Thermodynamics and quantum physics pose certain limits to the efficiency of solar cells, but current technology doesn't even come close to those. There is a lot of potential for optimization but for the moment the recently achieved value of 24.7 % for ultra-thin cells isn't too bad.
At the Intersolar 2013 trade show there will be a new category of the »Intersolar AWARD« - so if you've got a really good project going on, it's time to apply! Documents may be submitted from February 1 to March 28.
Currently the green-energy industries in both Germany and Canada have a globally recognised leadership role. In order to stay ahead of the field, closer ties between researchers may be a good idea. Fraunhofer and the the University of British Columbia are now trying joint scientific projects for the energy changeover.
Just after the announcement of China’s National Energy Administration to install 10 GW additional photovoltaic capacity during 2013, Beijing reported a new pollution record this weekend. Arguably, a centrally planned economy may have its benefits, but even this enormous addition of renewable energy is going to be just a drop in the ocean. However, it's already having a huge impact on the stock market. The gold rush has been declared opened...
»Power« and »France« in a single sentence usually add up to »nuclear«, but not always: there is even some renewable energy around. Besides water, sun and biogas, wind power take a sizeable share. A large part of that had been installed by the Spanish Iberdrola group. They however are troubled by the Spanish economical crisis, and have now sold 32 wind farms in France to a consortium.
Despite all the opportunities the »energy turnaround« or »Energiewende« provides, the German PV market is in turmoil. A good reason for a big participant to try to gain a foothold in one of the largest potential markets, China.
It is unclear whether Berlin's new airport will open in 2013, 2014 or ever, but among the potential ruins an interesting renewable energy project might prevail. Five project partners combine photovoltaics, a wind farm and hydrogen technology to an environmentally sensible mobility solution.
Conventional photovoltaic technology is being installed worldwide on a large scale, but their manufacturing is fairly expensive, and every progress in efficiency costs even more. There are some alternatives to the normally used, expensive semiconductor processes but unfortunately they lack efficiency. A special technology using carbon only also can't compete efficiencywise, but it's promising in terms of possible future development.
Charlie Brown, Benjamin Franklin, Children with their daddies and ancient Chinese: flying kites has a long tradition of fun. Now it's getting serious: the relatively new sport of kite surfing has inspired researchers in the area of renewable energy.
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