solar
China tests technology that could beam solar power from space to Earth
Chinese researchers have successfully tested a full-system model of technology that could one day wirelessly transmit solar power from outer space to Earth. A model power station at Xidian University in Shaanxi province captures sunlight high above the ground and converts it into microwave beams. It then transmits through …
NASA looks to solar sails as a way to power future missions
A NASA-funded project is developing new technologies that would allow a spacecraft to fly through the cosmos propelled entirely with solar sails that “bend” light. The agency announced Tuesday that it will provide $2 million over two years to the Diffractive Solar Sailing project, which is investigating ways to use energy from the sun to …
Record-breaking new solar cell has the highest efficiency yet
A study on the new solar cell titled “Triple-junction solar cells with 39.5% terrestrial and 34.2% space efficiency enabled by thick quantum well superlattices” has been published in the journal Joule. VIEW GALLERY – 2 IMAGES Researchers from the United States Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have created a solar cell with …
Webb Space Telescope Nearly Set to Explore the Solar System
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is the next of NASA’s Great Observatories; following in the line of the Hubble Space Telescope, the Compton Gamma-ray Observatory, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope. JWST combines the qualities of two of its predecessors, observing in infrared light, like Spitzer, with fine resolution, like Hubble. …
The James Webb Space Telescope can now track moving targets in our solar system
Near or far, the universe is brimming with wondrous mysteries. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is plowing through its remaining phases before beginning its exploration of the universe in earnest. Much of its studies will involve unspeakably distant stars and galaxies, the proper study of which requires extreme precision. But planets, their satellites, and asteroids …
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory Captures Mid-Level Solar Flare Erupting From Sun
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare – as seen in the bright flash in the upper right portion of the image– on March 31, 2022. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares and which is colorized in SDO channel color …
Dracula Technologies turns ambient light into energy with printed solar cells – TechCrunch
A bat-shaped organic photovoltaic module from Dracula Technologies Internet of Things devices are proliferating, making daily tasks more convenient for many people—but that comes at cost. The United Nations expects the amount of e-waste created globally to reach 52.2 million metric tons this year, and a sizable portion of that are dead batteries. Dracula Technologies, …
How to watch next week’s rare “ring of fire” solar eclipse
Last month’s “super flower blood moon” lunar eclipse was hardly the only exciting celestial event of the season. Next week brings an even bigger spectacle — a rare “ring of fire” solar eclipse. On June 10, skywatchers all over the world will be able to view the eclipse. What is an annular solar eclipse? A …
West Baton Rouge Council refuses tax break for solar panel project
WEST BATON ROUGE PARISH – A solar plant project in west Baton Rouge is now in jeopardy after the parish council refused to give the project a tax break. Carey Denstel, vice-chairman for the West Baton Rouge Parish Council, said $22 million in tax exemptions was too high a price to pay for the California-based …