solar energy

Imagine if every window in a skyscraper was a solar concentrator.

MIT Solar Concentrator Innovation: More Bang for your Buck
Solar concentrators do what you might expect, concentrate solar light. Usually they are large mirrors or other devices, but the goal of any solar concentrator is to concentrate the light that falls on a large area to a smaller one. The idea is that the (usually cheap) solar concentrator increases the efficiency of the (usually expensive) solar cell, getting more energy for input of money. Recent advances in this technology have focused around better performance of the solar cell, like the IBM's

photo by Thierry via flickr

We’ve written before about the enormous solar potential of North Africa. In an effort to tap into that potential, a new renewable energy promotion and research center has opened near near Cairo.

Significant funding from European Agencies
The Regional Centre for Excellence for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency was open last week in Nasser City. The $30 million center received financial support in the form of grants from the European Union and the EU Commission i...

digital illustration: Getty Images

The future of air travel may not be gigantic turtle-shaped airships, but Japan hopes to test another idea straight out of science fiction, solar power stations in space, within the next two decades.

Scientific American is running a piece in their June issue which discusses the ambitious, orbital solar energy plans currently being discussed by Japan’s space agency. Without giving it all away, here are the main points:

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photo by KQED QUEST-some rights reserved.

The world of solar energy has been tumultuous of late in the United States: the BLM essentially bans solar power projects on public lands, then reverses its decision because of public outcry. Not to mention the inaction in the Senate on one set of renewable energy legislati...

photo: Getty Images

BLM Reverses Policy
In a reversal of previously stated policy regarding its moratorium on solar energy project applications, the Bureau of Land Management has announced that it will continue to accept applications for new solar projects on public lands, and process these along with the 125 already submitted, pending the completion of the programmatic Environmental Impact Statement.
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Aerial view of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, site of Velankani Renewable Group’s new manufacturing complex. Photo via Wikipedia.

A well-timed announcement can be a thing of beauty. Just days after Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh said that solar energy would be a key point in his new climate plan, Bangalore-based Velankani Group announces that it will be constructing a new manufacturing complex for silicon compounds and solar cells.

Plant to be Built in Visakhapatnam, An...

We recently heard a piece on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition about a school in Cairo's Manshiyet Nasser slum community where the city's young garbage collectors are learning the business and economics of recycling and using solar energy to do it.

The school is called the Mokattam Non-Formal Education Project, and has received funding form UNESCO and Procter & Gamble, a company whose products like shampoo are sold in the plastic bottles that end up on Cairo's streets....

The blaring headline on the front cover of the May/June issue really says it all: "It's behind the war, the recession, the ice caps: if we don't confront our energy crisis, we're screwed." As far as "green" issues of major/independent news publications go - and we've certainly seen our fair share over the last few months (Vanity Fair, Time, NYT and The New Republic to name a few) - MoJo's effort stands out as one of the best. ...