Tag Archive for: solarpanels

Solar cells that combine traditional silicon with cutting-edge perovskites could push the efficiency of solar panels to new heights.

Super-efficient solar cells: 10 breakthrough technologies in 2024

WHO

Beyond Silicon, Caelux, First Solar, Hanwha Q Cells, Oxford PV, Swift Solar, Tandem PV

WHEN

3 to 5 years

In November 2023, a buzzy solar technology broke yet another world record for efficiency. The previous record had existed for only about five months—and it likely won’t be long before it too is obsolete. This astonishing acceleration in efficiency gains comes from a special breed of next-­generation solar technology: perovskite tandem solar cells. These cells layer the traditional silicon with materials that share a unique crystal structure.

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Source: Technology Review

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Urban mining recovers silver, copper, aluminium, glass and silicone -- all commodities that have a value on the open market.

‘Urban Mining’ offers green solution to old solar panels

As the world pivots from planet-warming fossil fuels to renewable energy, a new pollution problem is rearing its head: What to do with old or worn-out solar panels?

Thousands of photovoltaic slabs are being installed across the United States every day, particularly in the sunny west and south of the country, as states like California race to towards greener energy production.

But with an expected lifespan of around 30 years, the first wave of solar installations is now coming to the end of its usefulness, sparking a rush to recycle things that might otherwise end up in the landfill.

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Source: BARRON’S

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Amped Innovation developed a solar-powered fridge to be deployed in rural Africa, where millions of people have limited electricity.

These fridges are powered by solar panels and ice batteries

Until recently, a store selling groceries in a village in Zambia couldn’t sell cold drinks: It didn’t have access to electricity to power a fridge. But the store now has a solar panel on the roof connected to a solar fridge that’s stocked with drinks and ice. The business owner has nearly doubled overall sales.

The store was one of the first to get a new fridge designed by Amped Innovation, a Bay Area-based company that’s now scaling up production of the appliance. They wanted to help tackle a widespread problem—even though the energy grid is quickly growing in Africa, millions of people still aren’t connected or have to deal with frequent outages.

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Source: Fast Company

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Solar panel owners are still more likely to have higher incomes and live in wealthier states, but a few trends are changing things.

The income gap among households with solar panels is shrinking, study finds

Rooftop solar panels continue to be more popular among Americans with above-average incomes, but that trend is changing, according to a new report.

The median household income of a solar adopter in the US was about $117,000 in 2022, researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found. By contrast, the median income for all households was $69,000, and $86,000 for all owner-occupied households.

While the typical household with solar panels was wealthier than the average household, that trend is changing just a bit. In 2010, the median income for a solar adopting household was $140,000.

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Source: CNET

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CA’s risk of blackouts has fallen as more renewable energy & batteries are added to electric grid, reducing the need to import electricity

California is less likely to have blackouts thanks to solar and big batteries

California’s risk of power shortfalls and blackouts has fallen as more renewable energy and batteries are added to its electric grid, while such threats in New York rose thanks to higher electricity demand and new restrictions on gas-fired power plants, industry regulators said.

“The challenge in New York is the New York City area,” Mark Olson, a manager at the North American Electric Reliability Corp., said Wednesday on a call with reporters about its latest reliability report. “Under high demand, getting transmission to flow into the load centers could be a challenge.”

In California, on the other hand, the risk of blackouts has fallen as more renewable energy and batteries are added, reducing the need to import electricity from other regions, NERC said. The grid has been designated “elevated risk,” which means it has enough energy for normal conditions though could fall short in extreme weather.

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Source: Bloomberg

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Carter believes that the Solar Workforce Accelerator Program helps schools save money and shows people that solar power is accessible.

Solar apprenticeship program benefits southwest Virginia communities

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Isaac Carter’s summer days started early. The 17-year-old from Dryden, Virginia, unloaded trailers, carried equipment up ladders to rooftops and pulled wires to connect solar panels.

It was hard but satisfying work, and it paid $17 an hour – a good wage for a young person in rural Southwest Virginia. He also earned college credit for it, has an internship experience to add to his resume and obtained an Occupational Safety and Health Administration certification, commonly known as an OSHA 10 card, that makes him more desirable to employers – all before he began his last year of high school.

Carter was part of the Solar Workforce Accelerator Program, a youth solar apprenticeship program in Southwest Virginia. The program operates as a partnership between Mountain Empire Community College, the Solar Workgroup of Southwest Virginia collaborative group, solar company Secure Solar Futures, Wise and Lee county public schools and the electric company Got Electric.

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Source: The Appalachian Voice

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Project Nexus’s feasibility study estimates that installing solar canals where possible in CA could save 63 billion gallons of water annually.

Water saving solar panels, coming soon to a canal near you

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The upcoming COP28 climate conference has suddenly blown up in a wave of scandal, but the energy transition marches on. Exhibit A is the idea of shading irrigation canals with solar panels for a planet-saving win-win-win. The cooling effect of the water improves solar conversion efficiency, the shade prevents excess water loss from evaporation, and the use of built infrastructure preserves land from development. What’s not to like?

Water Saving Solar Panels On Canals In California

The idea of water-saving solar panels on canals first surfaced in India back in 2012. More recently it crossed the CleanTechnica radar in February of 2022 when a collaborative public-private PV collaboration called Project Nexus began taking shape in California, using a canal in the state’s Turlock Irrigation District as a proving ground.

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Source: Clean Technica

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The Gila River Indian Community signed a project partnership agreement with US Army Corps of Engineers to put solar panels over its canals.

A Native American tribe is about to put solar panels over its canals

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The Gila River Indian Community signed a project partnership agreement with the US Army Corps of Engineers to put solar panels over its canals.

This means the US Army Corps of Engineers will kick off construction on Phase I of the Pima-Maricopa Irrigation Project Renewable Energy Pilot south of Phoenix, Arizona.

The pilot is part of a broader effort by the Biden administration and the Bureau of Reclamation to implement solutions for the drought crisis that’s threatening the Colorado River Basin.

The objective is to create clean energy and conserve water in the Tribe’s canal. The Gila River Indian Community is the home of the Akimel O’otham (Pima) and the Pee-Posh (Maricopa) tribes.

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Source: electrek

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Solar panels are now being installed on the roof of St. Mark Presbyterian Church. It should easily power the church’s entire 7-acre campus.

Christians and climate change: Southern California churches preach very different messages

Crews started installing solar panels this week on the red tile roof at St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach. Pastor Mark Davis said the project, once complete, should easily power the church’s entire 7-acre campus.

Last year, many of St. Mark’s 550 members attended a meeting, in keeping with Presbyterian doctrine, to vote on taking out a loan to finance the $200,000 solar project. There was some spirited debate about the financial implications, Davis said with a chuckle, but in the end members gave the project an enthusiastic green light. They see the panels as key to St. Mark’s goal of going completely carbon neutral by 2030.

“My message is that it’s an ethical imperative that we focus on the common good,” Davis said. At his church, he said, congregants are regularly encouraged to think about protecting “the flora and the fauna, the dirt, the water, the air — all of the things that it takes to sustain life.”

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Source: The Sun

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Community solar is a middle-ground approach, a different model, featuring solar arrays that provide energy savings for subscribers.

Community solar is growing to fill the gaps in clean energy

When you think about solar panels, you probably have one of two images in mind: one is of the half dozen or more panels on your neighbor’s roof, and the other is of a big field in the desert with panels laid out in all directions.

Community solar is a middle-ground approach, a different model, featuring solar arrays that provide energy savings for subscribers. According to the terms of state regulations authorizing these programs, many of those subscribers have incomes that would make it harder for them to put solar panels on their roofs — or live in apartments where they are unable to install panels altogether.

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Source: CNET

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