Sunday, August 24th, 2008
Zephyr, an ultra-lightweight carbon-fiber aircraft that weighs less than 70lbs and is designed to launch by hand. The little aircraft flies on solar power generated by amorphous silicon arrays covering the aircraft’s paper-thin wings. It is powered day and night by rechargeable lithium-sulfur batteries that are recharged during the day using solar power.
Zephyr built by UK defense firm Qinetiq, flew for 54 hours during tests conducted in the US Military Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
Courtesy BBC.co.uk
Filed under: Science & Technology, Solar Power | | No Comments »
Sunday, August 3rd, 2008
Until now, solar power has been a daytime only energy source, because storing extra solar energy for later use is expensive and inefficient. MIT researchers today annouced that they have come up with a simple, inexpensive and highly efficient process for storing solar energy.
Inspired by the photosynthesis performed by plants, Nocera and Matthew Kanan, a postdoctoral fellow in Nocera’s lab, have developed an unprecedented process that will allow the sun’s energy to be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. Later, the oxygen and hydrogen may be recombined inside a fuel cell, creating carbon-free electricity to power your house or your electric car, day or night.
Read more here -> http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/oxygen-0731.html
Filed under: Alternative Energy, Solar Power | | No Comments »
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