Here First - Science and Technology Blog

Men of science at the United States of America section of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have produced a 3D photovoltaic cell which could rise PV light-to-energy conversion rates by 80%. Generally, when sunlight hits the surface of a solar board and is assimilated by solar cells, a few of the charge produced by solar photons gets pinned by natural faults in the bulk materials that comprise the strata of the PV cell, consequent in a deprivation of final electricity output. The scientists focused on optimising this energy. "To solve the entrapment problems that reduce solar cell efficiency, we created a nanocone-based solar cell, invented methods to synthesize these cells and demonstrated improved charge collection efficiency," Xu said. Oak Ridge’s 3D solar cell applies zinc-oxide n-type nanocenes to suffice a model for channeling electrons. A p-type ground substance of crystalline Cd telluride functions as the main photon absorber medium. With these new...

MIT scientists aims to a much more effective method of gleaning electric power from what would otherwise be wasted heat energy. In everything from computing device C.P.U. chips to auto locomotives to electrical powerplants, the necessitate to eliminate extra heat produces a great source of inefficiency. But fresh inquiry points the way to a engineering that could make it conceivable to harvest a good deal of that wasted heat and turn it into operational electricity. Hagelstein, an associate professor of EE at MIT, alleges that with present systems it is achievable to efficiently convert heat into electrical energy, just with very little power. It is as well conceivable to acquire good deal of electrical power — what is called high-throughput power — from a lower effective, and so larger and less affordable system. “It’s a tradeoff. You either get high efficiency or high throughput,” says Hagelstein. Merely the team ascertained that employing their new system, it would be achievabl...

Joule Biotechnologies Inc.’s secret ingredient - a designed organism - looks like green Jell-O before it’s refrigerated. The unknown organism consumes sunlight and carbon dioxide, then sweats ethanol. The 2-year-old compan said that one day soonin the near future its SolarFuel could be used to power cars all around the world. It seems that the the mysterious fuel-making organism has a green color, but it is not algae. Chief executive Bill Sims and cofounder David Berry did provide a peek at the Joule process, while dodging persistent inquiries about the mysterious fuel-making organism. “We are converting sunlight to liquid energy,’ Sims explained. The goal is to make an environmentally-friendly fuel that can compete with $50-a-barrel fossil fuels Jeremy Martin, a senior scientist in the clean vehicles program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, is shure the organism is almost certainly a plant. Read more here

We can produce a lot of electric power from alternative sources of energy. On of these sources can be found in the waves! Portugal realized that and built Agucadoura, the world's first wave farm off its coast. There are  three Wave Energy Converters generating a total of 2.25MW. The elongated metal contraptions bob up and down with the waves, while internal pistons, attached to the sea floor, remain stationary and pump hydraulic fluid. All this mechanic arsenal drives electric generators. The electric power is brought ashore by underwater electrical cables. The wave farm is now tapping into enough constant, renewable energy to power 1500 homes. Who knew there was so much power in the ocean waves? Imagine what we can do with many of these farms all over the oceans. But it seems there is no interest in this at this time.  I hope in the near future generators such these will be one of the clean alternative for an energy-starved planet.

This is a small prototype generator recently debuted from Omron Corp. It harnesses power from vibrations to create electricity. The model will cost 10.36$ because of its simple structure and packaging. Omron’s generator works with an “electret power generation system” that changes capacitance depending on the relative position of opposing electrodes. A change in capacitance generates electric current. The prototype you see in picture above produces only 10μW of power with vibrational inputs at 20Hz frequency and 1G acceleration. This is not enough to fully operate a cell phone. But despite its minimal generated power there are important uses for this prototype. The generator will be placed in devices installed on highways to detect road problems. The generator could also be installed inside car tires for tire pressure monitoring since tires vibrate strongly during movement.