In a lively panel discussion at last week’s IEEE Industrial Electronics Society meeting in Montreal, two questions related to the smart grid (the prospective electrical distribution system that will set prices dynamically and let consumers sell electricity to other users easily) arose that I think we’ll hear much more about in coming years: ...

The Sun blazes down from a deep blue sky – and rooftop solar cells convert this solar energy into electricity. Not all of it, however: Around a quarter of the Sun’s spectrum is made up of infrared radiation which cannot be converted by standard solar cells – so this heat radiation is lost. One way to overcome this is to use black silicon, a material that absorbs...

In Dhaka, the Mirpur district has become a perfect study into the electricity needs and habits of slum-dwellers, as well as the potential for alternative...

(Phys.org)—V3Solar has developed a new way to convert the sun’s energy into electricity using traditional technology in a new way, and in so doing have discovered a way to get twenty times more electricity out of the same amount of solar cells. Their new device, called the Spin Cell, does away with the traditional flat panel and instead places the solar cells on...

Wastewater treatment plants could one day not only power themselves but be able to generate excess electricity for use by others. ...

(Phys.org) — Caitlyn Shea Butler, a civil engineering professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has designed and is now field-testing a new “green latrine” that purifies human waste, turning it into compost for farming and generating electricity.Her multipurpose invention is called a “Microbial Fuel Cell Latrine.” Go to Source Similar Blog &...

In some isolated clinics in parts of Africa, the electricity needed to power lights and medical devices is generated by expensive imported diesel fuel; the water supply can be so cold in winter that health workers can’t even wash their hands properly. But a startup company established by a team of MIT students and alumni aims to change that. Go to Source ...

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