PlanetSolar leaving Vieux Port (Via marcovdz)

Sometimes a simple idea or dream can lead to massive accomplishments. For Rapheal Domjan, his thought of  building a solar ship did just that.  MS Tûranor PlanetSolar, a unconventional yacht, traveled around the globe in 585 days using only solar energy to power its journey. In a quadruple record breaking feat, the ship stopped at 28 countries along the way promoting solar energy and exploiting its power. The ships demonstration of solar power will lead to many new boating innovations and will revolutionize the way ships are built.

Craig Loomes and his team designed the 40 person 'PlanetSolar' optimizing energy collection, aerodynamics, propulsion, and materials used. The ship is extremely durable , and light due to its carbon structure and also is the biggest solar powered ship built to date. Additionally, it is 35 meters long and 23 meters wide and boasts a large array of solar panels upon its top, nearly every surface. The solar panels bring in a 22.6% yield that allows for a maximum engine output of 120 kW and an average output of 20 kW. The solar panels charge a row of 6 large lithium-ion batteries that give them a maximum energy density. With the impressive completion of the solar only commute, soon many ships will be equipped with solar powered systems similar.

Working on the ship brought together a team of diverse people including electrical engineers, physicians, sea captains, and ship builders. Navigating around the globe brought them to many different places along the way. Though most of the stops were around the equator for maximum sunshine harvesting. The global adventure showed just how powerful solar energy can be. For now, the ship is resting at Hercule Harbour in Monaco soaking up rays in the sun. Solar energy is an option that may be too appealing to pass on for the future of sea faring ships.

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Sodium in the raw (stock photography)

Batteries are a key part to developing green and more energy sustainable products. Lithium-ion batteries power almost everything we use today. A short list of applications; smart phones, laptops, GPS units, and electric vehicles. However, lithium is expensive and rare. So, having an alternative option to support those applications is a logical decision, especially due to China's dominance in the production of rare earth minerals. A recent project is making table-salt, sodium, an appealing choice for a lithium replacement.

Researchers from Tokyo University have recently created an innovative sodium-ion battery using a new electrode composition consisting of manganese, iron, and sodium oxides. The new metal mix composition allowed the researchers to create  sodium based battery that held a charge close to that of lithium. Lithium batteries are still more powerful due to lithium atoms naturally releasing more energy when they lose an electron. To match this power difference, the new batteries created consisted of a positive electrode that held more ions allowing it to reach energy densities close to that of lithium batteries by using the new metal material as the cathode (positive electrode) and sodium as the anode (negative electrode).

The metal mix was created by mixing the chemicals together and smashing them into a pellet sized shape. From there, the composition was heated at 900 °C for 12 hours. The result was a product with an average voltage of 2.75V and capacity of 190 milliAmp-hours/gram that decreased over 30 cycles. Furthermore, the energy density was very similar to that of the lithium electrodes around 520 mWhr/g. As of now the new batteries will not be smaller or longer lasting than the lithium ones (power density is around 1200 W/kg). However, they are cheaper and provide a nice alternative to their rare earth counterparts. The new finding will help further the development of battery technology, and may create an explosive new battery for consumer products. Let's hope no water is allowed to come in contact with the sodium; instant disaster.

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Glass treated with nanocrystal solar element (via University of Southern California and Dietmar Quistorf)

As the dominance of solar power in today's energy market grows, so does competition within innovation and production of this technology. A recent addition to the solar mix is the advancements being made in liquid nanocrystals solar cells. These nanocrystal cells have their main advantages over their single crystal wafer counterparts in their cost and size. However, the low efficiency of nanocrystal solar cells has been holding back their expansion. Now, scientists from the University of Southern California have found a way to improve the efficiency of liquid nanocrystal solar cells to make them more competitive and solar energy more prominent.

The liquid nanocrystals used in the production of these PV cells are about 4 nanometers across. These cells must be stabilized and kept apart from one another. To do this, scientists used organic ligands that attached to the nanocrystals. Unfortunately, these organic ligands also acted as insulators that impeded conductivity between the crystals. To over come this, scientists at USC have engineered synthetic ligands that perform the same function as the organic ones but also improve the conductivity between the crystals and thus improve the efficiency and effectiveness of liquid nanocrystal solar cells.

This type of solar panel is cheaper to make than the traditional single-crystal silicon wafer partly due to their small size. These liquid crystals can exist as paint or ink that will not melt. Liquid nanocrystals can be applied to plastic surfaces, which can be shaped to fit in more places than traditional glass surfaces. Using liquid nanocrystals, solar panels can be made to be extremely thin and flexible. However, more research is needed to find more suitable materials to make these crystals. Currently, cadmium selenide is used in their manufacture but this chemical is commercially restricted due to its high toxicity. The commercialization of this technology is still years away but is a leader in the next generation solar cells.

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Spinach based solar cell prototype (via Vanderbilt School of Engineering)

Engineering students from the Vanderbilt School of Engineering have recently received a $90,000 US grant from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) to continue development of a hybrid bio-solar panel that makes use of a protein found in spinach. Their solar-panel design makes use of photosynthetic proteins extracted from spinach as an alternative to silicon-based photovoltaic cells to produce electricity. The solar panel is comprised of 24 centimeter-sized cells deposited on a non-biological substrate that use PSI (Photosystem I) instead of silicon as the energy harvesting/conversion (photosynthesis) medium, which is coupled together with thin copper strips that also act as an electrical conduit. The next phase is to construct a 6' (1.8 meter) square panel consisting of 1,000 of the square centimeter cells (0.39" square).

Full panel concept (via Vanderbilt School of Engineering)

The energy produced by this method is minimal at best. The tech could be used to power less demanding remote-based sensors, but it doesn’t rival the power produced by today's photovoltaic cells. The up-side is that the team hopes the future revisions would be both energy efficient as well as easier and cheaper to produce over silicon-based panels. As a result of winning the EPA-sponsored People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) contest, where college students design projects for a sustainable future, the team was able to walk away with their sizable sum for further development of their spinach-powered solar panel.

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Energy harvesting shock absorber with mechanical motion rectifier concept (via Lei Zuo)

Potholes and bumps in the road usually decrease the life of our vehicles shock absorbers over time, so we tend not to think of horrible road conditions as beneficial. Now we can.

A team of engineers from the State University of New York have designed a new type of shock absorber that actually harnesses the energy created by those rotten roads and turns it into electricity. The team, led by Professor Lei Zuo, recently designed the regenerative shock absorber (Mechanical Motion Rectifier) using a hydraulic system that turns a set of rotational gears through the cars vibration. The gears in-turn takes the irregular vibrational energy and transfers it to an electrical generator that converts it to electricity, which leads back to the vehicles alternator. The electricity is then used to recharge the vehicles battery as well as its electronics, which provides between 2 to 8 percent fuel efficiency over vehicles with standard shocks.

This translates into a fuel savings of 4% for vehicles that use an internal combustion engine and 8% in savings for hybrid vehicles. As an added benefit, the MMR shocks provide a smoother ride as they absorb more vibration over normal shocks. Professor Zuo says that the MMR’s could also be applied to train tracks which would power electrical devices such as lights and crossing gates as the trains vibrational energy is transferred. It stands to reason that only ‘good vibes’ can come from the MMR system being implemented into vehicles. Zuo states that if 5% of the 256,000,000 vehicles on the road today used the shocks we could reclaim more power than Niagara Falls produces per year. Every little bit adds up.

Professor Zuo's research was reported on back in July of 2010. In less than a year, Zuo and his team doubled the efficiencies from 1% to 8%. The boost was made by adoption a gear train generation over a

magnetic induction.

With the change, the shock absorber has an investor. The company Harvest Energy has licensed the tech. We may see the absorbers on buses and trucks in the near future. Progress is slow.

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According to a recent survey people were found to love the idea of electric cars most due to lower impact on the environment, as well as the money saved on gas. However, 65% polled showed that they had ‘range anxiety’ (stranded with no power) that prevented them from purchasing an electric vehicle. It’s with the peoples concern that IBM started their ‘Battery 500 Project’ back in 2009, which could make future generations of batteries capable of traveling 500 miles on a single charge over the current generations’ 100 mile capacity.

Fast-forward to 2012 and Central Glass (materials manufacturing) along with Asahi Kasei (chemical manufacturing) have jumped on-board in developing a new type of lithium-air battery. Lithium-air batteries are designed to take in air (or breathe) as the vehicle is being driven which mixes with lithium-ions on the batteries anode (oxidation). This reaction produces lithium-peroxide which in-turn reduces the oxygen on the nan-carbon matrix layer of the battery thereby creating electricity and putting lithium back onto the anode. This process helps to extend the charge of the battery by storing the electricity created during the chemical reaction. While the development of the battery is still in its infancy, IBM is looking to release their final design to the automotive industry sometime around 2030.

Waiting almost two decades to get a 500 mile range electric car is not acceptable. Oil reserves, depending on who you ask, are predicted to be depleted within the next 12 - 40 years. Oil is an essential part of manufacturing, product composition, and farming. Wasting oil in human transportation, when there is an alternative close at hand, seems like a crime. The Tesla Roadster and Model S both have a 300 mile option already. Double the size of the battery, add solar, and suddenly there is a possible 700 mile electric car. Cost is the true problem. I am sure the IBM Lithium-Air battery will be comparatively expensive when it is released.

Tesla Model S battery (in white/yellow area). Doubling that size does not seem out of the question. (via Tesla Motors)

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M Azzuro messenger bag (via so-fi)

On element 14, we have seen various attempts to merge technology with fashion. Finally, an attempt to merge these worlds has been recognized with a prestigious Red Dot Award for Product Design in the category of fashion, lifestyle and accessories. The winner was the M Azzurro messenger bag by so-fi ®. This bag’s special capabilities are harnessing solar power to charge smart phones, tables, MP3’s, digital cameras and other portable devices via a USB port located inside the bag.

Apart from this empowering feature, the award was won because of its sleek design, remarkable craftsmanship. The M Azzurro is made of high-density nylon and has a flexible, waterproof, crushproof solar panel made by UNI-SOLAR. The built in USB port stabilizes at 5.3 volts and delivers up to 550 mA of current. At this voltage, portable devices take between 2 to 4 hours to fully charge. However, the bag is capable of delivering power to any device as the sun is shining. The bag features 2 inside pockets, a zipper-pocket inside and one outside and one snap closure outside pocket.

The bag can be purchased from the so-fi website for around $200 dollars. Once you have it, you wont have to worry about forgetting your phone charger again, as long as it is sunny.

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Promotional image of the L Prize winning bulb. (via Philips)

Back in 2007, the US Congress started what’s known as the L-Prize, which is a competition run by the Department of Energy to design efficient solid-state lights to replace the aging incandescent light-bulb. Contestants who take on the challenge are to design replacements for the PAR 38 halogen incandescent bulb ($5,000,000 US in prize money) as well as the standard 60 watt bulb ($10,000,000 US in winnings). Out of all the contestants that entered, Phillips took the top prize for the replacement of the 60 watt bulb as they were the only company who entered. Their L-Prize winning 60 watt LED bulb (with 940 lumens) only eats about 10 watts of power making it more efficient as well as cost effective by saving the consumers a whopping $8.00 annually (per bulb used). The newly designed bulb is set to go on sale on Earth Day (4/22) of this year (2012) at a price point of $50.00 US. This price may be reduced in the future if utility companies subsidize the bulb, which may in-turn offer rebates, which would bring the price down even further.

Seems like buying a "green" lightbulb is a major decision.

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