Subscribe
The least expensive way for the Western U.S. to reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough to help prevent the worst consequences of global warming is to replace coal with renewable and other sources of energy that may include nuclear power, according to a new study by UC Berkeley researchers.
Tag: solar energy
New research grants to spur advances in low-cost solar power
May 17, 2012:
UC Berkeley and Stanford today announced $7.5 million in new research awards as part of the Bay Area Photovoltaic Consortium (BAPVC). The two universities received $25 million from the Department of Energy (DOE) in April 2011 to find ways to make solar power more affordable. The DOE’s Sunshot Initiative seeks to bring down the cost of solar power to $1 per watt, comparable in price to coal-powered electricity, by 2020.
Let there be light! Solar cells that emit photons break efficiency record
April 26, 2012:
UC Berkeley engineers have demonstrated that when flatplate solar cells emit light particles, there is a big boost in voltage and efficiency. Their prototype cell was able to convert a record 28.6 percent of the Sun’s energy into electricity. The Berkeley team will present its findings at the Conference on Lasers and Electro Optics (CLEO: 2012), to be held May 6-11 in San Jose, Calif.
Space Sciences Lab learns more about colorful auroras
April 17, 2012:
Using high resolution satellite imagery, scientists at UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory are learning more about how the aurora borealis, or the “Northern Lights,” move across the sky. SSL physicist Chris Chaston tells Inside Science TV that, because of increasing activity on the sun, next year the colorful light show may be visible as far south as Minnesota.
DOE awards $25 million to UC Berkeley, Stanford to lower cost of solar power
April 7, 2011:
The effort to make sun power more affordable has gotten a big boost with a $25 million, five-year Department of Energy grant announced this week. The award launches the Bay Area Photovoltaics Consortium (BAPVC), led jointly by the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University.
New BEAST device maps nano “hotspots”
January 19, 2011:
Engineers map nano-sized electromagnetic “hotspots” with new single-molecule imaging technology. The device, dubbed BEAST, could lead to major advances in solar energy and chemical sensing technologies.
