Tag: solar power

Truly transparent solar energy Engineering Environment New Technologies Physics 

Solar Energy that Doesn’t Block the View

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A company is making completely see-through solar energy panels for our phones and tablets. Next, for our car and home windows. By Kate Stone A team of researchers at Michigan State University has developed a new type of solar concentrator that, when placed over a window, creates solar energy while still allowing people to see through the window. It is called a “transparent luminescent solar concentrator” and it can be used on buildings, cell phones, and anything else that has a clear surface. According to Richard Lunt of MSU’s College…

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The UT Arlington team developed a new solar cell that is more efficient and can store solar energy even at night. (UT Arlington) Engineering New Technologies 

New Solar Energy Storage Works at Night

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By Kate S. Most solar energy systems rely on using sunlight as an immediate power source, but can’t function at night or in cloudy weather. So, what if a solar cell could store solar energy and release it for use after the sun goes down? That’s the technology a materials science and engineering team from the University of Texas at Arlington has developed. They have successfully built a new energy cell that can store large-scale solar energy, even when it’s dark. The prototype is an “all-vanadium photo-electrochemical flow cell” that…

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Off-grid tiny house Engineering Environment New Technologies 

Off-Grid Tiny House Will Blow Your Mind

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This is not the set of a sci-fi show. It is the Ecocapsule, an independent off-the-grid micro house from Nice Architects, an architectural studio in Bratislava, Slovakia. The Ecocapsule has been in development since 2008. Recently, a prototype went on display for the first time at the Pioneers Festival in Vienna, Austria, and EH Science invited the architects to talk about their egg-shaped creation. “With its off-grid life span, portability, and flexibility, it is suitable for a wide range of applications–from an independent research station or a tourist lodge to…

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