Harbin Institute of Technology

Huge sales opportunities for EVs and their components into East Asia

Those seeking to create multibillion dollar businesses in electric vehicles, their components, intellectual property and services should look at the world's largest market - East Asia.

Longer life for plastic solar cells

A team of researchers from the University of Alberta and the National Institute for Nanotechnology has extended the operating life of an unsealed plastic solar cell from mere hours to eight months.

Electric Vehicles in East Asia

The Western media obsess about electric cars to be made in the West, many of them being both overpriced and underperforming in global terms. This misses the fact that 56% of the value of sales of electric vehicles is and will remain in East Asia and cars only account for about half of the value of the electric vehicle business worldwide.

Life of plastic solar cells jumps from hours to eight months

A team of researchers from the University of Alberta and the National Institute for Nanotechnology has extended the operating life of an unsealed plastic solar cell from mere hours to eight months.

LG Display number one in the e-reader market by 2012 - and in color

LG Display plan to take the global number 1 position in the e-reader market by 2012 with the introduction of a flexible, color Electronic Paper Display (EPD) stated the Company yesterday.

Electric Vehicles in the UK - Part One

The UK has now produced a host of small companies involved in most aspects of electric vehicles and their components and some long established companies have successfully moved into the field.

Wireless sensor networks - we are getting there

Suddenly tiny broad band vibration harvesters, transparent film photovoltaics and many other forms of harvesting become sufficient and the 20 year node looks possible.

Wireless Sensor Networks - We Are Getting There

Yet it is only a first step to small devices communicating without human involvement and without those radio masts and their expensive and vulnerable cabling. Remember that...

Heliatek and IAPP achieve record efficiency levels

As part of a joint research project carried out together with the Technical University of Dresden's Institute of Applied Photo-Physics, the Dresden-based Heliatek GmbH company has achieved a break-through in organic solar-cell efficiency

Piezoelectric kinetic energy harvester for mobile phones

Earlier this year, Nokia filed a patent for a "Piezoelectric Kinetic Energy Harvester" for mobile phones. The aim is a self-charging mobile phone that will be powered by the energy created from a person's movements.

SANYO completes installation of solar parking lots

SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. has announced that it has completed installation of two "Solar Parking Lots," incorporating solar panels and lithium-ion battery systems, and provision of 100 electric hybrid bicycles, "eneloop bike," in Setagaya, Tokyo Japan. The "Solar Parking Lot" is a completely independent and clean system eliminating the use of fossil fuels, and the clean power generated from the solar panels installed on the roof is stored to be used to recharge the electric hybrid bicycle batteries and illuminate the parking lot lights.

Nanobased printed RFID will reduce the cost of printing tags

Long checkout lines could be history with a new printable transmitter that can be invisibly embedded in packaging.

Ascent Solar and FTL Solar sign multi-million dollar agreement

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. a developer of flexible thin-film photovoltaic modules, have announced that it has signed a strategic supply agreement with FTL Solar, LLC. a world leader in lightweight solar structures and products headquartered in Austin, Texas. The agreement includes a minimum purchase commitment of $6.5 million over a three year period.

Imec, Renesas and M4S report wireless transceiver in 40nm CMOS

At this week's International Solid State Circuit Conference, imec and its research partners Renesas Technology Corp. and M4S presented a complete transceiver with RF, baseband and data converter circuits in 40nm low-power CMOS.

Electric Vehicles - Seeing the Big Picture

The burgeoning electric vehicle EV industry cannot be understood by simply looking at cars. The complete market value is, and will remain, about double the market for cars. The leaders such as Toyota, Honda and Nissan make electric vehicles for many applicational sectors.

Light source that doesn't require electricity or sun exposure

Litroenergy is a patent pending designed light source material that emits light for 12 plus years without electricity or sun exposure.

A new technology could massively reduce costs of display panels

Here is a new technology for flat screen displays that is likely to employ printing for some layers, and like a fibre optic cable can be bendable.

Personal power generation and storage system

ReNu is the debut product from new company Regen Inc, which consists of a panel, a freestanding power module containing solar cells, a rechargeable battery and an intelligent user interface. The panel can be hung or placed in direct light to capture energy and when fully charged the panel can be put into one of a series of Regen extensions to charge phones, personal audio devices and task lighting.

A new cloaking method might shield buildings from earthquakes

Mathematicians develop a new cloaking method that might shield submarines from sonar, planes from radar, buildings from earthquakes, and oil rigs and coastal structures from tsunamis.

Beginner's guide to electronic components - Part II

Part II of a beginner's guide to electronic components and how they are made.