Energy

Solar Power

Access the latest advancements, technical briefs, and trending applications in solar power generation systems, essential to design engineers working in the renewable energy sectors.

Latest Briefs & News

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Briefs: Energy
The system harnesses the sun's heat to directly split water and generate hydrogen — a clean fuel that can power long-distance trucks, ships, and planes, while in the process emitting no greenhouse gas emissions.
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Special Reports: Green Design & Manufacturing
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Power Electronics - November 2023

This compendium of recent articles from the editors of Tech Briefs and Aerospace & Defense Technology looks at the latest advances in power electronics and energy storage for applications ranging from...

Briefs: RF & Microwave Electronics
Most space satellites are powered by photovoltaic cells that convert sunlight to electricity. Exposure to certain orbit radiation can damage the devices. Scientists have proposed a radiation-tolerant photovoltaic cell design that features an ultrathin layer of light-absorbing material.
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Blog: Green Design & Manufacturing
Researchers at University of Texas at Austin were able to pull water out of the atmosphere and make it drinkable using solar energy, in conditions as low as 104°.
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Articles: Energy
There is no one-size-fits-all answer. If you need the least expensive option, direct charging works. If you can spend more, you can opt for a PWM circuit. If the price is secondary and you need the absolute best performance, a true MPPT may be the best solution for your application.
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Briefs: Energy
Artificial Photosynthesis Produces Food without Sunshine
Scientists at UC Riverside and the University of Delaware have found a way to bypass the need for biological photosynthesis altogether and create food independent of sunlight by using artificial photosynthesis.
Briefs: Energy
An international research collaboration led by UCLA has developed a way to use perovskite in solar cells while protecting it from the conditions that cause it to deteriorate.
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INSIDER: Energy

The U.S. electric grid is more than just power plants and transmission lines — it’s a web of connections among millions of small components, working together to allow you to...

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INSIDER: Energy

Newcastle University researchers have created high-efficiency, sustainable solar cells that harness ambient light to power Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

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INSIDER: Energy

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) has announced that a team of researchers, led by MIT and including the University of California San...

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Quiz: Energy
Limited energy resources, global warming, and air pollution are increasingly being seen as growing crises. How good is your knowledge about our renewable energy resources? Take this quiz to find out.
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Briefs: Green Design & Manufacturing
Researchers have been exploring how to turbocharge a passive cooling technique — known as radiative or sky cooling — with sun-blocking nanomaterials that emit heat away from building rooftops.
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Briefs: Energy
Scientists created a zinc battery with a biodegradable electrolyte from an unexpected source — crab shells.
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Briefs: Materials
An international research collaboration led by UCLA has developed a way to use perovskite in solar cells while protecting it from the conditions that cause it to deteriorate.
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INSIDER: Energy

A new battery design could help ease integration of renewable energy into the nation’s electrical grid at lower cost, using Earth-abundant metals, according to a study just...

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INSIDER: Energy

Flexible polymers made with a new generation of the Nobel-winning “click chemistry” reaction find use in capacitors and other applications.

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Videos of the Month: Materials
Videos of the month for March 2023.
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Briefs: Energy
A new kind of solar panel has achieved 9 percent efficiency in converting water into hydrogen and oxygen — mimicking a crucial step in natural photosynthesis.
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INSIDER: Communications

On January 3rd, the Caltech Space Solar Power Project (SSPP) launched into orbit a prototype, dubbed the Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD), which will test several key...

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Special Reports: Materials
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Vehicle Electrification - January 2023

Innovation is happening at a rapid pace in the e-mobility space. Read this compendium of recent articles from the editors of Automotive Engineering and Truck & Off-Highway Engineering to learn about...

Briefs: Energy
Redox flow batteries are stationary batteries in which the energy is located in the electrolyte, outside of the cell itself, as in a fuel cell.
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Briefs: Energy
A highly efficient and long-lasting solar flow battery generates, stores, and redelivers renewable electricity from the Sun in one device.
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Blog: Energy
See Tech Briefs’ most-read stories of 2022.
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Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
A team has installed electronic “brains” on solar-powered robots that are 100 to 250 micrometers in size so that they can walk autonomously.
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INSIDER: RF & Microwave Electronics

Once considered science fiction, technology capable of collecting solar power in space and beaming it to Earth to provide a global supply of clean and affordable energy is moving closer to reality. Through...

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Articles: Energy
When solar panels are placed horizontally, they harvest 15-20 percent less energy from the sun, and hence consumers end up paying a higher price for the harvested energy.
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Q&A: Power
Ben Ollis and a team of engineers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory are creating a novel orchestrator tool to manage a cluster of microgrids so they can directly support and communicate with each other, making them more resilient during long power outages. It is being installed as a demonstration project in the small town of Adjuntas in the Central Mountains of Puerto Rico.
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Blog: Energy
Engineers developed soft devices containing algae that glow when under mechanical stress —perfect for building soft robots.
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Videos