Royal Dutch Shell

Prototypes for wearable power-generating artifacts

"Captain Electric and Battery Boy" refers to an ongoing research project that aims to develop electronic garments and wearable artifacts that harness power from the body and use that energy to power electronic components.

Solar Frontier global expansion and consolidation bid

Showa Shell Solar K.K., a 100% subsidiary of Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. headquartered in Tokyo, have announced that it will open two overseas offices this April in Northern California and Munich, further building its global network to facilitate one gigawatt per year of sales and delivery of its proprietary CIS solar panels to customers worldwide. The move will be accompanied by a global branding consolidation under a single name, Solar Frontier (the original name of its international sales subsidiary), and a new logo.

NC State creates new breed of antennas

Antennas aren't just for listening to the radio anymore. They're used in everything from cell phones to GPS devices. Research from North Carolina State University is revolutionizing the field of antenna design - creating shape-shifting antennas that open the door to a host of new uses in fields ranging from public safety to military deployment.

Quick charging system using solar panels and lithium ion batteries

Nissan Motor Co Ltd and Showa Shell Sekiyu K K have announced that they will start studies on joint development of a quick charging system for electric vehicles (EV) using Showa Shell's next-generation CIS solar panels and Nissan's advanced lithium ion batteries for automotive use.

Rising from the ashes

The closure of several printed electronics operations has now resulted in phoenix operations rising from the ashes.

Photoluminescent nanocrystals with the potential for new lighting

"Non-blinking" nanocrystals that constantly emit light have the potential to be an incredibly cheap alternative for lighting applications or even an OLED successor.

Huge advances in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) - part 1

Cathleen Macher, Technical Analyst at IDTechEx, looks at the global progress of carbon nanotubes (CNT).

Perpetuum - a vibration harvesting company

Having started by looking at piezoelectrics and faced with what it saw as their present day limitations of reliability and sometimes high internal resistance, Perpetuum follows the more proven route of electrodynamic harvesting.

Printed electronics - The magic arrives

How Printed Electronics is changing consumer goods and services - highlights from the forthcoming Printed Electronics USA event

Printed Photovoltaics in Japan

The approach to the new photovoltaics is different in Japan. Unlike Western car companies, Honda is making photovoltaics partly because it could help to create the car of the future. The Western car companies take a shorter term view and even struggle to catch up with Japanese hybrid vehicle technology and the batteries required.

E-Paper display news from Japan

IDTechEx summarise the latest on e-paper displays from Japan

The good and bad news about printed electronics in Europe

Europe has far more organisations active in the subject of printed and potentially printed electronics than any other continent.

More Activity in Printed Electronics by Western Giants

Although there are very few Western giant corporations active in printed and potentially printed electronics compared to East Asia, there are some new entrants in 2007 and some of those already active have sharply increased the level of their activity, particularly in Europe.