Solar Southwest Technology, a Phoenix based company is out with an interesting and innovative idea to store energy. Under the plan whenever excess energy is available from any source, it is utilized to pump air into a subterranean cavern. Nearly 350 pounds of air is pumped in a square inch.

Whenever electricity is required, the air in the cavern is used to spin a turbine that is capable of converting the energy of a passing gas into rotary energy. The turbine in turn spins a generator and puts power on the grid on demand, rather than at the whim of sun or breeze. In order to obtain better results, the air must be heated so that it expands and drives the turbine blades even more efficiently. A mirror dish is used to heat the air. This dish helps in focusing the sun’s energy on a receptacle filled with a fluid, which captures the heat at up to 1,700 degrees and carries it to where it is required.

The project is currently in its initial stages and the company has installed a prototype solar dish and turbine. An electrically driven compressor provides compressed air for the prototype solar dish system.

Od-Do Arhiteckti has come up with a sustainable lamp that harvests clean energy during the day for sustainable lighting after dark.The lamp is incorporated with photovoltaic cells that can harvest solar energy during the daytime and stores it in an onboard battery. After dark the energy stored is used to power a set of energy-efficient LED light bulbs for sustainable illumination.

Toyota Industries Corp. has developed a new charging station for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles that is powered by solar energy. The municipal government of Toyota City has adopted the stations and plans to build 21 stations at 11 places.

The charging station produces 1.9KW of solar power, which is stored in an 8.4KWh battery pack. The station is also connected to the grid, which enables commuters to charge their rides after the stored electricity runs out and the solar array isn’t producing any charge.

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have come up with a new photovoltaic cell no bigger than a flake of glitter, but it packs a big punch. The new cell uses 100 times less silicon to generate the same amount of electricity as conventional solar cells. While still in the development stage, the new solar particles could lend themselves relatively easily to commercialization because they are made of crystalline silicon and use the same micro-manufacturing processes typical of modern electronics.

The Sandia team also cites the potential for applying the tiny photovoltaic cells directly to roofing materials, which would practically eliminate the often cumbersome permitting process that is currently needed to install a conventional rooftop solar array (Dow has taken a similar approach with its new solar shingles). Compared to six-by-six inch conventional solar cells, the new solar particles are only up to 20 micrometers thick, less than one third the thickness of a human hair, and they could be imprinted with circuits that would control the collection and disbursement of solar energy within the building and to a grid connection, without the need for expensive and time-consuming electrical design work. Roof maintenance, repair, and shading issues may also be mitigated due to the small size of the micro-cells.

The new cells can be made from available silicon wafers of any size, without some of the quality control problems involved in conventional solar cell manufacturing. The Sandia researchers also expect them to be less expensive, more durable and more efficient that conventional solar collectors, and they could open up an exciting new range of applications.

See more

Prism Solar Technologies in Highland, NY has innovated a breakthrough holographic thin-film (Holographic Planar Concentrator™) that makes possible a very parsimonious use of crystalline PV cells to counteract that problem for Northern regions.This brings the cost down to $1 a watt.

Each of their solar modules is actually made up of both crystalline PV and their unique holographic thin-film. The thin-film strips diffract both direct and reflected energy to the PV cell strips integrated between strips of thin-film. Solar modules made in this way are cheaper because they use 50-72% less silicon to make the same energy.(more from here)

Here are the advantages of Holographic Planar Concentrator™ (HPC) technology:

• Less silicon reduces cost per watt
• Passive tracking from holographic effect produces more energy from diffuse and reflected light.
• Cooler operation than conventional PV module, most unusable light passes through module without being turned into heat.
• Bifacial PV cells can increase module performance when mounted over a reflective surface.
• Lower embodied energy, the energy required to manufacture the HPC film is much less than that required to mine and process silicon.

See more

A Turkish technology firm in Edirne has produced fuel with boron through the use of nanotechnology.

NNT Nanotechnology and Boron Products General Manager Mehmet Can Arvas said the invention was a result of the need to find alternative energy resources amidst the increased threat caused by the world’s depleting fuel reserves.The new fuel is currently only being used as an ingredient of the gas or diesel used in fuel tanks but Arvas is hopeful that it will replace these carbon-based fuels once compatible engines are produced.

Arvas said vehicles using fuel containing boron would be able to travel 1,300 kilometers on the same amount of gas that a car using ordinary fuel would need in order to travel 1,000 kilometers. A reduction in pollution is another benefit of the new boron product, he added.

Power Paper, an Infinity Group portfolio company, and GE Global Research, the technology development arm for the General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), announced that the companies have signed an agreement to jointly develop self-powered OLED lighting devices. Using low-cost, high volume manufacturing processes, these devices could be deployed in a wide variety of environments from military ships to night-time jogging vests. The collaboration is supported by an Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation (BIRD Foundation) program.

Under the terms of the agreement, the collaboration will combine Power Paper’s novel thin film batteries and GE’s industry leading Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) technology. The goal of the GE-Power Paper- BIRD project is to develop a first generation of self-powered OLED lighting products and identify next generation technologies with enhanced capabilities. The length of the program is 12 months. The general illumination market is estimated at $2.5 billion.

See more

In California, researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have genetically modified cyanobacteria to produce the liquid fuel isobutanol directly from carbon dioxide and sunlight.

The announcement mirrors a breakthrough by Joule Biotechnolgies, which announced last month it had produced, in its lab, diesel-equivalent fuels from sunlight and CO2.

The technical approach: using Synechoccus elongatus (a cyanobacterium) the team first genetically increased the quantity of the CO2-fixing enzyme RuBisCO. Then they spliced genes from other microorganisms to engineer a strain that intakes carbon dioxide and sunlight and produces isobutyraldehyde gas. The low boiling point and high vapor pressure of the gas allows it to easily be stripped from the system.

According to the researchers, the engineered bacteria can produce isobutanol directly, but researchers say it is currently easier to use an existing and relatively inexpensive chemical catalysis process to convert isobutyraldehyde gas to isobutanol, as well as other useful petroleum-based products.

The team said that a project, using the technology, could be placed next to power plants and convert CO2 into transportation fuels. The team said that they are working on improving the rate and yield of the production, addressing the efficiency of light distribution and reducing bioreactor costs.” The group reported their results in the current issue of Nature.

See more

Myriant Technologies LLC has just won U.S. Department of Energy funding of up to $50 million to construct a new plant that will produce Succinic Acid from sorghum, using a biobased process that is more energy efficient than conventional methods, and also absorbs more carbon dioxide than it produces.

Until now, petroleum has been the feedstock of choice to manufacture Succinic Acid. If commercially successful, a more sustainable biobased process like Myriant’s could have a significant impact on global greenhouse gas emissions, because Succinic Acid is used in a fantastic variety of materials from non-toxic diesel fuel additives, pharmaceuticals and food to plastic car parts, computer casings, and shoe soles.

See more

New Jersey-based Carbozyme is taking help from the human blood to develop a system to capture CO2 from mixed gas emissions for later sequestration.

An enzyme in our blood captures about two pounds of CO2 every day and converts it into bicarbonate for easier transportation to the lungs. The same enzyme then works in reverse and converts bicarbonate into CO2 gas that we exhale. Carbozyme is trying to develop a synthetic enzyme that does the same but at a much larger scale.

The idea is to coat porous tubes with the synthetic version of the enzyme and let it capture CO2 from smokestack gases as they pass through the tubes. Based on lab tests, the system should use about a third less energy than other methods, while avoiding the hazardous chemicals typically used for the same process.

See more

Neptune Renewable Energy has announced the development of a breakthrough tidal power generator, which will undergo sea trial at Hull early next year. The generator dubs the action of Proteus,which consists of a 6m x 6m vertical axis, crossflow turbine mounted within a patented, symmetrical Venturi diffuser duct and beneath a very simple steel deck and buoyancy chambers. Similar to Proteus,the £1 million, 150-ton generator is being claimed to be 30% more efficient than conventional hydro dam designs and can provide a continuous supply ofrenewable energy.

The state-of-the-art generator features a steel hull, turbine and buoyancy chambers, which allows it to work equally well in ebb and flow tides. The system consists of a vertical axis cross-flow turbine mounted within symmetrical venture diffusers that efficiently convert tidal energy into electricity.

NREL has selected the Humber Estuary for the first deployment of Proteus, as given its depth and tidal flow, is considered one of the best locations in the British Isles for tidal stream power. Once deployed, the advanced Neptune Proteus NP1000 should generate at least 1000MWh of electricity each year.

See more

Stanford University scientists discovered a way to turn paper covered with ink containing silver and carbon nano-materials into a “paper battery”. That’s right—a battery made out of paper. What’s really amazing is that this battery might have quite the variety of uses, ranging from electric vehicle power to laptop computer use. There is also the possibility that a paper electronics line may crop up in the future.

Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences noted that “taking advantage of the mature paper technology, low cost, light and high-performance energy-storage are realized by using conductive paper as current collectors and electrodes”.

See more

Sopogy has developed a new 90-pound portable power unit called SopoLite. This invention is a pint-sized version of the parabolic trough reflectors that Sopogy uses to collect solar thermal energy.

The unit's most interesting facet is its original purpose - collecting data on the solar power potential of wherever its located. Kimura, CEO of Sopogy, plans to park these units all over the country and build out a map of the potential availability of thermal solar energy, or the energy derived from the sun's heat. Such a map will make it much easier to determine the true thermal solar power potential of any given location without having to deploy sensors and testing gear. This could prove to be a boon to the still nascent rooftop and commercial solar thermal power segment.

Figuring out how well solar thermal power works in any given location, however, is somewhat tricky. Micro-weather patterns are very important for solar thermal as clouds can really put a drag on thermal heat collection. Winds and thermal patterns can also reduce solar collection possibilities. That's where Kimura hopes to insert SopoLite, and in the process turn the unit (which can be towed behind a trailer) into a data-collection initiative similar in nature to those funny Google cars you see driving around with spinning cameras mounted on their roofs.

It's way too early to see whether this will take off, but it's a fascinating idea in a small package.

See more

South Korea's POSCO (005490.KS) plans to eventually halt carbon emissions by switching to a hydrogen-based steelmaking process from 2021, company officials said.

Currently, iron ore is melted in a furnace using super-heated air from burning coal. In addition to this fuel role, coal is also used as a critical component in steel production because the carbon from burning coal captures oxygen from the molten iron ore, emitting carbon dioxide in the process.

POSCO hopes to switch from carbon to hydrogen gas to capture oxygen, a step that results in water produced as a byproduct instead of planet-warming carbon dioxide.

POSCO officials said the steelmaker is considering supplying hydrogen gas from its "SMART" nuclear reactors. It is looking at participating in a consortium for developing small or medium-sized nuclear reactors.

The steelmaker, however, has not yet decided which energy resources they will use instead of coal as fuel to heat the furnace.

Under the mid-term plan through 2020, the steelmaker will introduce breakthrough new process technology for carbon dioxide reduction.

In addition to steelmaking process changes, POSCO is looking for new business opportunities in low-carbon green growth areas, for instance, stationary fuel cells and synthetic natural gas.

See more

ERRA Incorporated, San Antonio, TX, USA has acquired all rights and patents to a breakthrough battery technology to be marketed as the YESS (that's "Your Energy Storage Solution") Battery from ERRA, Inc.

It appears the company is planning on launching its own electric car and has decided to re-invent the battery, specifically the nickel hydrogen (NiH2) cell similar to those used in satellites for the past 40 years. They say they have "acquired all rights and patents to a breakthrough battery technology" whose properties are said to include the ability to charge in 15 minutes, be cycled thousands of times and require no maintenance. With a cost said to be similar to lead acid and an energy density equivalent to lithium ion, ERRA believes it has a battery that will "largely displace" other chemistries. If it does manage to successfully maneuver the path from press statement to actual product, be prepared to see the YESS debut in the chassis of a refurbished Solectria Sunrise (specifically, this one). Company CEO Jim Hogarth played a part in the development of that car through his role at Boston Edison in the '90s and has never forgotten its promise of better efficiency through the use of lightweight materials. That presentation may be sooner rather than later as it is being reported that the company could be ready for production within nine months.

A wind turbine efficiency breakthrough by Dr Markus Mueller and Dr Alasdair McDonald of the University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Energy Systems has the potential to revolutionize the wind energy industry by making large turbines more failure-proof by cutting their weight in half.

It is expensive and hazardous sending workers out to off-shore wind farms for repairs when there is a mechanical failure. By reducing the weight, the researchers reduce mechanical failures, caused by the sheer stresses in these very large turbines.

Their technology substituted a “C” shaped core generator (initially in a 20 kW prototype) to test to see if by changing the mechanical structure of the generator they could still maintain rigidity and structural integrity while cutting the weight by more than half.

The researchers have formed NGenTec; a spin-off company, with the help of Derek Douglas, an entrepreneur familiar with raising money for start-ups.NGenTec hopes to raise £4 million to demonstrate that their improvement will also work full scale; at the 6MW level, and then a further £10 million to set up an assembly and manufacturing operation. The technology would reduce costs for both land-based and off-shore wind farms, while having a more marked effect on repair costs of hard to-get-to locations.

See more

A small coal-fired generating plant owned by Colorado's Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Inc. in northwestern New Mexico will be used to test new hybrid technology that combines solar- and coal-generated steam to produce electricity.

The 245-megawatt Escalante Generating Station in Prewitt, N.M., 27 miles northwest of Grants, is one of two host sites that California’s Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) chose to test the technology. The other site is a natural gas-powered generating station near Las Vegas, Nevada.

Solar thermal hybrid applications can provide a low-cost option for incorporating renewable energy into established grids because, rather than build new transmission capability for a stand-alone solar concentrating plant, the steam generated will make electricity through the turbine generator already established at the coal facility.

It also eliminates the challenges of siting a new plant and new power block, said EPRI Vice President of Generation Carolyn Shockley in a news release.

See more

California based Solarmer Energy has achieved nearly 8 percent efficiency of its plastic solar panels, certified by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.Reaching the 7.9 percent mark makes it the highest conversion efficiency for a plastic organic photovoltaic (OPV) cell to date.

The aperture-area test results also mean the company has beat its own 7.6 percent cell efficiencies, certified by the Newport Technology & Applications Center’s Photovoltaic Lab in October.

The company said it uses low-cost plastic as the active materials to convert solar energy into electricity. The active plastics layer is very thin, also offering low costs. The company said it also uses low-cost printing techniques and a fabrication process that has low temperatures and is eco-friendly.

Solarmer is currently completing its pilot manufacturing line and has said its plastic solar panels are expected to be available in 2010.

See more