Archives: Solar Energy

In a move to delay and stall the proliferation of solar energy, the Federal government including the Bush administration and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have decided to stop the moratorium madness. Last month, the BLM (or BM as some have called it) decided to put a freeze on solar applications for building photovoltaic • Read More »

A few weeks back I had talked about how residential solar panels would become less expensive for some in California, especially those in Santa Cruz. Well, now its large neighbor to the north, San Francisco seeks to become the first solar megalopolis in the United States. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has just passed • Read More »

The beef against residential solar panels for so many years is that they have been too expensive to install upon one’s home. But, at least in California the price of residential solar panels will be coming down considerably. A bill passed by state Assemblyman Mark Leno (no relation to Jay Leno) has just passed 76-0 • Read More »

On Leap Year Day this year (February 29) I had talked about a new solar iPhone charger that was on the market from Freeloader. Now, Apple has taken a leap of its own by filing for a patent for a solar iPhone 2.0. Of course photovoltaic cells on small portable devices have been around for • Read More »

This week a couple of important solar breakthroughs have surfaced in the news. Both IBM and Physicist Bram Hoex (and colleagues) have demonstrated two different solar breakthroughs worth noting. The IBM solar breakthrough involves using a thin liquid metal layer of gallium and indium that is cooled by a plate of copper. By use of • Read More »

When one thinks of solar energy, the word slow comes to mind. Soaking up the sun takes time. It’s a slow meandering process from sun up to sun down, hoping to catch a few rays and make something happen. But, a company named HelioVolt has put the fast into FASST solar energy. HelioVolt has invented • Read More »

It’s been said that there is nothing so boring as watching paint dry. Tell this to the researchers at the Swansea University School of Engineering in the United Kingdom who have developed a way to roll on solar-cell paint over steel cladding. The project started as a way to help the steel manufacturing industry coat • Read More »

With 25,000 miles of highways and byways on the lower 48 states, Solar Roadways wants to use these heat collectors for reneable solar energy. But, you can’t drive an 18-wheeler on a solar panel! Or, can you? According to the folks at Solar Roadways, yes we can (with apologies to Barack Obama for using this • Read More »

Solar cell and semiconductor company Spire has been awarded a U. S. patent for its nanophotonics technology. This technology creates quantum dot nanoparticles (about 25 millionth of an inch) that when exposed to light will create electrical current. The Spire quantum dots are more consistent than methods used by other manufacturers. Spire states that its • Read More »

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas solar chargers are everywhere. Different manufacturers have chosen this event to debut their solar chargers for laptops, cell phones, iPods and other small and larger electronic devices. Is this the year of the solar charger? Perhaps. There are many companies competing this year in this market, which • Read More »