Cyborg bacteria covered in solar panels can beat plants at photosynthesis

Photosynthesis, or the way plants turn carbon dioxide into oxygen, is crucial for life on Earth — but it’s not a very efficient process. Scientists at a UC Berkeley lab taught bacteria how to cover their own bodies with nanocrystals, which function as tiny solar panels that capture more energy than plants can. The bacteria […]

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid announces so-called world’s largest solar project

Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid has hailed the launch of the world’s largest concentrated solar power (CSP) plant, with the announcement of the winning contract for the much anticipated fourth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Complex. The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) said it had awarded the tender for the […]

Indian solar power prices hit record low, undercutting fossil fuels

Last year we were talking about solar energy growing 10x with a corresponding 90% drop in costs.  I’d talk often with people still thinking that solar needs subsidies from tax breaks. They also would point out that solar was only a small part of the energy economy.  I’d smile and remind them that it meant […]

Virginia Tech flexible solar panel goes where silicon can’t

Post-doctoral researcher Congcong Wu, who is working in the lab of Shashank Priya, the Robert E. Hord Jr. Professor of Mechanical Engineering, holds up a layer of the flexible solar panel the group is working on. The process to adhere a thin film of titanium oxide to the panel takes less than 10 seconds using […]

Wind and Solar Are Crushing Fossil Fuels

Wind and solar have grown seemingly unstoppable. While two years of crashing prices for oil, natural gas, and coal triggered dramatic downsizing in those industries, renewables have been thriving. Clean energy investment broke new records in 2015 and is now seeing twice as much global funding as fossil fuels. One reason is that renewable energy […]

Blockchain technology is coming to the solar panels on your roof

Where there’s a market with creaking infrastructure to be disrupted, blockchain technology will disrupt it. At least that’s what some proponents of blockchain tech, which shares many of the same principles underpinning bitcoin, are hoping to do with the energy sector. While blockchain tech has taken high-finance by storm, with advocates touting it for everything […]

Why are these odd-looking solar cars passing through the area?

Residents in the Parkland may have noticed strange looking cars accompanied by vans with flashing lights traveling down U.S. 67 the last couple of days. Not to worry, they are part of a national race and approximately 13 teams are competing in it this year. Principia Solar Car #32 Truck Driver Ken Pratt said this […]