Alternative-energy firm starts testing its innovative airborne wind turbines
The Canadian startup Magenn Power has started testing its airship-based wind turbines. The Magenn Power Air Rotor System, or MARS, consists of a blimp-like device that is tethered to the ground, and rotates about its horizontal axis in the breeze. This action generates electrical energy, which is sent down the tether to a transformer, and eventually routed through to the grid.
Magenn says that it’s air-based turbine system will surpass all the other wild airborne wind-power schemes out there in terms of cost, efficiency and more. The advantage over ground or sea-based turbines is that the blimps, floating at high altitudes, should be able to tap into stronger, more consistent breezes. Depending upon the size of the model, it should produce between 10 kilowatts and several megawatts of power. Of course, that’s assuming that it works.
The company recently tested a scale version in a massive indoor facility, and plans to move outdoors for testing soon. The first working versions will probably be at industrial sites, with commercial versions to follow. More on how it works here.
Via MetaEfficient
More people are buying hybrid cars, but the greener vehicles are still a relative rarity on the road
In 2007, registrations of new hybrid vehicles jumped by 38 percent to 350,289 vehicles, according to a new report from R.L. Polk & Company. Gee, I wonder why? Maybe it’s got something to do with rising prices at the pump, or climate change. Or maybe there’s something bigger at play.
R.L. Polk analyst Lonnie Miller thinks consumers are starting to trust the technology more now that it’s been on the market for a while, not to mention that buyers also had more options in 2007.
The Prius was the market leader, but newer options like the Lexus LS600h or the GMC Yukon models—which aren’t exactly the greenest things on the road—also helped sales numbers climb. But, we’ve got a long way to go before hybrids really take hold. They still only make up 2.2 percent of the market.
Via CNN
Nano-sized “popcorn balls” could be used to boost the efficiency of solar panels
Hardly a week goes by these days without a new solar panel technology development in the news. You would think the country was plastered in solar sheets with all the work currently being done. Let’s hope the stories soon turn to how we’re going to make this all affordable enough to support widespread installations. In the meantime, today’s innovation.
If you’ve been following our recent series of articles on solar cells, you’ve likely noticed the focus falls roughly into two categories: how to make the panels thinner, lighter and more flexible; and how to make the cells more efficient.
Currently, the best we can do on the efficiency scale hovers right around 18 to 20 percent. Scientists are constantly looking for new ways to capture more of that remaining 80-some percent of energy in the sun’s rays that goes unclaimed. While the approach the researchers at the University of Washington took was not intended immediately to maximize efficiency, it is at its core a method for capturing more light.
Dye-sensitized solar cells are a type of panel more akin to the thin film sheets we’ve been seeing recently than to the rigid silicon cells with which we’re all familiar. They are very cheap to manufacture, which is their primary selling point. On the other hand, they are about half as efficient as better cells.
In a novel approach to boosting their capabilities, the researchers created “popcorn balls” out of nanometer-sized kernels of light-absorbing material. By clumping hundreds of minuscule grains into clusters of large grains, they were able to harness the advantages of both sizes. The small grains provide a large surface area for maximum absorption, while the large grains are closer to the wavelength of visible light and so ricochet the light into the smaller grains.
The UW scientists discovered the combination effectively doubled the cells’ efficiency. Before we celebrate the arrival of a new benchmark of success, we should note that these particular dye-sensitized cells began with an efficiency of 2.4 percent. They used a compound which is very easy to work with, but poor in absorption. The hope is that moving to more difficult but better performing material will eventually lead to breaking that twenty percent barrier.
Via PhysOrg
