US Department of Energy

Low cost hybrid thermoelectrics

Although climate-controlled car seats don't spring to mind when you think of energy efficiency, the latest technology underpinning this luxury automobile feature is based on thermoelectrics—materials that convert electricity directly into heating or cooling.

City Labs welcomes Dr Larry Olsen to its in-house research team

City Labs, Inc, the pioneering innovator of long-life (20+ years) NanoTritium™ batteries for microelectronics, welcomes Larry C. Olsen, Ph.D. and seminal pioneer of betavoltaic technology, to its in-house research team.

Thermoelectrics boost hybrid efficiency

Researchers at Purdue University are creating a system that harvests heat from an engine's exhaust to generate electricity, reducing a car's fuel consumption.

Auto exhaust heat to create electricity and boost mileage

Researchers at Purdue University are creating a system that harvests heat from an engine's exhaust to generate electricity, reducing a car's fuel consumption.

Fibreglass buoys to harvest wave energy

Columbia Power Technologies LLC, a subsidiary of Greenlight Energy Resources based in Virginia USA, designs fibreglass buoys to harvest energy from waves in the sea and is due to close a $2 million Series A round of investment led by $750,000 from the Oregon Angel Fund.

Water could hold answer to graphene nanoelectronics

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute developed a new method for using water to tune the band gap of the nanomaterial graphene, opening the door to new graphene-based transistors and nanoelectronics.

Transparent material for power generating solar windows

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory have fabricated transparent thin films capable of absorbing light and generating electric charge over a relatively large area.

Applied Nanotech exhibits its metallic inks and pastes at PE & PV 2010

Applied Nanotech exhibits its metallic inks and pastes at the 2010 Printed Electronics USA and Photovoltaics USA Conference

Polymer photovoltaics efficiency problem: new approach

A team of researchers from North Carolina State University and the U.K. has found that the low rate of energy conversion in all-polymer solar-cell technology is caused by the structure of the solar cells themselves. They hope that their findings will lead to the creation of more efficient solar cells.

Beneq US expansion gaining momentum

Beneq, leading provider of industrial thin film equipment and technology based on atomic layer deposition (ALD) and aerosol coating, is proud to announce significant developments in its US operations.

Single-crystal films could advance solar cells

Cornell researchers have developed a new method to create a patterned single-crystal thin film of semiconductor material that could lead to more efficient photovoltaic cells and batteries.

Structure of plastic solar cells impedes their efficiency

A team of researchers from North Carolina State University and the U.K. has found that the low rate of energy conversion in all-polymer solar-cell technology is caused by the structure of the solar cells themselves.

Multi-component nano-structures with tunable optical properties

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory report the first successful assembly of 3-D multi-component nanoscale structures with tunable optical properties that incorporate light-absorbing and -emitting particles.

Mimicking nature, water-based 'artificial leaf' produces electricity

A team led by a North Carolina State University researcher has shown that water-gel-based solar devices - "artificial leaves" - can act like solar cells to produce electricity.

ECOtality to create a pilot network of DC fast charging stations

Blink Network DC fast charging stations to be located at 45 BP and ARCO locations as part of The EV Project

Solar power for electric vehicles

Most of the companies developing photovoltaics have been obsessed with reaching grid parity meaning competitiveness with conventional grid electricity generation which is often highly subsidised. More recently, it has been realised that the market for disposable photovoltaics on consumer goods is at least as large and even the potential on electric vehicles by land, water and air, could be an enticing billion square meters a year, comparable to that for buildings.

Solar cells thinner than wavelengths of light = huge power potential

Ultra-thin solar cells can absorb sunlight more efficiently than the thicker, more expensive-to-make silicon cells used today, because light behaves differently at scales around a nanometer (a billionth of a meter), say Stanford engineers.

Winning EnerDel strategy?

Lithium polymer construction - whatever the cathode chemistry - is also taking market share because it can have lightweight plastic casing and tolerate high pressure and it is highly unlikely to leak.

Geckos inspire new method to print electronics on complex surfaces

Geckos are masters at sticking to surfaces of all kinds and easily unsticking themselves, too. Inspired by these lizards, a team of engineers has developed a reversible adhesion method for printing electronics on a variety of tricky surfaces such as clothes, plastic and leather.