Tag: solar panels

Changing how we make solar panels could reduce their carbon emissions

Although solar panels are a source of renewable energy, making them has an environmental impact. A new type of panel has a lower carbon footprint than traditional silicon ones Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2250574-changing-how-we-make-solar-panels-could-reduce-their-carbon-emissions/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

What the Heroin Industry Can Teach Us About Solar Power

ljw1004 writes: Helmand Province in Afghanistan produces two thirds of the world’s opium. Its opium production has more than doubled in the past eight years, due mostly to solar power. “Solar is by far the most significant technological change” in the region for decades, says Dr. Mansfield, author of the report (PDF). The first solar panels were introduced there in 2013….

Giant Waves of Sand Are Moving On Mars

“Researchers have spotted large waves of martian sand migrating for the first time,” reports Science magazine. “The discovery dispels the long-held belief that these ‘megaripples’ haven’t moved since they formed hundreds of thousands of years ago. They’re also evidence of stronger-than-expected winds on the Red Planet.” It’s pretty staggering that humans can detect these changes on Mars, says Ralph Lorenz, a…

Renewable Energy Breaks UK Record In First Quarter of 2020

Renewable energy made up almost half of Britain’s electricity generation in the first three months of the year, with a surge in wind power helping to set a new record for clean energy. The Guardian reports: The government’s official data has revealed that renewable energy made up 47% of the UK’s electricity generation in the first three months of the year,…

Spherical Solar Cells Soak Up Scattered Sunlight

An anonymous reader quotes a report from IEEE Spectrum: Flat solar panels still face big limitations when it comes to making the most of the available sunlight each day. A new spherical solar cell design aims to boost solar power harvesting potential from nearly every angle without requiring expensive moving parts to keep tracking the sun’s apparent movement across the sky….

Two-sided solar panels that track the sun produce a third more energy

Double-sided solar panels that track the sun as it moves in the sky would produce 35 per cent more energy and reduce the average cost of electricity by 16 per cent Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2245180-two-sided-solar-panels-that-track-the-sun-produce-a-third-more-energy/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

US seeks to change the rules for mining the moon

Private industries have helped drop the cost of launching rockets, satellites and other equipment into space to historic lows. That has boosted interest in developing space—both for mining raw materials such as silicon for solar panels and oxygen for rocket fuel, as well as potentially relocating polluting industries off the Earth. But the rules are not clear about who would profit…

Intel’s Project Corail Monitors Coral Reef Health With AI

To commemorate Earth Day, Intel — in partnership with Accenture and Sulubaai Environmental Foundation, a Philippine-based nonprofit dedicated to protecting Palawan’s natural resources — detailed Project Corail, an AI-powered platform that monitors and analyzes the resiliency of coral reefs. From a report: Since its launch in May 2019, it’s collected 40,000 images of the reef surrounding Pangatalan Island, which researchers have…