Emanuel Sachs, a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, has found a way to improve the efficiency of a type of silicon solar cells while keeping manufacturing costs about the same.

1366 Technologies, founded in part by Sachs, claims that it has improved the efficiency of its new multicrystalline silicon solar cells by 27 percent, putting them on par with today’s standard cells made from single-crystal silicon. Read more »

Designers Shane Ellis and Terry Brown have come up with an interesting way to remind us when we’re not being green – a power outlet that glows red when plugged-in appliances are consuming power.

Many appliances and electronics continue to use power even when they are off, and this power outlet would be a great way of reminding us of that. The higher the power usage is, the brighter the built-in LED will glow, reminding you to unplug that toaster you won’t be using for another week.

Of course, if you get tired of the nagging simply press a little button on the outlet and it’ll stay white until you turn it back on.

This is a great idea that could help us all save a little power here and there. It would be interesting to see if this product would take off if someone began mass-manufacturing it. Another picture after the jump. Read more »

A team of Canadian and German scientists have found a way to fabricate a superconducting material, made of a silicon-hydrogen compound, that does not require cooling. They say that the breakthrough means we will be able to cut the power usage of all sorts of devices from refrigerators to cell phones.

This new material is super-compressed instead of being super-cooled like conventional superconductors, allowing scientists to create superconducting wires that work at room temperature.

Superconductors offer no electrical resistance, meaning that energy will not be lost while a current is traveling along a superconducting wire.

If the scientists can find a way to mass-produce this material, we could see a new age in electronics. Battery life would improve dramatically for all sorts of gadgets, and power usage would go down for anything that stays plugged in. Hopefully they can figure out the magic formula soon.

A team of US researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have demonstrated a material that generates electricity as it moves around. This nanowire fabric can be used in t-shirts and other clothes in the future to serve as a power-plant for our gadgets.

The fabric is created by coating kevlar strands with zinc oxide nanowires, protecting the bushy wires with a polymer, and adding gold to other fibers to act as a conductor. The piezoelectric power-generating action comes when the nanowires bend as two fibers rub together, creating electricity which flows along the gold fibers. Read more »

Scientists recently demonstrated a knee brace that generates enough electricity to power a cell phone conversation for 30 minutes from one minute of walking.

The system works similar to the regenerative breaking found in some hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius. At the end of a stride, the brace takes over the task of stopping your leg and generates power while it is doing that. The generator in the device then turns off so you don’t use any more energy taking the rest of your step.

This is a great new idea for yet another way to generate renewable electricity.  Unfortunately, we really don’t see this taking off.  Although practical, we don’t know anyone who would go outside wearing a device like this.
Photo: Greg Ehlers/Simon Fraser University

Scientists from the Webb Research Corporation and Wood’s Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOi) have been testing a glider that uses no power to propel itself through the ocean.

Instead, the yellow, torpedo-shaped machine has been swimming around since December 2007 by taking advantage of the temperature differences between the warmer surface waters and colder deep waters.

Wax-filled tubes in the glider expand when its in warmer water, changing its buoyancy and causing it to sink. When it reaches a colder temperature the wax contracts and the craft floats back up. This up-and-down motion, combined with the glider’s wings, allows it to move forward through water without any power.

Unfortunately, using any sensors on board the glider requires batteries to power them. However, the scientists believe that the craft can still run on its own for up to six months at a time. So far, they say that the glider has covered thousands of kilometers during their tests.

New York designers Fluxxlab bring us their Revolution Door concept that harnesses the energy from revolving doors when they are pushed around by people.

The door uses gears and an electric generator to create power every time the door is turned in an effort to make our world just a little bit greener. Installing doors like this all over the world would certainly make a difference.

Unfortunately, we don’t see this becoming a reality as few buildings would opt to swap out their doors just to generate some power. However, it’s a great idea for new buildings that are being constructed, and over time the energy could start adding up.

[Via Gizmodo]

Researchers at Idaho National Laboratory have developed a flexible solar panel able to collect infrared energy instead of the usual photonic energy.

The panel uses an array of nano-sized antennas that are able to harvest 80% of the available energy (most modern solar panels can only harvest close to 20%). The possibilities are endless with energy-collecting materials like this, and may at one point be used to coat roofs, charge batteries, and even be integrated into polyester fabric.

There is a catch though. The panels cannot currently convert this infrared energy into power that’s useful for electronics. It’s excellent technology for capturing energy, but converting it to 50-60Hz power is the part that isn’t quite working just yet. Hopefully they can iron out the kinks soon so we can take advantage of these panels.