January 2015 – Page 2 – Solar Magazine

This solar-powered chip reminds us to close the windows

Solar chip monitors windows

A new kind of radio chip is intended to warn when windows are left open. This way, you can avoid having the heat go out the window on cold days. The sensor also detects break-in attempts early on. The key: This maintenance-free chip powers up with energy supplied by solar power.

Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems developed a tiny chip that is designed to be mounted on the window’s aluminum frame, between the panes of glass. Covered by a solar cell, the chip can store enough power during daylight hours to operate throughout the night.

Using an integrated accelerometer and magnetometer, the chip is able to detect when the window has been opened, and by how much. If the window has been left open “too long” (such as once everyone has left the house for the day, or once the temperature has dropped significantly) it sends a radio signal to a base station in the home. That station in turn alerts the homeowner.

Additionally, if it detects movements that are unique to a locked window being forced open, it will signal the base station to sound an alarm, Gizmag writes.

The chip will be on display at the BAU trade fair in Munich, from January 19 to 24. Fraunhofer previously developed a similar system, in which the window sensor is powered both by a solar cell and a thermoelectric generator.

IKEA to build Missouri’s largest rooftop solar array

IKEA’s 42nd solar project in the U.S

IKEA has selected Inovateus Solar for the development and installation of 1.28 MW customized solar power system. PV installation will begin this spring with the store opening scheduled for the fall 2015, which will be Missouri’s largest rooftop solar array.

The 259,000 square-foot solar array will incorporate 4,085 panels that are expected to produce approximately 1.78 GWh of electricity annually for the store. The generated power will be equivalent to reducing 1,227 tons of carbon emission annually, Greentech Lead writes.

This installation will be IKEA’s 42nd solar project in the U.S, contributing to the IKEA roof top solar presence around 90 percent of its U.S. locations, with a total generation goal of 40 MW.

IKEA operates its own solar PV energy system atop the buildings and has so far installed around 700,000 roof top solar panels and 157 wind turbines across Europe and Canada.

In addition, IKEA has planned a global renewable energy investment of $1.8 billion through 2015, with a target of becoming totally energy independent by 2020.

Last month, IKEA projected plans for a possible store in the City of Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee increasing its presence in the Southeastern United States as its first store in the state.

In another development, IKEA proposed plans to increase the solar array atop its Detroit-area store in Canton, MI. The new panels will be installed from spring 2015 with a completion expected by summer.

Besides, IKEA has plans to produce only LED bulbs by 2016 and also has installed electric vehicle charging stations at 13 stores, with further plan for more locations.

There are currently more than 360 IKEA stores in 47 countries, including 40 in the U.S. IKEA incorporates sustainability into day-to-day business and supports initiatives that benefit children and the environment.

Solar and wind power yield cheapest energy, experts say

The benefits of clean power

Scientists at the eastern Lappeenranta University have calculated that China would become even more profitable if it were to make the switch to renewable energy within the next five to ten years. As the largest energy consumer in the world, China’s energy production remains a cornerstone of all global climate initiatives. The Finnish project was recently recognized in Japan for its groundbreaking simulation work.

According to yle.fi, a renewable energy research project conducted jointly by the state-owned VTT Technical Research Centre, the Lappeenranta University of Technology and the University of Turku’s Finland Futures Research Centre has successfully modelled comprehensive energy systems based entirely on renewable energy sources for China, Korea and Japan. The project was recently presented with an award for its pioneering work at a solar energy conference in Japan. Tekes, the publicly-funded Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation, has financed the joint project to the tune of five million euros.

“China possesses significant wind and solar energy resources, so a power network based on renewable energy sources has the potential to become profitable very quickly. That’s why they should move to a system like this. China is already the world’s largest investor in solar and wind energy at present,” says lead researcher Pasi Vainikka from VTT.

The Finnish researchers are confident that renewable energy sources like solar and wind power will become the cheapest form of energy production in Asia within the next ten years. What is more, energy produced in this way provides the added benefits of being inexpensive, emission-free and promoting self-sufficiency. Professor of solar energy Christian Breyer from the Lappeenranta University says the project’s large-scale simulation of functioning renewable energy networks is the first of its kind.

“A network fully based on renewable energy is possible in Northeast Asia. Renewable energy is also the cheapest form of energy production available to them there. All of the other options are more expensive. It is a new insight,” says Breyer.

Price of solar energy will drop by half

The big question when it comes to renewable energy sources is when they will become commercially viable. The Finns have concluded that in China, energy from solar and wind sources will become profitable already in five to ten years.

“Costs fall by 20 percent every time capacity is doubled. By 2025-2030 the price of solar electricity will be half what it is now. In practice, it is the cheapest form of energy production in a good chunk of the world. Our energy networks will change dramatically as a result,” says Vainikka.

Finnish energy company Fortum has already invested heavily in solar energy business in India, where tremendous growth is expected. Fortum recently connected a 10 megawatt solar plant project in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh to the Indian power grid.

“The share of solar energy in particular will grow in the coming years. It is definitely one of Fortum’s top priorities in India. Projects totalling hundreds of megawatts of power are announced there all the time, as well as new solar power plants. Solar energy is reaching adulthood. Soon it will manage on its own, without support,” says Fortum’s Technology Director Heli Antila.

Solar energy stored in gas

Virtually unlimited amounts of solar and wind energy are available, but the problem is non-uniform supply. For this reason, it is necessary that the energy be stored.

“We are well aware of this limitation, but it also offers fantastic potential because it is so flexible. Once solar and wind reach 50 percent of grid capacity, we will need massive internal transfer operations that transfer power from storage on a daily basis, or according to the season. In Finland, the first dark months of winter would require the use of stored energy,” says Vainikka.

Here in Finland, the solar energy saved from the summer could be stored in synthetic natural gas for use in the winter months. The existing gas network would be used as a storage facility, as it will be integrated into the other energy sectors. Vainikka says the technology to facilitate this process is already known and the energy expended to store the stock would be relatively small.

“The solar power can be stored in the existing natural gas infrastructure. We don’t actually have this infrastructure yet, but it is coming with the launch of the new LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminals that have been agreed upon. They will provide significant amounts of chemical energy that can be used in the winter time.”

VTT aims to investigate how Finland could move to the forefront of the push for renewable energy. Vainikka says 90 percent of business in the renewable energy sector is in other areas than solar panels and wind turbines, focusing instead on how electricity generated by the two sources can be transported and stored most efficiently.

Biomimicry, the new way to improve the efficiency of plastic solar cells

Biomimicry allows scientists to take a page out of nature’s playbook

If you look closely, you may notice the tiny contours and crinkles on the surface of a leaf. All those folds bend and absorb light better than if it was flat, helping it receive more rays. Inspired by that, engineers at Princeton University use similar micro-folds to improve the efficiency of plastic solar cells in solar panels.

These man-made energy-collectors are one example of the growing field of engineering known as biomimicry.

Inventors have been exploring biomimicry as early as the Renaissance era when Leonardo Da Vinci sketched out a bat-shaped wing contraption for human flight, called an ornithopter. Engineers take what they see in the natural world and integrate it into new technologies.

According to scienceline.org, entire research institutes and education programs dedicated to biomimicry are working on technologies that maximize efficiency and cut manufacturing costs. The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology made cost efficient LED lights for flat screen televisions and mobile phones that emulate the glow of fireflies; the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington developed hydrogen-pumping fuel cells for powering buildings and cars, which copy natural enzymes found in microorganisms.

Princeton’s leaf-inspired solar cells generate 47 percent more electricity than existing plastic solar cells, according to their inventors. While still less efficient than the silicon-based solar cells that dominate the market, researchers have high hopes for the plastic cells because they’re cheaper to produce.

The shimmering scales covering butterfly wings have also been a source of inspiration. The way their scales scatter light inspired better solar panels and improved counterfeit identification on paper money. A research group at the University of Alabama is even exploring if the lightweight scales can contribute to aerodynamic efficiency in planes.

Biomimicry is even giving us a deeper insight into the imbalances we humans have introduced into our environment, and it may even help us correct them. One company, Calera, sequesters carbon dioxide to create a cement of calcium carbonate — the same compound found naturally in coral and shellfish shells. The technology was inspired by coral’s ability to convert the greenhouse gas into a vital mineral.

While environmentally-conscious biomimetic innovation continues to grow, there is still much to discover. A recent analysis of the biomimicry market published in the December 2014 issue of Biotechnology Advances revealed that anti-pollutant technologies and environmentally sustainable projects are the most untapped areas of biomimicry research.

Common leaves, butterflies and coral each evolved traits to survive in tandem with our environment. We are familiar with many living species that have inspired technology from grade school lessons or walks in the park. The key idea to tomorrow’s next big invention might be just outside our front door.

Solar energy extends electric vehicle driving range

Solar energy for better electric vehicles

Researchers from the University of Windsor and a local solar technologies company have collaborated to prove the benefits of solar power in extending the driving range of electric cars.

By using solar energy, Unconquered Sun Solar Technologies founder and CEO Sean Moore says the driving range can be extended an average of 45 per cent further.

“Every second your foot’s not on the accelerator, when that vehicle’s in the sun, it’s charging,” Moore said, according to The Windsor Star. “This way, you have a generator … on your roof. Obviously if it’s nighttime or if it’s in a garage, you can just plug it in the wall and it recharges that way too.”

Associate professor Narayan Kar led a team of three PhD students, a master student and a senior undergraduate in studying the vehicle rooftop solar technology. He said months of research and testing — partially funded by a $20,000 federal research grant received almost a year ago — helped them prove the scientific benefits of solar panels and to show the financial benefits.

The University of Windsor Centre for Hybrid Automotive Research and Green Energy (CHARGE) published a report Dec. 11 outlining the team’s findings. They are expected to publish further technical papers next month.

“What’s great about it is it validates the technology,” Moore said. “It really helps us gain traction in the market … all the research validating the extended range and all the different benefits of having a renewable energy generator on the roof of your car.”

Moore’s company focused on esthetic issues of the rooftop panels by using Lexan, a clear plastic material that is lighter in weight than the typical glass panels used for lamination of solar cells, and a thermal process to form the sheets to fit the radius of different vehicles.

“We have developed an app … that (Moore) can take … on his cellphone to his customers and he can demonstrate the benefits of having a solar panel on the rooftop,” Kar said. “If you have a solar panel and it is in the sun most of the time you will see many days of no (electric) charging needed.”

Moore said he’s hoping to launch sales of low-speed electric vehicles — a new Transport Canada classification in North America — with rooftop solar panels early this spring. Low-speed vehicles have an electric drive train, four wheels on the road and they are restricted to a top speed of 50 kilometres.

The cars, trucks and buses are also limited to a gross vehicle weight of approximately 1,300 kilograms.

“Electric vehicles and particularly low-speed vehicles, the market is expected to be $2.6 billion over the next three years,” Moore said. “With solar on the roofs, they cost literally pennies a month to operate.”

He expects initial demand to come from companies with fixed delivery routes and inter-urban commuters.

Part of the attraction is the cost of the vehicles – estimated at $16,000 for a delivery truck or less than $10,000 for a three-seater passenger vehicle.

Kar, who is also Canada Research Chair in Electrified Transportation Systems, said the search is on for more funding for further research.

“This is not the biggest project in terms of money (for his department) but (it is) in terms of passion, dedication and the amount of time we have spent on this,” Kar said. “We really liked this project and we could really see the benefit of it.

“It was very productive from a research output point of view, student training point of view, relationship building point of view,” he said. “Research is never ending … there is always room for improvement. We have done good things but it could be better.”

Water splitting, a new way to store solar energy

New way to store solar energy

Researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland have developed a new scalable technique for solar energy storage that relies on hydrogen production through water splitting.

According to aiche.org, the scientists are capturing solar energy and using it to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, so that the hydrogen can be stored for later use in a hydrogen fuel. Their goal was to find a more efficient and cost-effective method for splitting water.

One of the most sustainable methods of producing hydrogen is photoelectrochemical water-splitting. The water is split into its components of hydrogen and oxygen using a process called “hydrogen evolution reaction.” The reaction requires a catalyst, often platinum, which is deposited on the surface of the solar panel’s photocathode, where light is converted into electric current.

The research team at EPFL replaced platinum with a molybdenum-sulfide catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction, and a collaborating team developed copper(I) oxide as a photocathode. The researchers found that the molybdenum sulfide can be deposited on the copper(I) oxide photocathode for use in photoelectrochemical water splitting through a simple deposition process that is easily scaled.

The technique’s efficiency is comparable to using a platinum catalyst and it preserves the optical transparency for the light-harvesting surface. It also exhibits improved stability under acidic conditions, which could mean lower maintenance.
But more importantly, both the catalyst and the photocathode are made with cheap, earth-abundant materials that could greatly reduce the cost of photoelectrochemical water-splitting devices in the future.

The research team’s work was published recently in the journal Nature Communications under the title “Hydrogen evolution from a copper(I) oxide photocathode coated with an amorphous molybdenum sulphide catalyst.”

Perovskites for cheaper and more efficient solar panels

Best material for solar panels

Materials that may be cheaper and more efficient than silicon at converting the sun’s energy into electricity are the key to the next generation of solar panels, scientists say.

Perovskite, named for a 19th century Russian count, is now the most promising material for solar cells. Panels based on perovskites are surprising researchers by efficiently converting sunlight into electricity, says Jenny Chase, lead solar analyst with Bloomberg New Energy Finance in London.

Perovskites are the future “not because of where they are, but because they’re getting better really, really fast,” said Chase. “The rate of progress in the lab has been astounding.”

According to The Herald Business Journal, most of the 52 gigawatts of solar power that was expected to be installed around the world in 2014 will use panels made of silicon mainly derived from sand. The best silicon-based solar cells from SunPower can convert as much as 24.2 percent of sunlight to electricity.

Solar cells made from perovskite are already nearing that level. They can convert more than 20 percent of sunlight into power.

With the 20 percent conversion rate, perovskites have achieved a measure “attained by only a handful of other technologies,” according to Martin Green, a professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia. Using the material in a hybrid cell may eventually boost efficiency to more than 40 percent, Green said.

A new formula that can improve the performance of perovskite solar cells is showing promise in the lab, according to a report on Wednesday in the journal Nature.

Solar cells using perovskite exhibited “highly improved efficiency” converting “more than 20 percent” of sunlight into electricity, said Sang Il Seok, a researcher at the institute.

Perovskite cells may be produced by using a printing process, Seok said.

“We expect that fabrication cost will be reduced to below a third of silicon-based cells.”

First Solar, the largest U.S. photovoltaic panel manufacturer, uses cadmium telluride to produce solar panels that can convert 14.2 percent of sunlight into power.

Oxford Photovoltaics hopes to produce panels with perovskite-based solar cells in 2017, according to company co- founder and Oxford University researcher Henry Snaith. Saule Technologies in Warsaw is pursuing the same goal.

Both ventures must overcome the competitive advantage held by silicon-based panels, which have fallen more than 95 percent in price over the last decade.

“You don’t just need to be efficient, you need to be cheap,” said Chase. “It doesn’t necessarily matter how efficient you are when your feedstock is free. Anything that comes in now has to come down the cost curve really fast.”

Materials needed to make perovskite-based solar cells are cheap and perform better than silicon-based technology, Snaith said. Perovskite-based solar cells can absorb the spectrum of light that silicon-based cells miss, meaning that a hybrid cell could convert close to 30 percent of sunlight into electricity.
The technology will be be more efficient than silicon-based solar cells “in the relatively near-term,” Snaith said.

New methods of improving solar panels may be needed as the rate of improvement in panel efficiency slowed last year, according to a Jan. 4 report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Green, the professor who taught Suntech Power founder and former chief executive officer Shi Zhengrong, sees potential in using materials like perovskites to create hybrid cells. While the stability of perovskites-based solar cells needs to improve, he foresees the technology being commercialized “in five years at the earliest.”

World’s First Solar-Powered Wearable

Solar-powered Activity Tracking Jewelry

Tech startup Misfit Wearables and 120-year-old Austrian jewelry maker Swarovski have come together to put out the Swarovski Shine, a collection of accessories for women paired with two new fitness and sleep trackers. The trackers include a clear crystal face and a violet crystal face.

According to Forbes, the violet tracker is the one that is solar powered by making the crystal bend the light onto the tiny solar cell lying underneath the crystal. And the solar harvesting will only work with the violet crystal tracker because the violet color makes the light more intense, said Joan Ng, a senior vice president at Swarovski–the clear crystal doesn’t produce enough intensity. It takes 10-15 minutes of sun exposure to power the wearable for a few days.

Misfit’s wearable tech already has extremely low energy requirements. “We are looking obsessively at energy at Misfit,” said Misfit cofounder and CEO Sonny Vu in an interview. “We pushed the envelope to make Shine last six months on a single coin cell battery. We tried solar but it was very hard. You need direct sunlight. The crystal bends the light in the Swarovski Shine. That’s how we got it to work.”

The new trackers are being offered in a set along with different accessories, like a pendant or sports bracelet. Prices range from $169 to $249. All of the new accessories, which can be purchased separately, can also be used with the Shine tracker.

Engineering students invented a device that extracts energy from wireless signals

The research team: Alexander Katko (left) and Allen Hawkes

Two Engineering students invented a cheap device that collects stray microwave signals in the air and converts them into power for charging batteries. The invention works similar to solar panels, the researchers claim that their converter can collect stray signals anything wireless, including satellite signals, sound or even Wi-Fi.

They used fiberglass and copper energy conductors engineered to capture various forms of wave energy and tune them for useful applications. The research team created a series of fiber glass and copper energy conductors on a circuit board that converts microwaves into 7.3V of electrical energy,according to gadgetronicx2.rssing.com.

“We had been getting efficiency around 6 to 10%, but with this design we were able to dramatically improve energy conversion to 37% which is comparable to what achieved in solar cells”, said Allen Hawkes.

This was the five cell metamaterial array developed by the engineers and the beauty of this design is that the basic building blocks (metamaterial cell) are self contained and additive. So one can simply add more blocks to increase the electric power based on their needs. This device could be tuned for a multitude of frequencies to collect different types of energy including vibration and sound energy.

The researchers further added that this power harvesting device could integrate into modern mobile phones, allowing it to recharge itself from the signal obtained through towers or satellites.

In a world where we are swimming in microwave signals, this device could provide a vast amount of energy which we need on daily basis. Imagine charging your smartphone through Wi-Fi signal or by means of stray signals from the Satellite overhead. This cheap and effective device could be a best solution to meet the energy needs of the world in our upcoming future.

New HD solar powered bluetooth speakers by Grace Digital to be available in 2015

Ecosmart 4000 speakers and Smart HD solar panel

Grace Digital Inc. has just introduced two new Bluetooth speakers and a HD Solar panel for its new Ecosmart line. Ecopebble, Ecosmart 4000 speakers and Smart solar panel will be showcased at Consumer Electronics Show (CES), 2015. Grace Digital claims these products as a family of outdoor power and audio solutions for a 100% untethered al fresco experience.

Ecopebble speaker is the first product announced by Ecoxgear. This device acts like a waterproof and shockproof powerbank as it can be used to charge other gadgets such as smartphones via Bluetooth. According to crazyengineers.com, the key feature of this speaker is that it packs 10,000-mAh battery that supports seamless 50+ hours of play time.

On the other hand, in order to use renewable energy as the main power source, Ecoxgear announced another solar powered speaker called Ecosmart 4000. This one has a built-in solar panel that can support up to 18 hours of play time.

Ecoxgear has also introduced Smart Bluetooth 4.0 HD solar panel. It is used to charge Ecopebble power bank when it runs out of juice and can also be used to charge other devices such as smartphones or tablets.

“We set out to develop a family of outdoor portable products that use renewable energy as the main power source, drastically reducing energy consumption,” said Greg Fadul, Co-Founder of ECOXGEAR. “It was also important for us to provide users with a completely wire-free experience with their portable devices, not having to search for a place to plug-in while they’re enjoying the great outdoors.”