Science and Enterprise

Tag: solar

  • ARPA-E to Fund $130 Million for New Energy R&D

    The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) announced the availability of funding of five new research areas in its fourth round of grants for new energy technologies. The projects to be funded will involve rare earth alternatives, biofuels, thermal storage, grid controls, and solar power electronics. ARPA-E is modeled after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency…

  • New Process Devised For Efficient Hydrogen Production

    A research team at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland has discovered that catalysts based on the element molybdenum can make possible a more cost-effective and sustainable process for producing hydrogen. Their findings appear in the journal Chemical Science (paid subscription required). Hydrogen is an abundant element on earth, but still remains difficult…

  • Energy Dept. Funding Solar Manufacturing Development

    The Department of Energy has awarded three sets of grants to promote development of advanced solar photovoltaic (PV)-related manufacturing processes in the U.S. The $112.5 million awards over five years are part of the department’s SunShot Initiative that aims to make large-scale solar energy systems cost competitive without subsidies by the end of the decade.…

  • Solar Developer, Energy Lab Sign R&D Deal

    New Energy Technologies Inc. in Columbia, Maryland has signed a research and development agreement with National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado to advance the company’s technology for generating solar electric power through window glass. NREL is a division of the U.S. Department of Energy. New Energy’s system, marketed under the trade name SolarWindow,…

  • Laser Technology Can Cut Solar Cell Costs, Raise Efficiency

    Researchers at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana are developing a manufacturing technology based on fast, pulsing lasers that aims to make solar cells more affordable and efficient. The technology creates small microchannels needed to connect solar panels into an array that generates usable amounts of power. Yung Shin, engineering professor and director of Purdue’s…

  • Three U.S. Corporations Start Energy Technology Fund

    Three American energy corporations –- General Electric Co. (GE), NRG Energy Inc., and ConocoPhillips -– have begun a joint venture that aims to fund emerging energy technology companies. The companies have committed $300 million to the collaboration, called Energy Technology Ventures, with plans to support some 30 venture- and growth-stage companies over the next four…

  • Collaboration Tracks Solar Streams Disrupting Communications

    A university-government partnership is making operational a prediction model designed for weather forecasting, and put into use to track solar activity that disrupts communications. The Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling (CISM) at Boston University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center reported the news of the collaboration today at…

  • Enviro. Engineer Recalibrates Solar Panel Placement

    An environmental engineer at University of California San Diego (UCSD) has researched the optimum placement of fixed solar panels in the U.S., and for some installations, it may mean making adjustments. UCSD environmental engineering professor Jan Kleissl computed the optimum tilt and azimuth angles for photovoltaic solar panels in the continental U.S., with his findings…

  • Report: Nanotech Can Cut Green Energy Costs

    In a new report, a technology research company estimates the use of available nanotechnologies can significantly reduce the cost of producing energy from renewable sources. ABI Research in New York says that worldwide investment in renewable energy will top $2 trillion on a cumulative basis from 2010 through 2015, but over that same period using…

  • California Funds Solar Cogeneration, Winery Demo Project

    Cogenra Solar, a developer of solar cogeneration systems in Mountain View, California, has received a $1.5 million research grant from the California Solar Initiative Research, Development, Deployment and Demonstration Program. The funding will support accelerated development and commercial deployment of Cogenra’s solar cogeneration technology, including a demonstration project at the Sonoma Wine Company in Graton,…