http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. New scientific discoveries are moving society toward the era of "personalized solar energy," in which the focus of electricity production shifts from huge central generating stations to individuals in their own homes and communities. That's the topic of a report by an international expert on solar energy published in the ACS' Inorganic Chemistry. It describes a long-awaited, inexpensive method for solar energy storage that could help power homes and plug-in cars in the future while helping keep the environment clean. http://www.physorg.com/news180189541.html Technology Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:52:52 EST news180189541 (PhysOrg.com) -- Beginning in mid-December, scientists will undertake a special mission to squeeze the secrets out of ice crystals in cirrus clouds. The SPARTICUS, or Small Particles in Cirrus, campaign will weave together data from an instrumented airplane and ground-based instruments to gather the most comprehensive set of ice crystal measurements yet. Scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are part of the team that will define the scientific mission and they are leading the project's daily operations. http://www.physorg.com/news180032371.html Space & Earth Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:20:05 EST news180032371 Chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is planning its first foray into solar energy with an investment in the island's largest producer of solar cells, a spokesman said Thursday. http://www.physorg.com/news179652960.html Technology Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:36:33 EST news179652960 The World Bank announced Wednesday 5.5 billion dollars would be invested in solar energy projects in five countries of the Middle East and North Africa in a bid to combat climate change. http://www.physorg.com/news179607351.html Technology Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:56:51 EST news179607351 A year ago, U.S. Marines operating in the Arabian Desert only viewed the sun as the source of the region's relentless heat. Recently, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Advanced Power Generation Future Naval Capabilities program introduced technology that allows the Marines to harness some of that sunshine to help power their field equipment. http://www.physorg.com/news179501481.html Technology Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:33:11 EST news179501481 (PhysOrg.com) -- Chemistry professor Harry Frank led an international group of researchers that identified the molecules in algae which direct the organisms to convert sunlight into oxygen. The findings may ultimately help in developing new solar energy conversion devices. http://www.physorg.com/news178964604.html Chemistry Wed, 02 Dec 2009 08:24:06 EST news178964604 Seventy percent of households always separate their rubbish for recycling, but only 2 percent buy their energy on a green tariff, according to the early findings of a major new annual household survey, called "Understanding Society," funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. http://www.physorg.com/news178182064.html Space & Earth Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:02:51 EST news178182064 A pioneer in solar power in the 1990s before it became "sexy," University of Houston Professor Alex Freundlich recently entered into a collaborative research agreement with U.K.-based start-up QuantaSol for the development of the next generation of super efficient solar cells. http://www.physorg.com/news176999193.html Technology Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:40:02 EST news176999193 (PhysOrg.com) -- A Californian company, SolarReserve, is developing a solar power system that can store seven hours' worth of solar energy by focusing mirrors onto millions of gallons of molten salt, allowing the plant to provide electricity 24 hours a day. http://www.physorg.com/news176632405.html Technology Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:34:37 EST news176632405 New scientific discoveries are moving society toward the era of "personalized solar energy," in which the focus of electricity production shifts from huge central generating stations to individuals in their own homes and communities. http://www.physorg.com/news176557158.html Chemistry Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:39:46 EST news176557158 (PhysOrg.com) -- Europe has long been interested in developing alternative energy sources. And, one of the more interesting places that some Europeans are looking for solar power is the Sahara. With the vast amounts of sun beating down on the Saharan desert, it seems an ideal place for solar panels. The Desertec Industrial Initiative, a consortium of 12 companies, including Siemens and Deutsche Bank, aims to make Saharan solar power for Europe a reality. But it won't exactly be easy. http://www.physorg.com/news176541300.html Technology Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:00:02 EST news176541300 Danish nanophysicists have developed a new method for manufacturing the cornerstone of nanotechnology research - nanowires. The discovery has great potential for the development of nanoelectronics and highly efficient solar cells. http://www.physorg.com/news176377185.html Nanotechnology Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:50:01 EST news176377185 (AP) -- Greg Bove steps into his pickup truck and drives down a sandy path to where the future of Florida's renewable energy plans begin: Acres of open land filled with solar panels that will soon power thousands of homes and business. http://www.physorg.com/news175584369.html Technology Sat, 24 Oct 2009 06:26:50 EST news175584369 For more than 100 Indian villages cut off from grid electricity, life no longer comes to an end after dark thanks to an innovative solar-powered lantern that offers hope to the nation's rural poor. http://www.physorg.com/news175501636.html Technology Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:50:02 EST news175501636 (PhysOrg.com) -- At last Friday's Energy Night at the MIT Museum, Dr. Keith Collins described his approach to fighting global warming with all the gusto of a really good insurance salesman. But Collins, who graduated from MIT in 1970 with a degree in political science, wasn't actually selling anything. He was just proclaiming to anyone who would listen just how easy it is to go green. http://www.physorg.com/news175256785.html Technology Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:28:39 EST news175256785 Most of the technology needed to shift the world from fossil fuel to clean, renewable energy already exists. Implementing that technology requires overcoming obstacles in planning and politics, but doing so could result in a 30 percent decrease in global power demand, say Stanford civil and environmental engineering Professor Mark Z. Jacobson and University of California-Davis researcher Mark Delucchi. http://www.physorg.com/news175173974.html Technology Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:27:37 EST news175173974 The American Solar Energy Society's 2009 National Solar Tour took place Oct. 3 in 3,000 communities. http://www.physorg.com/news173971060.html Technology Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:30:02 EST news173971060 German solar energy firms are in a bind, the head of a federation said in a report due out on Monday amid concern that the new German government will abandon the sector. http://www.physorg.com/news173710837.html Technology Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:01:14 EST news173710837 Plants and algae may be a source of green, renewable hydrocarbons that could replace the ancient, finite hydrocarbons in fossil fuels, according to a team of researchers led by Iowa State University's Jackie Shanks. http://www.physorg.com/news173635525.html Chemistry Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:10:02 EST news173635525 Switzerland will inaugurate on Saturday a new mountain refuge in the Alps that looks more like a futuristic space station than the no-frills stonewall huts that alpinists are more familiar with. http://www.physorg.com/news173100799.html Technology Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:34:03 EST news173100799 At the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference (Hamburg, Germany), IMEC presents a mechanically-stacked GaAs/Ge multijunction solar cell. This is the first promising demonstrator of IMEC`s novel technology to produce mechanically stacked, high-efficiency multijunction solar cells, aiming at efficiencies above 40%. http://www.physorg.com/news172821370.html Technology Tue, 22 Sep 2009 07:50:01 EST news172821370 At the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference (Hamburg, Germany), IMEC presents a large-area solar with a conversion efficiency of 18.4%. http://www.physorg.com/news172821225.html Technology Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:56:37 EST news172821225 (PhysOrg.com) -- Chemical engineers at Oregon State University have invented a new technology to deposit "nanostructure films" on various surfaces, which may first find use as coatings for eyeglasses that cost less and work better. http://www.physorg.com/news172321412.html Nanotechnology Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:04:16 EST news172321412 In a development that holds much promise for the future of solar cells made from nanocrystals, and the use of solar energy to produce clean and renewable liquid transportation fuels, researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have reported a technique by which the electrical conductivity of nanorod crystals of the semiconductor cadmium-selenide was increased 100,000 times. http://www.physorg.com/news171796742.html Nanotechnology Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:19:35 EST news171796742 In the past, if you wanted a solar-powered gadget, you typically had to shell out a lot of cash for something made by a company you'd never heard of. But that's starting to change, as major brands such as Kodak and Energizer have recently entered the solar-electronics market. And more products are in the pipeline, which is especially good news for those of us living in the hurricane-prone Sunshine State. http://www.physorg.com/news170530713.html Electronics Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:40:01 EST news170530713 Germany's largest solar park, and the world's second biggest, was inaugurated on Thursday on the site of a former Soviet military training ground in the east of the country. http://www.physorg.com/news169993976.html Technology Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:33:50 EST news169993976 German firms Solar Millennium AG and MAN Ferrostaal AG on Monday said they formed a joint venture to build up to three utility-scale plants in Southern California at a cost about $1 billion each. http://www.physorg.com/news169838636.html Technology Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:30:02 EST news169838636 Toshiba Corp. said Wednesday it aimed to expand its energy, healthcare and environment-related businesses as it targets a strong recovery in earnings within the next three years. http://www.physorg.com/news168697657.html Technology Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:30:02 EST news168697657 (AP) -- Australia's prime minister promised Thursday to create 50,000 "green" jobs and apprenticeships to combat climate change and unemployment simultaneously. http://www.physorg.com/news168181207.html Space & Earth Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:20:07 EST news168181207 Cambridge University Eco Racing team's new solar racing car showcases cutting-edge environmentally-friendly technology, applicable to the next generation of electric vehicles. http://www.physorg.com/news166977288.html Technology Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:50:07 EST news166977288