Analysts ABI Research suggests that in the coming years we will be talking about sunshine.
The research says that solar-powered mobile phone base stations will turn mobile communications into the greenest high industry.
According to an estimate, more than 335,000 base stations all around the world will be using sun power by the end of 2013 and around 40,000 among them would be completely autonomous and off-grid.
Most of these base stations will either use mains electricity or diesel to boost their solar panels and particularly in those Northern countries where it is needed because of population density and cloud cover.
In this connection, the developing countries of the world may become the biggest winners as remote communities will receive phone coverage and internet connections for the first time. Some UN figures suggest that half of the world is still not able to make a phone call.
Some other technologies that networks may consider improving coverage are wind power, compressed air and fuel cells.
Related Post
Solar-Powered Mobile Phones Coming Soon
Toshiba’s Fuel Cell Concept
Forget charging batteries, or even whipping out a solar panel. Toshiba says its first fuel cell powered gadgets will be launched in just a few short months!
The company says its direct methanol fuel cell will hit shelves before March 31 2009. There’s no word on which gadget it’ll turn up in first, but the firm showed off a mobile phone powered by the technology in Japan last week, and we’ve seen MP3 players packing it too.
It should mean much more power, for a longer period of time, with the fuel cell giving off a small amount of water vapor and carbon dioxide as it cranks away, generating power on the go.
Re-charging fuel cell gadgets is also much faster than using gadgets, since the cell can simply be swapped for a new one.
As well as shoving fuel cells inside brand new gadgets, Toshiba’s working on re-chargers for existing kit, using a fuel cell to generate power for whatever’s plugged in.
Keep reading auto-opstroom for news of the first products as soon as they’re available.
Husqvarna uses sun to power your lawnmower
Husqvarna plans to show off a solar-powered version of its robotic lawnmower this weekend at the Green Industry and Equipment Expo 2008.
The Stockholm, Sweden-based company originally announced the robot last spring in Europe. This will be its U.S. debut. And what better place to tout a new robotic lawnmower than at a green expo in Kentucky, a state famous for its grass?
Like its original robotic lawnmower, Husqvarna's Automower Solar Hybrid is capable of autonomously maintaining a property of up to a half acre and runs on a rechargeable nickel metal hydride battery.
(Credit: Husqvarna)
The 22-pound robot works from a perimeter set with a wire that is slightly buried or staked in place below the grass-cutting level.
If the robot is set to mow during daylight--and honestly, how many people mow at night?--the Solar Hybrid version can draw on solar power while it does its job, extending the time between recharges.
Like the original Husqvarna Automower, the Solar Hybrid version has built-in safety features. The robot automatically shuts off its blades if the mower is lifted, can be locked, has an alarm to deter theft, and uses sensors to work around large objects such as lawn furniture.
Are people going to shell out the cash for a robotic lawnmower given the state of the economy?
Considering how expensive lawn services or gasoline for a regular mower can be, the robot might actually be the more frugal option over the long run. We'll have to wait and see once Husqvarna reveals the price. The original Automower sells for about $2,000.
Panasonic Halves Size of Prototype Laptop Fuel Cell
Engineers at Panasonic have succeeded in reducing the size of a prototype methanol fuel cell so that it's no larger than a laptop battery pack but provides all-day power.
The fuel cell, which the Japanese company has been developing for the last eight years, was first shown at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2006. At that time it was about double the size of a laptop battery, but the latest version, due to be unveiled later this week at an event in Japan, is half the size, Panasonic said Monday.
The new version has a volume of 270 cubic centimeters and can deliver an average power of 10 watts with a peak output of 20 watts, Panasonic said. It weighs 320 grams.
On a 200cc charge of methanol it should be able to deliver power for 20 hours -- considerably longer than the Lithium Ion batteries used in laptop PCs today -- and when the methanol gets low all that's required is a quick refill and it's back to full capacity. This fast recharge is seen as one of the key advantages of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). They are also viewed as more environmentally friendly than Lithium Ion batteries because the only by-product is a little water and carbon dioxide.
Additionally Panasonic has also developed a stand-alone DMFC charger that has a couple of USB power outlets and can be used to recharge dead gadgets such as iPods and cell phones when away from a power socket. The recharger is slightly larger at 360cc and weighs 350 grams.
Both will get their first public showing at the Hydrogen Energy Advanced Technology Exhibition 2008 that is due to open Wednesday in the western Japanese city of Fukuoka.
Neither is likely to go on sale soon. Panasonic doesn't have any firm plans for commercialization but said it hopes to have them on the market by the end of 2012.
A handful of big-name consumer electronics companies have been developing DMFCs for the last several years, but are yet to bring the products to market. For the last few years most companies have vaguely stated "next year" as a commercialization date but it's an answer that's given no matter when asked.
That might be about to change. Toshiba recently made the clearest promise yet to DMFC commercialization: sometime during its current financial year, which ends in March 2009. At the recent Ceatec show in Japan the company demonstrated a working cell phone that included a DMFC, but Toshiba isn't letting on yet if this will be its first product.
IDG News Service
IMEC Reports Method to Extend Lifetime of Organic Solar Cells
IMEC’s associated laboratory IMOMEC, located on the campus of the Hasselt University, developed a method to stabilize the nanomorphology of organic solar cells resulting in a lifetime improvement of at least a factor 10. With these stabilized solar cells, efficiencies were achieved comparable to state-of-the-art organic solar cells. This breakthrough paves the way to commercial organic solar cells with an operational lifetime of over 5 years and efficiencies of over 10%.
The efficiency and operation of organic solar cells strongly depends on the nanomorphology of the active layer, i.e. on a stable mix of organic compounds that can trap the light’s energy and transport it to an electric contact. IMEC already reported such cells based on P3HT:PCBM with efficiencies near 5%. But to date, the lifetime of these cells is far too short for commercial applications, for which 5 years is seen as a minimum. Under long term operation, all solar cells based on an intimate mixing of organic semiconductors deteriorate. This is due to segregation of the mixture whereby the compounds tend to separate into different phases and consequently reduce the efficient conversion of light into electricity. IMEC has shown before that this phase segregation is related to the mobility of the organic polymer and that fixation of the nanomorphology of the polymers could result in a prolonged operational lifetime.
IMEC/IMOMEC has now introduced a new method and new conjugated polymers to stabilize the nanomorphology of the active layer making it far more robust to phase segregation under prolonged operation. Experiments on bulk heterojunction organic solar cells based on this new material showed no degradation of the efficiency after more than 100 hours whereas reference cells degraded already after a few hours. This means that a lifetime improvement of at least a factor 10 can be obtained. And the cells achieved efficiencies near 4% which is comparable to state-of-the-art.
Future research targets further refinement of the method by optimizing the chemical structures of the conjugated polymers.
IMEC is a world-leading independent research center in nanoelectronics and nanotechnology. IMEC vzw is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, has a sister company in the Netherlands, IMEC-NL, offices in the US, China and Taiwan, and representatives in Japan. Its staff of more than 1600 people includes more than 500 industrial residents and guest researchers. In 2007, its revenue (P&L) was EUR 244.5 million.
IMEC’s More Moore research aims at semiconductor scaling towards sub-32nm nodes. With its More than Moore research, IMEC looks into technologies for nomadic embedded systems, wireless autonomous transducer solutions, biomedical electronics, photovoltaics, organic electronics and GaN power electronics.
IMEC’s research bridges the gap between fundamental research at universities and technology development in industry. Its unique balance of processing and system know-how, intellectual property portfolio, state-of-the-art infrastructure and its strong network worldwide position IMEC as a key partner for shaping technologies for future systems.
Further information on IMEC can be found at http://www.imec.be.
New Hybrid Material Pumps Up Solar Power
A new hybrid material could give solar energy the boost it needs to compete in the alternative energy lineup. According to researchers at Ohio State University, who published their work in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the new material behaves in a surprising, yet favorable way—it can absorb the entire spectrum of light emitted from the Sun, and it gives off electrons in a way that makes them easier to capture, and thus easier to convert into electricity.
The researchers developed this super-solar material, which combines conductive plastic with metals including molybdenum and titanium, with the help of a computer model. Once they identified a material with the best properties, they worked with National Taiwan University to synthesize these molecules.
The surprising, yet favorable behavior
The researchers say they were surprised by how the hybrid material responded to light. Instead of only fluorescing (like typical solar cells), these molecules fluoresced and phosphoresced. The cool thing about phosphorescence is that the ejected electrons hang around longer before falling back into the molecule than those generated through fluorescence. This gives the collector a little extra time to snag the electrons and convert them into electricity. While other materials are known to behave in this way, as far as the researchers know, this is the first time a material has been created that both absorbs the entire visible light spectrum and undergoes fluorescence/phosphorescence.
This is exciting news, but it's still in the lab. The researchers say that it will be years before the material is commercially available.
18 Tools to Track Car and Fuel Maintenance
With the economy in such an uncertain place, it’s very likely that people will be holding on to their cars far longer than they have in the past. With this in mind, it’s important to take care of your vehicle, which can be made simple using a variety of online services. Here are 18 tools to help you keep track of your car’s maintenance, as well as gas consumption, mileage, and more.
What sites do you use to maintain your car?
Auto Repair
DriverSide.com - DriverSide can help you find a car and maintain it once it’s yours. The site provides news about recalls, when to get your car serviced, helps you find out how much parts cost, and they will even help you sell it. Covers pretty much the entire life cycle of an automobile.
GarageSeek.com - Finding a reliable and honest auto repair garage can be tough, but GarageSeek attempts to provide you with reviews of garages throughout all of North America.
Ownersite.com - Ownersite is a subscription plan service that helps you keep track of your car’s maintenance, costs and reminders of when you next need service.
RepairPal.com - RepairPal assists you with getting estimates for repairs, finding well reviewed shops and keeping track of your car’s maintenance.
ServiceBeacon.com - Keep track of your car’s maintenance schedule, receive email reminders and schedule appointments with your dealer online.
TheAutoLog.com - Set up a profile for your car, track its maintenance history and display it for others to see.
TheCarTracker.com - Track your car’s maintenance, as well as modifications and costs that you have incurred.
YourGarageOnline.com - Keep track of your car’s information, repair history and easily see when you need to go in for your next check up.
Gas Mileage
Fuelly.com - Fuelly allows you to enter data on your vehicle before you start tracking it, then you can compare how you are doing with other owners of the same model. You can also enter data from their iPhone site, participate in forums, see how much you have spent over time and more.
MPGTune.com - Track your MPG, your annual fuel cost, see the top mileage of other users with the same car and more.
MyMilemarker.com - Enter anytime you gas up via their website, phone or Twitter, and My Mile marker will give you reports on your gas mileage.
AccuFuel - Tracks your fuel usage over a number of years and allows you to switch to other units of measurement besides gallons if the need arises.
FuelGauge - Customizable fuel consumption iPhone app that allows you to set volume measurement, currency, enter historical data and more.
Car Care - An iPhone application that allows you to track fuel economy and reminds you of regular maintenance requirements.
GasHog - An iPhone and iPod Touch application for keeping track of your gas mileage that supports multiple vehicles and exporting data amongst other features.
Gasmate - An app just for tracking your gas mileage over time.
iPhoneMiles.com - An iPhone site that allows you to keep track of your miles easily instead of on slips of paper.
Miles.Dynadel.com - iPhone optimized site to keep track of the fuel efficiency of your car.
Artificial Eel Cells Could Be Used for Bio-Batteries to Power Small Devices
New Haven, Conn. — Researchers at Yale University have created a blueprint for artificial cells that are more powerful and efficient than the natural cells they mimic and could one day be used to power tiny medical implants.
The scientists began with the question of whether an artificial version of the electrocyte – the energy-generating cells in electric eels – could be designed as a potential power source. “The electric eel is very efficient at generating electricity,” said Jian Xu, a postdoctoral associate in Yale’s Department of Chemical Engineering. “It can generate more electricity than a lot of electrical devices.”
Xu came up with the first blueprint that shows how the electrocyte’s different ion channels work together to produce the fish’s electricity while he was a graduate student under former Yale assistant professor of mechanical engineering David LaVan, now at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
But the scientists didn’t stop there. “We’re still trying to understand how the mechanisms in these cells work,” said LaVan. “But we asked ourselves: ‘Do we know enough to sit down and start thinking about how to build these things?’ Nobody had really done that before.”
Using the new blueprint as a guide, LaVan and Xu set about designing an artificial cell that could replicate the electrocyte’s energy production. “We wanted to see if nature had already optimized the power output and energy conversion efficiency of this cell,” said Xu. “And we found that an artificial cell could actually outperform a natural cell, which was a very surprising result.”
The artificial cell LaVan and Xu modeled is capable of producing 28 percent more electricity than the eel’s own electrocyte, with 31 percent more efficiency in converting the cell’s chemical energy – derived from the eel’s food – into electricity.
While eels use thousands of electrocytes to produce charges of up to 600 volts, LaVan and Xu show it would be possible to create a smaller “bio-battery” using several dozen artificial cells. The tiny bio-batteries would only need to be about ¼-inch thick to produce the small voltages needed to power tiny electrical devices such as retinal implants or other prostheses.
Although the engineers came up with a design, it will still be some time before the artificial cells are actually built. For one thing, they still need a power source before they could start producing electricity. LaVan speculates the cells could be powered in a way similar to their natural counterparts. It’s possible, he said, that bacteria could be employed to recycle ATP – responsible for transferring energy within the cell – using glucose, a common source of chemical energy derived from food.
With an energy source in place, the artificial cells could one day power medical implants and would provide a big advantage over battery-operated devices. “If it breaks, there are no toxins released into your system,” said Xu. “It would be just like any other cell in your body.”
Citation: Nature Nanotechnology.
‘Black Silicon’ Could Revolutionize Solar Cell Technology
A newly discovered material called ‘black silicon’ is between 100 and 500 times more sensitive to light than conventional silicon, and could be used to revolutionize solar energy generation.
The material was discovered when a team of Harvard University scientists shone an ultra-powerful laser (briefly producing the same amount of energy as the sun falling on the entire surface of the Earth) on a silicon wafer, before adding sulphur hexafluoride. The result was a silicon wafer that looked black to the naked eye, but when examined under an electron microscope turned out to be covered with a massive amount of ultra-tiny spikes.
The substance has since been found to be incredibly sensitive to light, leading to a range of exciting plans for commercialization, including night-vision and infra-red imaging systems. According to James Carey, co-founder of Harvard spin-off company SiOnyx, “We have seen a 100 to 500 times increase in sensitivity to light compared to conventional silicon detectors.”
However, insiders in the solar power industry are likely to be more excited by the prospect of using black silicon technology to build far more efficient photovoltaic cells, using essentially the same silicon-based processes that are currently employed.
Harvard is expected to announce this Monday (13th October), that it has licensed patents for black silicon to SiOnyx, so it seems likely that we could see the radical new technology put to practical good use in the near future.
Image Credit - SiOnyx
AlertMe's Smart Plug Monitors Energy Use, Cuts Off Electricity Remotely
UK-based company AlertMe is prepping for the release of the first product in its new Energy line called the "Smart Plug."
Basically, you just plug in the Smart Plug into any outlet you want to monitor. The AlertMe Hub from the brand's Security package is paired with the Smart Plug to serve as a wireless broadband and GPRS connection. This means you can view that outlet's usage statistics on a web site both on the computer and your handsets. What's more, you can remotely cut the power off of that particular outlet by accessing the web interface. In fact, you can even program the system to do that on a particular time of the day if you want.
The Smart Plug itself will be available this November for around $50 per, but it won't work without the AlertMe Security package (containing the Hub needed) that sells for $300 so the whole system's quite pricey for now.
Next year though, AlertMe is going to offer a Smart Plug package that comes with the Hub and a few accessories which I expect would be cheaper than buying the Security package. AlertMe claims that by using the Smart Plug, you can save as much as 20 percent of your power consumption which SmartPlanet notes is a "bold claim." We'll find out in due time whether that's true or not; for now, what we know is that AlertMe is also coming up with an electricity meter and a heater.
Thermoelectric Device Could Be Used to Charge Gadgets with Their Own Heat Someday
Murata Manufacturing, the same company behind unicycling kindergartner robot, Seiko-chan, has come up with a device capable of converting heat into energy ready for use. The thermoelectric device is comprised of two ceramic semiconductors of which one is subjected to 90 degrees Celsius heat while the other is cooled at 20 degrees Celsius. These two semiconductors of opposing temperatures sandwich a metal plate.
The whole setup produces an electric current, with the current version of the thermoelectric device having a power output of ten milliwatts that's just enough to run a small, plastic fan. It's obvious that the technology is still in its infancy but once developed, the device could be a fixture on gadgets such as cell phones and laptops, enabling them to convert their own heat into energy to charge their batteries.
Cylindrical Solar Cell Sunroof
There are approximately 30 billion
square feet (2.8 billion square meters) of expansive, flat roofs in the U.S., an area large enough to collect the sunlight needed to power 16 million American homes, or replace 38 conventional coal-fired power plants. By covering these roofs with large, flat arrays of cylindrical thin-film solar cells (think massive installations of fluorescent tubes, only absorbing light rather than emitting it), Fremont, Calif.–based Solyndra, Inc., hopes to harness that energy.
"With a cylinder, we are collecting light from all angles, even collecting diffuse light," says CEO Chris Gronet, who founded the solar cylinder company in 2005 based on an idea he had late one night while pondering less expensive ways to install photovoltaic panels. Because the arrays do not have to be angled or anchored into the roof, he adds, "we have half the installation cost and can install in one third the time."
Solyndra is now churning out copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) thin-film solar cells, wrapped into a cylindrical shape and encased in glass. This design not only seals out moisture but allows the glass to act as a sunlight concentrator, funneling photons onto the thin film, according to Gronet. He says the Fremont plant, which opened in the spring, will ultimately be capable of producing 110 megawatts worth of solar cylinders annually, but he declined to specify how many cylinders that is.
The company says that the solar cylinders—paired with a roof painted white to better reflect sunlight—can collect 20 percent more sunshine than their conventional flat counterparts. The estimate is based on 50 kilowatts worth of the tubular cells that the company installed on its own roof.
As it stands, Solyndra's CIGS solar cells convert as much as 14 percent of the sunlight that hits them to electricity and, all told, Gronet expects that a Solyndra system will deliver twice as many kilowatt-hours of electricity from a given rooftop.
The cylindrical design also allows Solyndra to lay its arrays flat and to space them so that the wind can flow through them, rather than lift them up like it can with angled arrays. This means that the solar cylinders can be installed without affixing them onto the roof—and still withstand up to 130 mile-per-hour (209 kilometer-per-hour) winds.
"Our test installation in Florida survived the recent hurricane," Tropical Storm Fay, Gronet says. "Because of the lower installation cost, we have a clear path to grid parity." In other words, the newly shaped cells have the potential of harnessing solar power at around the same price as electricity from coal-fired power plants, currently the cheapest generation option at around six cents per kilowatt hour. Typical solar photovoltaic installations, on the other hand, cost roughly 25 to 50 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity, roughly one half of which is related to the expense of physically installing them.
Gronet declined to reveal the cost of manufacturing solar cylinders or the price tag of electricity it delivers—primarily because if they are able to deliver lower cost electricity they want to preserve that extra profit for their customers, he admits. The solar cylinders thrive in countries that set a minimum guaranteed price for solar electricity, such as Spain and Germany where the so-called feed-in tariff is as much as 44 Euro cents per kilowatt-hour.
As a result, Phoenix Solar, AG, a German company that installs solar power systems, is Solyndra's biggest customer to date—and the latter claims to have $1.2 billion in multiyear contracts, largely because the cylinders can be installed in days rather than weeks and do not require special supports. The company already has 10 prototype installations, located in Germany as well as in California, Florida, Pennsylvania, Utah and Washington, D.C.
The questions that remain include price and reliability in manufacturing, according to environmental engineer Vasilis Fthenakis, senior scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory's National Photovoltaic Environment Research Center in Upton, N.Y., and Columbia University. "Companies have had difficulties producing CIGS without many defects," he says. "They may get more from deflected or reflected light but how much more? That needs to counterbalance the increased costs of production," due to the cylinder design and specialized thin-film materials.
That said, commercial rooftops are already among the most promising areas for installing solar power. "We envision large-scale photovoltaics in the desert but it's much easier for people to accept systems on the roof," Fthenakis notes. "It's cheaper to put them on roofs than on real estate."
Mobile Energy Storage For The Military.
The Department of Defense is looking for something light but powerful for U.S. soldiers to wear. The Department doled out $1.75 million in prize money to the makers of three light-weight power devices for its inaugural “Wearable Power Competition” over the weekend, following a grueling field test of competing fuel cells, batteries and energy storage units. Coming out on top was German fuel cell maker Smart Fuel Cells (SFC), which took both first and third place, while Applied Materials scored second for its own fuel cell.
The competition, which attracted military heavyweights like Lockheed Martin as well as battery veterans like Ray-O-Vac, sought the safest and most power dense device that could be worn by a soldier and produce 20 watts average power for 96 hours but weigh less than 4 kilograms — about half the weight of an equivalent battery system. The contest received nearly 170 entrants before whittling the list down to 48 finalists. Of those, 20 teams were selected to put their power devices through an eight-day bench test at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif.
SFC took home first place, and $1 million, for its M-25 Portable Fuel Cell, which it co-developed with DuPont. The cell uses DuPont’s direct methanol technology and SFC’s fuel cell design and was deployed for limited use in the field for the U.S. Army earlier this year. SFC eked out a first place win over Applied Materials’ propane-powered solid-oxide fuel cells in part because it was 28 grams lighter.
SFC also won third place (and another $500,000) for its JENNY fuel cell, developed with partner Capitol Connections LLC of Middleburg, Va. The JENNY system is currently being field tested by NATO. Both systems include a fuel cell, a fuel cartridge, a rechargeable Li-ion battery and a voltage converter, and both devices were still ticking when the bench test ended, the company says.
Mobile energy storage for the military could be big business for little startups. Lockheed has partnered with EEStor to deploy its ultracapacitor-derived device on the battlefield, while Altairnano has signed a $2.5 million deal with U.S. Navy to test its ceramic Li-ion batteries. Meanwhile, Boise, Idaho-based M2E is developing a device that can convert kinetic energy into electricity and says it will be testing units with the U.S. military sometime this year.
Images courtesy of SFC.
Ultra-Thin Solar Cells Could Generate Power Through Windows
Solar cells that are transparent enough to be used to tint windows on buildings or cars, have been developed by U.S researchers.
Conventional solar cells are bulky and rigid but lightweight cells are usually far less efficient. However, a new method of making the silicon-based devices could create thin, flexible cells without any trade-offs.
Brittle wafers of silicon are sliced into ultra-thin pieces and carefully 'printed' onto a malleable surface. The cells are so flexible they can be rolled around a pencil.
'You can make (the solar cells) in the form of a gray film that could be added to architectural glass,' said lead researcher John Rogers of the University of Illinois.
'It opens up spaces on the fronts of buildings as opportunities for solar energy.'
The new technology could be used on car windows, generating enough electricity to power the GPS or air conditioning.
Solar cells, which convert solar energy into electricity, are in high demand because of higher oil prices and concerns over climate change.
Many international companies are making thin-film solar cells, but they are typically less efficient at converting solar energy into electricity than conventional cells.
Rogers said his technology uses conventional single crystal silicon. 'It's robust. It's highly efficient. But in its current form, it's rigid and fragile,' he said in the journal Nature Materials.
Rogers' team uses a special etching method that slices chips off the surface of a bulk silicon wafer. The sliced chips are 10 to 100 times thinner than the wafer, and the size can be adapted to the application.
Once sliced, a device picks up the bits of silicon chips 'like a rubber stamp' and transfers them to a new surface material, Rogers said.
'These silicon solar cells become like a solid ink pad for that rubber stamp. The surface of the wafers after we've done this slicing become almost like an inking pad,' he said.
'We just print them down onto a target surface.'
The final step is to electrically connect these cells to get power out of them, he said.
Adding flexibility to the material would make the cells far easier to transport. Rogers envisions the material being 'rolled up like a carpet and thrown on the truck.'
The technology has been licensed to a startup company called Semprius Inc in the U.S.
Antares Accomplishes First Fuel-Cell Flight
The last day of September, at the Stuttgart airport, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) presented the first manned airplane that can take-off and fly exclusively with a fuel cell. The innovative fuel cell, based on a high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM), generates power for the electric engine of the motor glider Antares DLR-H2. The aim of the project is to evaluate the potential of the technology for future applications in commercial aircraft.
In airplanes on ground, turbines or ancillary aggregates generate the energy for air conditioning. During flight, a part of the energy generated in the main turbines is used for a variety of electrical applications as well as for air conditioning. In the future, fuel cells could be an environmentally sound and energy efficient alternative for an aircraft’s electrical requirements. As an auxiliary power supply, a fuel cell would generate electrical power, heat and even potable water for on-board usage. Thus, fuel cells would help reduce weight and electrical power failure risk as several distributed fuel cells replace the turbine generators. For the foreseeable future fuel cells are not expected to be used for large commercial aircraft propulsion.
Before being adapted for aircraft, however, the technology needs further development and testing. The DLR is a leading partner for the aircraft industry for this effort. First results from the DLR testing demonstrate excellent performance of the high temperature PEM fuel cells even under difficult low pressure conditions. This technology is based on Celtec®-membrane electrode assemblies (MEA) by BASF, a technology easily integrated into aircraft auxiliary power fuel cells.
Three partners are cooperating in the evaluation of the high temperature PEM fuel cell: BASF, as manufacturer of the only commercial membrane electrode assembly for this fuel cell type; the Danish company Serenergy A/S, supplier of the compact, air-cooled stack; and, DLR, responsible for the integration of the stack in the fuel cell system and subsequently in the airplane. DLR will also conduct the testing according to the special requirements of aviation.
High temperature PEM fuel cells operate at 120 to 180°C, need no humidification, require only a simple cooling system, offer a broad operating window and tolerate impurities in the hydrogen fuel gas. The latter characteristic is especially important if, in the future, impure hydrogen is sourced from jet fuel reformation on board the aircraft.
Source: DLR
[Oct 2008]
Scientists Create Energy-Producing Solar Paint
A recent partnership between the steel industry and UK university researchers has led to the development of a unique photovoltaic paint that can be applied to steel.
The paint is made up of dye and electrolytes that can be applied as a paste to steel sheets. Four layers of paint are applied to each sheet. When light hits the solar cells, excited molecules release an electron into an electron collector and circuit (nanocrystalline titanium dioxide). Finally, the electrons move back into the dye.
Photovoltaic paint has a number of advantages over traditional solar cells. It doesn’t have the material limitations of silicon solar cells, so it theoretically provides many terawatts of electricity at a low cost. Additionally, the paint can absorb light across the visible spectrum— so even cloudy days will reap lots of energy.
According to steel company Corus Colours, the solar cells can achieve a power conversion efficiency of 11 percent.
Production of solar paint will begin soon— a lab built to develop the new technology is starting work on October 30 in North Wales. Ultimately, researchers at the PV Accelerator Laboratory in North Wales hope to develop a way to apply solar paint to steel at 30 to 40 square meters per second.
I only wonder if solar paint will be available for purchase to consumers in the future— if so, it could easily lead to a do-it-yourself solar revolution.
Photo credit: Corus Colours
Seat Brisa—A Solar Powered Car For Leisure Driving
Allow the breeze to take you on a smooth ride on a lazy Sunday morning. I am not penning any poetic lines and I seriously mean what I just wrote. “Brisa” is the Spanish word for “breeze,” and fitted with a seat and wheels it becomes Seat Brisa, a solar-powered sports car. Taking a cue from a small sailing boat that is dependent on natural elements for its mobility, Seat Brista is also supposed to sail over land but by the power of the sun. Nano-photovoltaic cells within its translucent elastomere shell translate power to a rear-wheel-mounted motor.
