Chinese photovoltaic giant Suntech looks to electronics to help squeeze more power out of solar arrays.
“Tunable” windows would let people adjust light and heat levels, but so far it’s been hard to make them affordable.
A startup’s polymer sticker increases power output by 10 percent, and can be applied to panels that are already installed.
Electric cars could benefit from a new manufacturing method.
The DOE funds a research center aimed at making artificial photosynthesis practical.
A simple method applies nanoscale texturing over large areas.
The new design could lead to cheaper solar cells.
Abound Solar says it has a simpler process to make cadmium-telluride solar cells.
Nighttime flight is an important milestone–but solar power is unlikely to transform aviation.
Battery breakthroughs could lower costs and improve performance for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage–but commercializing these new technologies will be challenging.
The government sets a premium price on solar and other alternative power sources. The policy offers lessons in ways to encourage the use of renewable energy.
Suntech CEO Zhengrong Shi made China a powerhouse in photovoltaic technology–and became a billionaire in the process. His next ambition: to make solar power as cheap as conventional electricity.
Lithium-ion batteries with nanotube electrodes could go longer between charges.
Evaporative cooling plus drying with desiccants equals cool air for less cost.
Researchers think the solar-powered device could survey aging electrical lines.
A layer of optical fiber bristles doubles the performance of organic solar cells in tests.
Approval of Cape Wind could signal a boon in offshore wind projects.
Belkin buys Zensi, which makes sensors to track domestic energy and water usage.
China’s solar giant shifts its strategy.
The company plans to develop products in China, for China.
Breezy tidal flats offer green power on the doorstep of China’s bustling seaboard.
Ten wave and tidal projects will generate 1.2 gigawatts of power.
Its entrance to the market could help make solar power cheaper.
A new process can make more fuel from biomass.
Plastic cells are lighter than silicon ones, but they’re not as efficient–one company aims to fix that.
Microreactor developers race to turn troublesome gas into usable crude oil.
The devices could help stabilize the grid, and make charging electric cars cheaper.
1366 Technologies hopes to cut the cost of solar with cheaper manufacturing.
Fuel made from waste by-products could lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Its 100-kilowatt modules have been sold to Google, eBay, and Walmart.
Applied Materials makes the equipment needed to produce the biggest solar panels in the world.
Optical antennas could help solar cells produce more energy.
A new design can make more-efficient thin-film solar cells using existing manufacturing equipment.
Developers think these phase-change materials could reduce the need for air-conditioning.
The project will capture CO2 by using it to “loosen” the oil in existing wells.
A new process could allow Air Force jets to run exclusively on domestically produced biomass and coal.
We should study the costs and consequences of solar radiation management.
Carbon dioxide captured from power plants could make geothermal energy more practical.
A superstation for connecting three independent grids could help solar and wind power.
Coatings and composites ease the air-traffic worries dogging wind power.
An energy storage startup gets new government funding.
Startup Coskata has opened a “semi-commercial” ethanol plant to demonstrate its technology.
Vast amounts of the clean-burning fossil fuel have been discovered in shale deposits, setting off a gas rush. But how it will affect our energy use is still uncertain.
Qteros forms a partnership to use sewage as a feedstock for making ethanol.
A new anode allows solid-oxide fuel cells to function at lower temperatures.
A novel gasification process for low-quality coal heads to China.
Michael Idelchik, VP of Advanced Technologies, discusses energy research.
A new strategy could reduce coal plant emissions and cut the cost of solar power.
The head of research at GE discusses the stimulus package and new technologies for addressing climate change.
A national interstate system for distributing power may prove an expensive boondoggle.