Ones To Watch: MIT Clean Energy Winners

MIT Clean Energy Competition

The big winner at the MIT Clean Energy Prize competition was Picasolar and its cost-lowering, efficiency-boosting selective emitter application for solar cells. Read more →

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MIT Turns Over A New Solar Leaf Plan

MIT artificial leaf

The solar-to-fuel dream lives on, as the "artificial leaf" team outlines a path to efficiencies that could make the technology viable. Read more →

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See-Through Solar Cells Could Give Your iPad Eternal Life

ipad, solar cells, charging

Could layers of transparent solar cells allow mobile devices to gather ambient energy throughout the day? Read more →

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Weaving Solar Magic With Super-Thin Fiber Cells

image via Penn State

For the first time, a silicon-based optical fiber with solar-cell capabilities has been developed that has been shown to be scalable to many meters in length. Read more →

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Rusty Solar Cell Is A Hydrogen Producer

rust water solar cell

Looking to reduce costs, researchers in Switzerland successfully use a semiconductor based on iron oxide (yep, rust) in their photoelectrochemical water-splitting device. Read more →

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First All-Carbon Solar Cell Could Offer Price Breakthrough

stanford carbon solar cell

Stanford researchers say they've made the first all-carbon solar cell – now they just need to work on that 1 percent efficiency issue. Read more →

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Air Force’s Secret Space Plane Used Solar In Orbit

X-37B-Solar-Panel-e1338565010930

Its purpose is shrouded in mystery but we do know one thing about the U.S. Air Force's robotic X-37B space plane, which flew back to Earth recently after a 15-month stint in orbit -- it runs on solar. Read more →

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Solar Cell Eye Implants: Sight For The Blind?

retina-chip

Scientists at Stanford University have come up with a system to help blind people see again using retinal implants that operate like tiny solar cells. Read more →

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Lab-Grown Nanotubes Could Trim Solar Cell Cost

Solar Nanotubes

New research suggests that carbon nanotubes could be an efficient alternative for the expensive platinum electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells. Read more →

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Are Dye-Sensitized Cells The Future Of Solar?

dyesol

Researchers in Finland are claiming that a form of solar cells that can be applied to surfaces as a coat of paint could herald the future of solar energy. Read more →

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