New clear solar panels

New clear solar panels may lead the way to panels on windows. These panels store energy in a spectrum our eyes can't see making them appear to be transparent. This is definitely some great progress in solar adoption. It does not state the efficiency or other information, but this is something to keep an eye on. Source: Phys.org Link: Link

Let's throw some graphene into the mix...

Nano-scale wetting phenomenon to produce voltage by harvesting phase change producing currents -

It is possible to produce a few picowatts from humidity. This could be scaled up massively and could yield a future atmospheric energy generating apparatus. If anything it is more useful information and helps to propel energy sciences a little tiny bit further on.





Further reading: http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/apl/105/1/10.1063/1.4886798

New Nuclear Fusion Technology

A new patent by researchers for a nuclear fusion reactor using inertial confinement to generate electric power has recently been filed for. This reactor could be used as a power station to generate electricity or even drive ships and submarines. The advantage over this technology is the lower risk of any possible containment versus traditional nuclear fission technology.

Here is a timelapse video of one being constructed in Germany (A different design)


Source: Science Daily

Link: Science Daily Nuclear Fusion

New solar cells mean greater efficiency

New "quantum dot" technology means for greater efficiency. These new cells have many times more photovoltaic cells and can produce much better power output.

Photo source: Gizmag


One of the extreme advantages over this new technology is that it can be produced at room temperature. Traditional solar cells (PV technology) requires a great deal of energy to produce.


Full story here:
http://phys.org/news/2014-05-solar-cells-quantum-dot-photovoltaics-efficiency.html

Mushroom Packaging

A new Vice story features how mushrooms can be grown into a medium that can be used as packing and other material. Styrene can even be found in your blood because of how prolific it is. It is ubiquitous and does not seem to be going away anytime soon. 

Read the full article here:
http://www.vice.com/upgrade/mushroom-plastics

1937 Solar Power

This incredible video demonstrates just a few things we are replicating today. Cheap abundant harmful fossil fuels of the era kept these types of technologies from being advanced. Now we need to go back into our history books and see what else is there for us to RE discover.



Source: Gizmodo
LINK: Gizmodo article

An article about solar refrigeration:
Solar Refrigeration