Amonix, a solar manufacturer based in California, has been focusing on pushing the efficiency of solar modules to new levels. The company specializes in concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) systems – basically solar power enhanced by using mirrors and lenses that bring up the concentrations of sunlight. Amonix has now built [...]

Uranium is what has been used in power plants since the 1950’s, not long after Albert Einstein formulated E=mc^2, which proved the tremendous power and potential in harnessing nuclear energy. Since then, nuclear energy has been used for both peaceful and as nuclear bombs in war – the last one [...]

Anti-reflective coating is used in many types of solar cell on the market today. They do add a few percentages to overall performance, however, there are further improvements to be made. This is what Professor E. Fred Schubert and his team at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is working on. Recent [...]

It looks like Popeye is not the only one that gets a boost from spinach – an interdisciplinary team of researchers at Vanderbilt University have successfully extracted a protein called PS-1 from spinach (the green leafy vegetable), and combined it with silicon, to improve the power output of a solar [...]

Both green roofs and solar panels have many significant benefits on their own. One study indicated that green roofs could reduce the yearly energy consumption of a building by as much as 6%through lowering the demand for cooling during warm summer days. Putting vegetation on top of your roof would [...]

The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, signed three bills on August 17 as a part of the NY Sun Initiative to spur new growth in the renewable energy sector. Homeowners across the state can now benefit from tax credits for power purchase agreements (PPAs), as well as an extension [...]

Quantum dots (also known as nanocrystals) have certain electronic properties, which we can use to convert photons (light particles) into electricity in much the same way as with traditional solar cells. Quantum dot solar cells films, are usually built up by much more inexpensive material if compared to crystalline- or [...]

On March 11 2011, Japan was hit by a devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 on the Richter scale. Following the earthquake, a violent tsunami struck the northeast coast of Japan, where Fukushima is located.  The natural disaster claimed 20,000 lives, as well as several meltdowns at the Fukushima [...]

Third-party owned solar has been getting a lot of attention only in the last few months. New models of financing solar panels, removing the upfront costs of the household, literally bringing in savings in terms of reduced electricity costs from day one, has spurred an impressive growth in the industry [...]

Shading, a good angle, available space and many other factors play an important part in determining the feasibility of a solar installation. In fact, most households are not suitable for a solar panel installation. Is the bigger part of the population therefore not able to generate their own electricity with [...]