Solar Daily 30 10 2018

October 30, 2018

A solar cell that does double duty for renewable energy  Berkeley CA (SPX) Oct 30, 2018 - In the quest for abundant, renewable alternatives to fossil fuels, scientists have sought to harvest the sun's energy through "water splitting," an artificial photosynthesis technique that uses sunlight to generate hydrogen fuel from water. But water-splitting devices have yet to live up to their potential because there still isn't a design for materials with the right mix of optical, electronic ... more

Ben-Gurion University researchers achieve breakthrough in process to produce hydrogen fuel  New York NY (SPX) Oct 30, 2018 - Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and the Technion Israel Institute of Technology researchers have cracked the chemical mechanism that will enable development of a new and more efficient photo-chemical process to produce hydrogen fuel from water, according to a new paper published in Nature Communications. The team is the first to successfully reveal the fundamental chemical reactio ... more

Manganese may finally solve hydrogen fuel cells' catalyst problem  Buffalo NY (SPX) Oct 30, 2018 - Manganese is known for making stainless steel and aluminum soda cans. Now, researchers say the metal could advance one of the most promising sources of renewable energy: hydrogen fuel cells. In a study published in the journal Nature Catalysis, a University at Buffalo-led research team reports on catalysts made from the widely available and inexpensive metal. The advancement could ev ... more

Solar Electric "StratoAirNet" Prototype Completes Additional Flights  Denver CO (SPX) Oct 30, 2018 - Several additional test flights of the "StratoAirNet" solar electric technology demonstrator prototype for Bye Aerospace's family of medium-altitude aircraft systems took place Oct. 15-17 at Northern Colorado Regional Airport. The prototype made six short flights, with further data collected on take-off and landing performance, climb rate, aero-efficiency and motor and battery operations. ... more

Low cost, energy-saving radiative cooling system ready for real-world applications  Boulder CO (SPX) Oct 29, 2018 - University of Colorado Boulder and University of Wyoming engineers have successfully scaled up an innovative water-cooling system capable of providing continuous day-and-night radiative cooling for structures. The advance could increase the efficiency of power generation plants in summer and lead to more efficient, environmentally-friendly temperature control for homes, businesses, utilities and ... more

Highly efficient wet-processed solar cells with molecules in the same orientation  Kanazawa, Japan (SPX) Oct 29, 2018 - Solar cells are a cost-effective, alternate source of energy. A subtype of these, organic solar cells make use of organic polymers inside the cell. Using these polymers makes the cells light-weight and increases their flexibility. Organic solar cells are produced by two different chemical methods: dry processing and wet processing, with the latter being a faster method. There are several p ... more

Whiskers, surface growth and dendrites in lithium batteries  St. Louis MO (SPX) Oct 26, 2018 - As our love of gadgets grows, so do demands for longer lasting batteries. But there's a problem. To make a longer-lasting battery, it needs to be bigger, and bigger isn't better when it comes to cell phones or electric cars - not to mention pacemakers. Lithium ion batteries already have a less-than-stellar reputation: think exploding cell phones or fires on airplanes. Beyond these ex ... more

Nanotubes may give the world better batteries  Houston TX (SPX) Oct 26, 2018 - Rice University scientists are counting on films of carbon nanotubes to make high-powered, fast-charging lithium metal batteries a logical replacement for common lithium-ion batteries. The Rice lab of chemist James Tour showed thin nanotube films effectively stop dendrites that grow naturally from unprotected lithium metal anodes in batteries. Over time, these tentacle-like dendrites can p ... more

Chilean court authorizes Chinese group's lithium production purchase  Santiago (AFP) Oct 25, 2018 - Chile's constitutional court gave the green light on Thursday to Chinese group Tianqi's proposed acquisition of a 24 percent stake in Chile's lithium producer SQM for $4.1 billion. The court rejected an appeal to halt the sale by SQM's controlling shareholder, the Pampa Group, which argued that such a deal would break competition rules as Tianqi also owns a stake in Albermarle, a direct comp ... more  Poor Ivory Coast pupils' ray of hope: solar backpacks Allepilla, Ivory Coast (AFP) Oct 26, 2018 - The equatorial sun has been up for about an hour as a gaggle of children set off from the Ivorian village of Allepilla on their hour-long trek to school. Back home in the evening, eight-year-old Marie-France Amoandji Ngbessoo does her homework by the light of her backpack's LED - captured by solar panels on her way to and from school. The light can run for three hours. With insect ... more  Scientists unravel the mysteries of polymer strands in fuel cells  Washington DC (SPX) Oct 25, 2018 - Hydrogen fuel cells offer an attractive source of continuous energy for remote applications, from spacecraft to remote weather stations. Fuel cell efficiency decreases as the Nafion membrane, used to separate the anode and cathode within a fuel cell, swells as it interacts with water. A Russian and Australian collaboration has now shown that this Nafion separator membrane partially unwinds ... more  China's solar subsidy cuts will help US developers to revive projects and jobs, says GlobalData  London, UK (SPX) Oct 25, 2018 - The move by China in May this year to slash subsidies for domestic utility-scale solar projects will ultimately benefit developers in the US who rely on imported solar panels to revive projects and jobs, says GlobalData, leading data and analytics company. Solar power developers in the US have been struggling since early 2018 due to two separate policy decisions announced in the US and Chi ... more  New material, manufacturing process use sun's heat for cheaper renewable electricity  West Lafayette IN (SPX) Oct 19, 2018 - Solar power accounts for less than 2 percent of U.S. electricity but could make up more than that if the cost of electricity generation and energy storage for use on cloudy days and at nighttime were cheaper. A Purdue University-led team developed a new material and manufacturing process that would make one way to use solar power - as heat energy - more efficient in generating electricity. ... more  How graphite is lighting the way to a solar future  London, UK (SPX) Oct 24, 2018 - An already burgeoning solar power industry faces another significant boost thanks to one widely used and long-valued material-graphite. With news earlier this year that solar and wind power could be used to generate as much as 80% of all the United States' energy needs, graphite is fast becoming a hot commodity. Its vital role in the production of lithium-ion batteries has led analys ... more  3D-printed lithium-ion batteries  Washington DC (SPX) Oct 18, 2018 - Electric vehicles and most electronic devices, such as cell phones and laptop computers, are powered by lithium-ion batteries. Until now, manufacturers have had to design their devices around the size and shape of commercially available batteries. But researchers have developed a new method to 3D print lithium-ion batteries in virtually any shape. They report their results in ACS Applied Energy ... more  Electrical enhancement: Engineers speed up electrons in semiconductors  Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Oct 18, 2018 - Researchers from Graduate School of Bio-Applications and Systems Engineering at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT) have sped up the movement of electrons in organic semiconductor films by two to three orders of magnitude. The speedier electronics could lead to improved solar power and transistor use across the world, according to the scientists. They published their resu ... more  Trina Solar Supplies Modules to Ukraine's Largest Solar Power Plant  Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Oct 18, 2018 - Trina Solar has delivered 123MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules to a PV power plant developed by DTEK, the largest private energy company in Ukraine. Upon completion, the project will become the largest PV power facility locally and the largest single PV power station in Europe. Located near Nikopol, Dnepropetrovsk Oblast in central Ukraine, the project has a planned capacity of 246MW a ... more  Renewable energy is common ground for Democrats and Republicans  Pullman WA (SPX) Oct 17, 2018 - As the battle lines are drawn for next month's hotly contested midterm elections, some Americans may be comforted to know there is at least one area of common ground for Democrats and Republicans. Regardless of political standing, age or gender, U.S. voters are in favor of renewable energy, according to research by Christine Horne, professor of sociology at Washington State University. ... more