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.
Offshore wind energy generation is a very promising form of tapping a renewable energy source. One pylon can harness as much power as a small conventional power plant, and one of those huge turbines being tested right now in Denmark could supply a small town all on its own. Well, with a 154 m rotor it almost takes up the same space, if only vertical.
While the Desertec project has to adapt to the changes brought by the Arab Spring in North Africa, the South American desert Atacama is being transformed into a solar power plant.
Today, solar energy is being used, or converted, mainly in two ways: photovoltaics using light and solar thermal systems using heat. Combining both would make sense but doesn't work with silicon-based cells. A recently discovered physical effect together with a different semiconductor material makes it possible to use light and heat concurrently.
Tomorrow, when the excitement level in London will rise to a state of emergency, new »Eco-Routemaster« hybrid buses roll through the English capital. As it's usual with everything olympic and everything infrastructural these days, the purchase of those buses may not have been totally clean, but at least the »stop« buttons are - the passengers activate stop signals with their bodies as a source of energy.
Over the last few years, electronics distributors have started to use their different line cards in order to provide solutions targeted to application areas. Such multi-manufacturer platforms have proven to be quite successful, and now there is one leveraging a distributors' know-how for energy harvesting.
The need for exponential growth in solar-energy production, as required by Europe’s 2020 climate targets and general energy policies, creates formidable technological challenges. A new European research program aims to address these requirements by improving the efficiency of solar cells, devising innovative harvesting techniques, reducing power-conversion losses, and enhancing energy-management strategies.
Conflicting signals from European governments have upset the PV market in 2011; even though the year ended on an optimistic note. Forecasts for 2012 indicate interesting developments.
Ever since the German government returned to the anti-nuclear energy policy of its predecessors, scientist, politicians and utility companies are trying to figure out ways of restructuring the infrastructure. In order to expedite this process, a new award for »intelligent energy« will be bestowed for interesting approaches.
Traditionally, an alpine hut used to be self-sustainable in every conceivable way. Today there’s electricity, air conditioning, internet and gourmet food available, so mountain cabanas aren’t very 'green' any more. Modern methods of energy generation combined with building automation techniques have the potential to keep the high standards AND let the huts become self-sustainable again.
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