Tag: SOLARENERGY

It's easy to talk about the benefits of 'green' power, but the bottom line is that the method has to be affordable before people will use it. According to Physorg, a study conducted at Duke University claims that solar power in North Carolina has now become more cost-efficient than nuclear power. Earlier this year, the cost of producing one kilowatt hour (kWh) of solar power dropped to 16 ...

A new solar light bulb could be a safer and more affordable lighting option for people who live in developing nations. According to CNET News, the Nokero N100 solar LED bulb can provide up to four hours of light on a single charge -- making it the world's first solar-powered light bulb. The N100 is about the size of your average incandescent bulb, but the green plastic housing holds four solar ...

Scientists at the Eni-MIT Solar Frontiers Research Center have successfully developed the first solar cells printed on paper, using a process similar to inkjet printing. Organic semiconductors in the form of carbon-based dyes were applied to paper, resulting in a solar cell with a 1.5- to 2-percent sunlight conversion efficiency rate. (Current thin-film solar cells have achieved record efficiency ...

Many people would love to build an entirely "green" house. But "going green" isn't always cheap or practical. That's why we're so excited about Dow Chemical's new solar-powered shingles, which are meant to be used on asphalt-tiled roofs. According to The New York Times, the Powerhouse thin-film shingle can be installed by most roofers, and they're durable, too. You can even drop one from a roof, ...

Christians tend to gaze skyward for guidance, so it's no surprise that their leaders have chosen the sun as their power source of the future. According to Fox News, the Vatican is planning to spend $660 million on a new 740-acre solar plant near the village of Santa Maria de Galeria. The plant, which would be largest of its kind in all of Europe, is expected to be ready by 2014. The Guardian ...

With renewable energy being a thing of the future, a Spanish town called Santa Coloma de Gramenet is making it a thing of the past. And the dead. The town has erected a sea of solar panels sitting atop is local cemetery. Flat, sunlit land is apparently so scarce in the region that the graveyard is essentially the only viable spot to install its solar energy program. The 462 panels installed ...

Imagine what would happen if you took a kid ten times smarter than Doogie Howser, made him a scientist instead of a doctor, and then made him more concerned with helping the world than getting dates. The t12-year-old Oregonian has invented a solar cell that is being described as a 3-D cell (though we're still not exactly sure what that means). The new cells absorb visible light and ultraviolet ...