no updates for two weeks
By MB-BigB | August 17, 2008
sorry, but I’m going to be out of town for about two weeks. When I get back I’ll try to update this news blog a little more frequently than I’ve been doing. Things have been really hectic around here!
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JC Penney adding solar and wind projects to its stores
By MB-BigB | August 15, 2008
Retailer JC Penney announced this week that they would be adding solar and wind power projects to 10 of their stores and one of their distribution centers. They also announced plans to obtain Energy Star certification for at least 200 of their stores.
The company has asked SunPower Corporation to install solar power systems on 10 JC Penney stores in California and New Jersey. The solar power systems will generate more than 4 megawatts of power. The systems will be financed, owned and operated by a third party, and JC Penney will buy the power from them under a SunPower Access power purchase agreement. They expect the systems to be installed by November of this year.
JC Penney will also be operating a pilot program with Broadstar Wind Systems in which Broadstar’s building mounted AeroCam wind turbines (see picture) will be installed at JC Penney’s 1.6 million square foot distribution center in Reno, NV. When installation is completed (also in November), JC Penney will buy the generated electricity from Broadstar.
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Will Nanoantennas replace PV Solar Cells?
By MB-BigB | August 12, 2008
Researchers at the DoE’s Idoho National Laboratory have come up with an inexpensive way to use “nanoantennas” to collect heat energy produced by the sun and other sources. Flexible plastic sheets containing the nanoantennas could then be mass produced to creat flexible lightweight “skins” that could power everything from iPods to hybrid cars to buildings.
While lots more work needs to be done on methods to convert the energy absorbed into useful electricity, the nanoantennas, which collect “mid-infrared rays” would be able to produce energy not only during the day when the sun is shining like traditional PV solar cells, but also at night, when heat is still being radiated. Almost any industrial process radiates heat, meaning that these nanoantennas could be used almost anywhere.
These nanoantennas consist of tiny gold squares or spirals set in a specially treated form of polyethylene, which is a pretty cheap material. The researchers are finding that the nanoantennas absorb over 80% of the energy at the targeted infrared wavelengths. Traditional solar cells rely on chemical reactions that currently work for about 20% of the light that hits them. Higher efficiency cells have been created, but they have all been very complex and expensive.
Another possible use of these nanoantennas would be for cooling devices. The nanoantennas would absorb the heat (in the form of infrared radiation), and could be treated to re-emit the energy at a different wavelenght, for example as visible light.
The researchers note that lots of additional research needs to be done, including the biggie, which is to convert all the energy absorbed into electricity.
“The infrared rays create alternating currents in the nanoantennas that oscillate trillions of times per second, requiring a component called a rectifier to convert the alternating current to direct current. Today’s rectifiers can’t handle such high frequencies. “We need to design nanorectifiers that go with our nanoantennas,” says Kotter, noting that a nanoscale rectifier would need to be about 1,000 times smaller than current commercial devices and will require new manufacturing methods. Another possibility is to develop electrical circuitry that might slow down the current to usable frequencies.”
You can read the full article on nanoantennas here at Science Daily.
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Topics: Solar Power | 1 Comment »
Blue H USA eyes Maine coast for wind power
By MB-BigB | August 10, 2008
Blue H USA is looking for a site that will not have any impact on local fisheries and the environment and is far enough eay from the coast so that any large turbines would not be visible from land. The Maine cost is looking good for an offshore project because it has strong and steady winds all year round.
The Blue H USA two-bladed turbines sit on floating platforms similar to those used by offshore oil drilling rigs and can be located in 150 to 900 ft deep water. The companies early plans call for 90 turbines capable of producing 450 megawatts with more to come.
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Review of the 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid SUV
By MB-BigB | August 6, 2008
The Gainesville Guardian got to test drive the brand new 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid SUV, and it sounds like they liked what they drove. It has more horsepower this year, but is still rated 34 mpg city / 30 highway like the 2008. A friend of mine has the 2008 Escape Hybrid, and he’s been averaging 31 mpg since he got it last winter.
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Laser textured solar cells will reflect less light and be more efficient
By MB-BigB | August 6, 2008
A University of Virginia team has been working on creating tiny nanoscale surface textures on solar cells that may reduce energy loss to less than 1 percent, compared to 30 percent or so that current solar cell non-reflecting coatings provide. By using lasers to create ‘nanospikes’ on the surface of the cell, the added hills and valleys create alot of additional surface area that reduces the amount of light reflected. The resulting solar cell will look black to the human eye. Even better, the team feels that the use of lasers to reduce reflectivity will lower the cost of the cells, since lasers are already used in the manufacture of solar cells and this process will eliminate the need for dangerous chemical treatments that are currently used to reduce reflection. The team believees that this process can provide an additional 2 to 3 percent increase in the overall efficiency of solar cells.
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New cheaper fuel cell breakthrough eliminates need for platinum
By MB-BigB | August 4, 2008
Monash University researchers have come up with a new Goretex fuel cell design that could make hybrid cars much cheaper and more reliable. The researchers have developed an air electrode conisisting of an extremely thin layer (0.4 of a micron) of highly conductive plastic is deposited on Goretex, the popular outdoor and sporting goods clothing material.
Dr. Winter-Jensen of Monash University says. “The same way as waste vapour is drawn out of this material to make hikers more comfortable to less prone to hypothermia, so it is able to ‘breathe’ oxygen into our fuel cell and into contact with the conductive plastic.” The new design removes the fuel cell’s need for platinum, which is the catalyst used in most fuel cells today. The main problem with platinum is that its very expensive and not enough of it is produced each year for fuel cells to become commonplace.
The new design has been tested continuously for up to 1500 hours using hydrogen as the fuel source. So far, testing has not come up with any sign of any degradation in either the material or the performance of fuel cell. This gives the new design another advantage over platinum fuel cells because with platinum, the small amounts of carbon monoxide that are produced by gasoline engines slowly poison and damage the fuel cell. The new Goretex fuel cells don’t seem to have the problem.
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Science Daily: MIT researchers develop new way to store solar power
By MB-BigB | August 2, 2008
One of the drawbacks of solar cells is that they only work when the sun is shining, and current methods to store the power produced by the cells for non-sunny periods are extremely expensive and very inefficient. Now, MIT researchers are claiming a breakthrough in power storage that will allow for inexpensive and efficient method for storing solar energy.
The researchers, led by MIT’s Daniel Nocera and Matthew Kanan, have come up with a process that efficiently splits water into hydrogen and oxygen gas which can be stored for use in a fuel cell. A house using this system would use the solar cells for power generation during the day and then would use the fuel cell at night. The MIT process uses a newly developed catalyst consisting of cobalt metal and produce the oxygen. Other catalysts, such as platinum, produces the hydrogen. According to Nocera, the new catalyst works at room temperature, in neutral pH water, and is very easy to setup.
“James Barber, a leader in the study of photosynthesis who was not involved in this research, called the discovery by Nocera and Kanan a “giant leap” toward generating clean, carbon-free energy on a massive scale.”
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EEStor Update: 3rd party certification of key production milestones and chemical purity
By MB-BigB | August 2, 2008
EEStor has announced that they have achieved 3rd party certification of production milestones and the enhancement of its chemical purification. EEStor, who have been developing an ultracapacitor that they say will be much longer lasting and more powerful than current batteries, are saying that the 3rd party certification shows that they are well on their way to producing the ultracapacitors at their claimed specifications.
Update - 8/6/08 - MIT Technology Review has some more details about EEStor’s latest announcement, along with some interesting news that EEStor is serious talks with potential partners in the solar and wind industry, where EEStor’s technology can, according to Dick Weir, founder and CEO of EEStor, “help put 45 percent more energy into the grid”.
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Tesla #6 gets a real world awakening
By MB-BigB | July 29, 2008
I couldn’t resist posting this. Just a couple of hours of taking delivery of his brand new Tesla, the owner (unnamed) got himself in an accident! A minor fender bender - nobody was injured, but boy, that’s gotta hurt. So far, only about 10 of the $109,000 electric cars have been delivered, and one of them’s already wrecked. At least the dealer thinks that the car’s repairable. Check out Autopia from Wired for the full story and lots more Tesla crash pictures.
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