#solarpower

This Material Can Turn Any Surface Into A Power Source The bonus is, the material is so light and thin you wouldn’t really expect its complexity! Engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created ultralight fabric solar cells that can quickly turn any surface into a power source.The team, led by Vladimir Bulović, the leader of the Organic and Nanostructured Electronics Laboratory (ONE Lab), and director of MIT.nano, published their results in Small Methods. Bulovic was joined by Mayuran Saravanapavanantham, an electrical engineering, and computer science graduate student at MIT; and Jeremiah Mwaura, a research scientist in the MIT Research Laboratory of Electronics.The new cells are durable and flexible. They are also thinner than a human hair. They are easy to use, as they are glued to a lightweight fabric that allows installation on a fixed surface. They can generate 18 times more power per kilogram than conventional heavy solar panels.Created from semiconducting inks, what makes these power cells unique, aside from their thinness, is that you can integrate them to any surface, and they will be able to provide power. The material can be attached to the sails of the boat, tents, tarps, and even drones. “The lightweight solar fabrics enable integrability, providing impetus for the current work. We strive to accelerate solar adoption, given the present urgent need to deploy new carbon-free sources of energy,” Bulović said. Image credit: Melanie Gonick, MIT#power #sources #solarpower #MIT #research #solarcells

Using Only Sunlight, Scientists Turned Carbon Dioxide from the Air into Kerosene Hydrocarbon FuelThe production of synthetic fuel by combining carbon capture and solar power has long been the elusive goal of chemists. Indeed, the steps of turning air into fuels are relatively straightforward: first, carbon dioxide and water are collected from ambient air. Second, those two ingredients are converted into carbon monoxide and hydrogen, using heat that is collected by a set of mirrors used to concentrate sunlight. In the last step, using copper-based catalysts, carbon monoxide and hydrogen are converted into hydrocarbon fuels like methane or kerosene.Now, researchers from ETH Zurich have created a device that performs all those steps above as a single coherent production platform installed on the roof of a lab in Zurich. Even though the process is slow - over the course of the day with 7 hours of useful sunlight, the team was able to produce just 32 milliliters of methanol - nevertheless it’s still quite an achievement in producing hydrocarbon fuel out of thin air using just sunlight!The team has published their research findings in the journal Nature and suggest ways to optimize and scale the procedure.Image: ETH Zurich#fuel #carboncapture #solarpower #syntheticfuel #methanol #kerosene

Students From the Netherlands Create and Drive a Solar-Powered Motorhome Through EuropeThis is the Stella Vita. It is a solar-powered motorhome developed by students from the Technical University of Eindhoven in the Netherlands. The vehicle was driven across Europe to promote sustainable travel.According to the students, the Stella Vita is designed to be comfortable and efficient, and they're not lying about it. The vehicle can travel up to 460 miles on a sunny day, with a top speed of 120 km (75 miles) per hour. Its battery can also power a fridge, a coffee maker, and a laptop.While the vehicle certainly looks promising, it is not without technical issues, and there is lots of room for improvement. Its creators, however, are hard at work.(Image Credit: Reuters/ YouTube)#SolarPower #Motorhome #SustainableTravel