photovoltaics
File this away in the “Do I Dare Try This at Home?” department: Register Hardware features a video link from a creative American who demonstrates how to make a homemade solar cell from doughnut sugar and Starbucks’ Passion Tea. While it might sound outrageous at first blush, watch the video
photovoltaics
A subsidiary of embattled finance-insurance firm AIG has sold off its interests in three Spanish photovoltaic plants. AIG Financial Products Corporation (AIGFP) sold its interests in the plants to HG Capital, a London-based private equity firm focused on renewable energy, for an undisclosed sum. The three plants have a total
photovoltaics
Global photovoltaic installations reached a total capacity of 5.95 gigawatts in 2008, according to a new report from the California-based energy consultancy Solarbuzz. That marked an increase of 110 percent over the previous year, the report states. Europe accounted for most of the world’s photovoltaic market — 82 percent
photovoltaics
Ferrari this week unveiled a new photovoltaic system on the roof of its engine mechanical machining facility in Maranello, Italy. The flat-roof array is expected to cut Ferrari’s off-the-grid energy consumption by nearly 214,000 kilowatt-hours a year. As part of an ongoing sustainability programme (could driving a Ferrari
environmental toxins
Hmm, it seems as though kicking this fossil fuel habit through renewables isn’t so straightforward after all: right on the heels of a report that home-based wind energy isn’t all it’s cracked up to be comes a new study exploring the dangers of toxic chemicals used in
large-scale solar
While many corporations are slashing employment and sloughing off whole business divisions, Toshiba Corp. is launching a brand-new organization to tap the growing global demand for solar photovoltaic systems. Toshiba’s new Photovoltaic Systems Division will focus on large-scale solar installations by utilities and industrial plants. The company says it’
photovoltaics
A new branch library that opened in San Jose, California, this week sports an art glass window installation that is also a solar-power generator. Designed by artist Lynn Goodpasture, the installation at the Pearl Avenue Branch Library breaks new ground in the US, making San Jose the only city with
photovoltaics
Plain old glass windows that just sit there and let the light into your home or office? Bah! A California company says you can do much better with see-through photovoltaic glass windows that insulates while generating electricity. Hollywood-based Rainbow Solar Inc. (RSi) says its windows are the first building-integrated photovoltaic
Georgia
Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue might not have much past green cred — he has, after all, been a global warming skeptic who’s suggested prayer as a way to resolve the state’s severe drought — but he boosted his rep a bit this week by cutting the ribbon for Suniva Inc.
photovoltaics
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say computer simulations could help design a next-generation solar cell that’s up to 50 percent more efficient that today’s versions. The team says a combination of computer modeling and various advanced chip-making techniques make it possible for light to bounce around