MIT opens new 'window' on solar energy

Another innovation on solar energy from a top institute.

Photo / Donna Coveney
Marc Baldo, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science (left) and Shalom Goffri, postdoc in MIT's Research Laboratory of Electronics (right) hold examples of organic solar concentrators.

Photo / Donna Coveney
Organic solar concentrators collect and focus different colors of sunlight. Solar cells can be attached to the edges of the plates. By collecting light over their full surface and concentrating it at their edges, these devices reduce the required area of solar cells and consequently, the cost of solar power. Stacking multiple concentrators allows the optimization of solar cells at each wavelength, increasing the overall power output.

Image courtesy / Nicolle Rager Fuller, NSF
An artist's representation shows how a cost effective solar concentrator could help make existing solar panels more efficient.

Cost effective devices expected on market soon

Elizabeth A. Thomson, News Office
July 10, 2008

Imagine windows that not only provide a clear view and illuminate rooms, but also use sunlight to efficiently help power the building they are part of. MIT engineers report a new approach to harnessing the sun's energy that could allow just that.

The work, to be reported in the July 11 issue of Science, involves the creation of a novel "solar concentrator." "Light is collected over a large area [like a window] and gathered, or concentrated, at the edges," explains Marc A. Baldo, leader of the work and the Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Career Development Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering.

As a result, rather than covering a roof with expensive solar cells (the semiconductor devices that transform sunlight into electricity), the cells only need to be around the edges of a flat glass panel. In addition, the focused light increases the electrical power obtained from each solar cell "by a factor of over 40," Baldo says.

Because the system is simple to manufacture, the team believes that it could be implemented within three years--even added onto existing solar-panel systems to increase their efficiency by 50 percent for minimal additional cost. That, in turn, would substantially reduce the cost of solar electricity.

Read the entire story here.

(via. Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

IKEA to sell solar panels?

We all know when a product is seen at retailer such as IKEA, the public acceptance of that product is guaranteed. In other words, in 5 years, we will see solar panels become popular as other household items.

August 7, 2008 5:52 AM PDT
Posted by Elsa Wenzel

IKEA plans to pour $77 million into clean-technology start-ups within the next five years and could add "green" goods such as solar panels to its inventory, according to Cleantech Group.
The four-person, 50 million euro IKEA GreenTech fund has been operating for eight months, the report said. And it could invest in up to 10 fledgling companies in the next few years, perhaps first in Europe, where IKEA rings up about 82 percent of its sales.

Efforts to commercialize new and affordable green technologies within several years could lead to IKEA selling the resulting products among its growing collection of stores, currently 283 in more than 30 nations. The goods reportedly would relate to energy in the form of solar panels, efficiency meters, and lighting; as well as more sustainable materials, and water treatment and conservation.

In 2007, IKEA expanded sales of pre-fab, low-income, eco-friendly housing from Sweden into the United Kingdom. Could its catalog of 9,500 products someday add flat-packed, "smart" green homes available globally?

Given IKEA's sheer reach, an aggressive focus on green technologies might reshape the furnishings industry. For instance, green-business gurus credit Wal-Mart's controversial efforts to green its shelves and practices with shifting big-box stores and shoppers' tastes toward less toxic and wasteful products.

Among IKEA's latest moves in support of sustainability, by the fall, it will eliminate its checkout use of plastic bags, for which it began charging British customers about two years ago. More than 380 billion plastic bags are estimated to be trashed each year in the United States alone, polluting land and waterways with toxic chemicals.

In the early years of this decade, the modern-furnishings goliath pledged to phase out unhealthy formaldehyde and PVC in its core products, and to stock wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Its Swedish stores use mostly renewable energy. Some of the 18,000 staff members use hybrid cars or bicycles. IKEA pledged to carry organic consumables, including coffee, jam, and schnapps within the year. But a nagging question remains: would solar panels from IKEA require an Allen wrench?


(via. cnet news)

Solar Energy Powers the Centennial Theatre Tour

When we will the same in Toronto and other cities in Canada?

An old news back in July 2005

A solar trailer, designed and built in Saskatchewan, is providing all the power required for the 56 presentations of the Saskatchewan Centennial 2005 Theatre tour. Dancing Sky Theatre of Meacham is using their new trailer to power the microphones and amplifiers. This alternative gives the theatre company clean power and freedom of location.

"Dancing Sky Theatre is demonstrating innovation and sustainability," Minister responsible for the Office of Energy Conservation David Forbes said. "By using renewable energy they, are reducing their impact on the environment and displaying Saskatchewan know-how. The idea was theirs and the Office of Energy Conservation helped make it happen."

"The play is about our land and our people," Saskatchewan Centennial 2005 Chair and Moose Jaw North MLA Glenn Hagel said. "Innovation is a well-known quality of Saskatchewan people, and I am pleased that our centennial celebration is providing an opportunity to demonstrate innovation in the context of our green and prosperous economy."

Dancing Sky Theatre received $10,000 from the Office of Energy Conservation for the project, as well as $2,000 from Kelln Solar of Lumsden, the company hired to design the system and supply the components. The theatre company paid the remaining $9,000 cost of the project, and their own people designed and built the trailer that houses the solar electric system.

"The solar trailer will provide long-term benefits," founder of Dancing Sky Theatre Angus Ferguson said. "When not on tour, it will power the sound system for our permanent theatre in Meacham. This helps us avoid an expensive electrical upgrade to the building.

"During the summer tour, the solar trailer allows the theatre to avoid emissions of more than 600 kilograms of carbon dioxide. When connected to the Dancing Sky Theatre building, the avoided carbon dioxide emissions will be more than 1.6 tonnes per year.

The Office of Energy Conservation promotes energy conservation and efficiency in Saskatchewan.

(via. Government of Saskatchewan)

Toyota to add solar panels to some Prius hybrids

Toyota is leading the pack in hybrid innovation. We are happy to see mobile solar panels on the road.


Toyota is due to launch the third-generation Prius next year.
Photograph by : Handout photo

'More of a symbolic gesture'
ReutersPublished: Monday, July 07, 2008

TOKYO - Toyota Motor Corp. plans to install solar panels on some Prius hybrids in its next remodelling, responding to growing demand for "green" cars amid record-high oil prices, a source briefed on the matter said on Monday.

The panels, supplied by Kyocera Corp, would be able to power part of the air-conditioning on high-end versions of the gasoline-electric Prius, the source said.

"It's more of a symbolic gesture," said the source, who asked not to be identified. "It's very difficult to power much more than that with solar energy."

Toyota is due to launch the third-generation Prius next year.

Big automakers are racing to come up with alternative solutions to using fossil fuels to appear ecologically conscious and to lure consumers looking to save money at the pump.

But solar power is not seen as a viable solution to power cars. Solar panels are expensive due to rising silicon prices and storing energy is difficult, the source said. It was unknown how much the solar panels on the new Prius cars would cost, or how many solar-mounted versions Toyota would build.

A Toyota spokesman declined to comment, saying the company does not talk about future product plans.

Mazda Motor Corp briefly offered a solar panel option on two car models, the Eunos 800 and Sentia, in the early 1990s to ventilate the sedans while parked on hot summer days. The expensive option was unpopular and discontinued after a few years.

Kentaro Endo, a director at Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry who specialises in renewable energy, said the application of solar energy was severely limited in vehicles.

"Even if you laid solar panels out on the entire roof of a house, you only generate enough energy to run two hair dryers," he said.

"It's an interesting idea, but it would be very difficult to power a whole car, even with technological advances."

Toyota has struggled to keep up with demand for the Prius as soaring gasoline prices put consumers off of gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks. Rival Honda Motor Co. will also step up its hybrid push with a new, low-cost model early next year, followed by several other gasoline-electric cars.

Automakers have teamed up with battery makers to develop and produce lithium-ion batteries to store more energy in smaller packages to extend cruising distances.

Toyota has partnered with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., while Nissan Motor Co. has a joint venture with the NEC Corp. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. is working with GS Yuasa Corp.

The Prius, the world's first mass-produced gasoline-electric hybrid car, first went on sale in Japan in late 1997 and in other markets in 2000. Cumulative sales have topped 1 million units worldwide.

Toyota has a goal of selling at least 1 million hybrid cars a year in the early part of the next decade by offering the fuel-saving system on more vehicles.

Toyota shares ended 1.4 percent higher at 4,990 yen as the dollar rose against the yen. Kyocera lost 0.1 percent to 9,740 yen, while the Nikkei average gained 0.9 percent.

(via. driving.ca)