Lifeboat Foundation

With 145,000 panels.

The world’s largest floating solar farm has now begun operations at the Sirindhorn Dam on the Lam Dom Noi River in Thailand. The dam has a capacity of generating 45MW of power using its solar panels, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) confirmed in a press release.

The news comes after the country started advancing its carbon neutrality goals by 15 years. At the United Nations Climate Change Conference being held in Glasgow, UK, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha pledged that his country would attain carbon neutrality by 2,050 much ahead of the earlier set target date of 2,065 local media reported. The announcement is a major move considering that two-thirds of Thailand’s current power generation is sourced from natural gas.

The noise barriers built in Switzerland can supply up to 101 gigawatt hours of solar electricity every year. The prerequisite is that all noise barriers are covered with solar installations, as far as this is possible and economical. This would be possible with a solar capacity of 111 megawatts. This is the result of a study commissioned by the Swiss Federal Council at the instigation of Bruno Storni, a member of parliament from the Swiss Social Democratic Party.

This potential is far below what is technically feasible. However, the authors of the study subtracted the potential that would hardly be economically feasible according to the current state of the art. In addition, they had to take into account site conditions such as shading of the walls or safety aspects.

101 gigawatt hours sounds a lot. But this is only 0.15 per cent of the usable solar potential on roofs and facades used for comparison in Switzerland. For the federal road administration Astra and the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), however, it is nevertheless a major step towards climate neutrality. After all, solar installations on noise barriers near road tunnels alone cover eleven per cent of the potential on Astra’s total surfaces.

AArtificial photosynthesis turns CO₂ into sustainable fuel: Carbon capture is the idea of taking CO₂ from the air and storing it. Carbon conversion is taking that same CO₂ and turning it into something useful. CO₂ can be used for a number of products, but one of the most exciting is alternatives to fossil fuels.

If we look at what’s possible with batteries today, you can do a lot. You can electrify certain portions of aviation, but they’re just never gonna touch that jumbo jet full of a couple of hundred passengers going a thousand miles. And that’s where sustainable aviation fuels come in.

Jason Salfi, CEO of Dimensional Energy, a company using artificial photosynthesis to produce carbon-neutral alternatives to fossil fuels. Their first product, a carbon-neutral jet fuel.

Gallium arsenide (GaAs) has long been touted as the best material for making high-efficiency solar cells because of its extraordinary light absorption and electrical characteristics. It has most notably been put to use in space solar panels.

These GaAs solar cells, however, are extremely pricey to produce resulting in a demand for methods that cut down on the material usage. That’s where nanowire structures come in. These elements can potentially enhance solar cell efficiency compared to standard planar solar cells while utilizing less material.

By using GaAs in the nanowire structures, the team of researchers has found a new way to make an ultrahigh power-per-weight ratio solar cell that is more than 10 times more efficient than any other solar cell.

Scheduled to break ground next year, the project will feature 100 single-story houses “printed” on-site using advanced robotic construction and a concrete-based building material.

Digital renderings of the neighborhood, unveiled last week, show rows of properties with their roofs covered in solar cells. The homes will each take approximately a week to build, according to firms behind the development.

The project is a collaboration between homebuilding company Lennar and ICON, a Texas-based construction firm specializing in 3D-printed structures. The houses have been co-designed by the Danish architecture practice Bjarke Ingels Group.

Solar panel companies turn to silicon because it is efficient and lasts a long time. A single panel lasts for at least 25 years, providing more than 80% of its initial power.

Despite the benefits, crystalline silicon is difficult to produce, which slows down the solar panel manufacturing process. In the past year, the cost of silicon has skyrocketed, up to a 300% increase, and the U.S. banned imports from China (due to a violation of international standards on child labor) — making it the second most abundant element on the planet an actual scarcity.

Alternative semiconductors: Some companies are ditching silicon for, a cheaper alternative. If they can commercialize low-cost films, the solar industry would change dramatically.

Solar PV panels are now a common site around the world and they do a great job. But they only work on flat surfaces. What about the millions of other surfaces that are not so conveniently shaped? That’s where flexible solar film comes in. The concept is not new but now a UK company has developed a unique Solar PV film that could make the technology accessible to millions more people in remote off grid areas in developing nations.

Power Roll Website.
https://powerroll.solar/unique-solar-film/

Continue reading “Solar PV film roll. Revolutionary new production technology” »

This rolling sheet of solar panels may not look like much, but it could help spark a solar power revolution in the railroad industry.

The creators of the solar-powered locomotive of the future were aiming to set a Guinness record for speed last weekend, and that is more than just your ordinary attention-getting stunt. Demonstrating the functionality of PV panels on rail cars could help set the stage for solar power to knock diesel fuel out of the railroad business. No word yet on the official results, but solar is beginning to wiggle its way into a field dominated by fossil fuel.

The Solar Train Of The Future Hits The Tracks, With Only Solar Power

Continue reading “Diesel-Killing Locomotive Of The Future Runs On Solar Power” »

Circa 2019 😃

“SolarStratos has an opportunity to push the limits of what we think is humanly possible and prove that renewable energy has the capacity to power our lives while preserving our planet. We are fortunate to energize SolarStratos with SunPower’s industry-leading solar technology and look forward to further showcasing the value of innovative and reliable solar solutions for the world to see.”

The company is also changing the way the whole world thinks about renewable energy…at least, that is their goal. SunPower doesn’t just want to power buildings and farms. They want to use their durable and efficient solar panels for all the types of applications available. They believe that anything that can and needs to be powered, should be powered by natural sources, like the sun.

Continue reading “This Airplane Will Fly Into The Stratosphere On SunPower Without Using A Drop Of Fossil Fuels” »