked towards monumentally visible energy sources like Oil, blindly clinging to the notion that material visibility equated to energetic abundance. However, the energy…

• Nanotechnology Could Make Original Solar Technologies Obsolete

  The solar scenario over the last few decades has historically been dominated by silicone-based solar cells. Today, over 80 percent of the manufacturing infrastructure around the globe is dominated by silicone—the bulk of it now in China. Of course, China's solar manufacturing strategies are a huge part of the shift we're seeing in the market today as others suffer through a glut of materials on the market and rapid crashes in prices of solar cells.The Current LandscapeWhy is silicone dominating? For one, it's an abundant material, coming from sand. Out of the different types of silicone used, the end results…

• NASA Take an In-Depth Look at Space Based Solar Power

  NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program has started a Phase I effort to explore the overall viability and advance the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) for an orbital power station project called “SPS Alpha”, or Solar Power Satellite – Alpha. Last August, Artemis Innovation Management Solutions was selected for a NASA NIAC award to dive into the details of what Artemis leader John C. Mankins callls “the first practical solar-power satellite concept.”  Mankins published his pdf report March 27th and we’re now able to download the file. It runs 24 pages and is quite graphic rich. SPS-Alpha Artists Rendition. After the…

• Solar Insanity: Why is Obama Obsessed with Solar Energy?

  The U.S. Energy Department is throwing a lot of money at solar power recently, with California seemingly getting the bulk of the federal money. President Obama last year set some pretty ambitious renewable energy targets, by American standards, and this year called for an "all-of-the above" strategy for domestic energy. But why put so much political energy into solar? Should there be a bulk renewable energy initiative? Energy Secretary Chu last week said he was putting $12 million behind a so-called incubator program that would fund start-up and pilot solar initiatives. This falls under his department's SunShot initiative, which aims to…

• Is a Solar Energy Revolution Just Around the Corner?

  India’s “Solar Mission” to install 20,000MW of solar power by 2022 has recently had a boost following the news that electricity from solar power is now cheaper than that produced by diesel generators. Making them a cost effective alternative to many people in developing countries. According to figures by market analysts Bloomberg, the price of solar panels fell by nearly 50% in 2011 alone, and they are currently just one quarter of the price they were in 2008. According to the International Energy Agency’s 2011 World Energy Outlook report, a quarter of India’s population do not have electricity, and those…

• Sunny Dubai to Make Large Investment in Solar Power

  The Middle East has two things in abundance – oil and sunshine. Seeking to capitalize on the latter, Dubai’s Supreme Council of Energy has presented plans for the 1,000 megawatt Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park at the World Future Energy Summit. The cost? A mere $3.2 billion. Started in 2007, the World Future Energy Summit is being held in neighboring Abu Dhabi’s National Exhibition Center. Supreme Council of Energy Vice Chairman Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer said, “The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is an advanced model of power production, which achieves our leaders' aspirations to diversify sources of energy; specifically by…

• The Different Ways in Which Solar Energy can Power the World

  Who hasn’t enjoyed heat from the sun? Doing so represents a direct energetic transfer—via radiation—from the sun’s hot surface to your skin. One square meter can catch about 1000 W, which is comparable to the output of a portable space heater. A dark surface can capture the energy at nearly 100% efficiency, beating (heating?) the pants off of solar photovoltaic (PV) capture efficiency, for instance. We have already seen that solar PV qualifies as a super-abundant resource, requiring panels covering only about 0.5% of land to meet our entire energy demand (still huge, granted). So direct thermal energy from the…