Technology

Micro cracks in solar cells are a frequent challenge for manufacturers of solar photovoltaic modules. EU-funded researchers introduced an innovative pre-stressing technique to retard the growth of cracks and make durable solar cells. Regular silicon solar cells are made of very thin wafers, usually around 200 microns thick. Although they have some ability to flex, […]

One of the problems with solar panels is they stay stationary while the sun moves across the sky. To maximize efficiency requires two axis tracking mechanisms — a horizontal device that allows the panels to follow the sun on its diurnal journey and a vertical device that permits it to adjust to seasonal changes in […]

A team of researchers at the MIT Media Lab built a cyborg that combines a plant with electronics and ultimately allows the plant to choose when it would like to move to a brighter spot. The cyborg is the brainchild of team leader Harpreet Sareen, and he has named it Elowan. Plants have the ability […]

In a step toward producing renewable engine fuels that are compatible with existing diesel fuel infrastructure, researchers report they can convert wet biowaste, such as swine manure and food scraps, into a fuel that can be blended with diesel and that shares diesel’s combustion efficiency and emissions profile. The researchers report the findings in the […]

NUST MISIS scientists together with their colleagues from the Central Metallurgical R&D Institute (Cairo, Egypt) have developed a composite material to extend the life of solar towers up to five years. The research article has been published in Renewable Energy. Today, solar power plants (SPP) are becoming increasingly popular, making it possible to collect and […]

According to a statistic from the University of Chicago, 50 percent of U.S. power goes through a motor. Vehicles like cars and planes rely on motors to transform power, as do household appliances like vacuums and refrigerators. Because this space is so large, more efficient motors could make a significant difference in energy usage. When […]

University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have made a material that can transition from an electricity-transmitting metal to a nonconducting insulating material without changing its atomic structure. “This is quite an exciting discovery,” says Chang-Beom Eom, professor of materials science and engineering. “We’ve found a new method of electronic switching.” The new material could lay the groundwork […]

The EcoSwing consortium announced it has taken a special generator to a site in Denmark. This was momentous. A previously installed permanent magnet generator was now swapping places with a new superconducting device. The people making this all work have contributed their own sets of expertise in Germany, The Netherlands and France. Wind turbine news […]

Oxygen is an abundant element that can form undesired impurities or ceramic phases in metallic materials, while doping the element on metal can render substrates brittle. During interactions with metallic alloys, oxygen takes a state between oxide particles and frequently occurring random interstitials to form ordered oxygen complexes. In a new study, materials scientists Zhinfeng […]

President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that France would shut down 14 of the country’s 58 nuclear reactors currently in operation by 2035, of which between four and six will be closed by 2030. The total includes the previously announced shutdown of France’s two oldest reactors in Fessenheim, eastern France, which Macron said was now set […]