In a report published by Scientific Reports, researchers say they’re successfully working toward making low-cost solar cells from plants. While, technically, all plants are some sort of solar cell, the key here is the word “low cost.” The project in question is focusing on a way to produce “biophotovoltaics” without all sorts of sophisticated lab equipment. The new system is incredibly user-friendly and costs a lot less – mix green plants (like grass clippings) with custom-designed chemicals, and out comes a photovoltaic material made with the power of photosynthesis. MIT researcher Andreas Mershin explained just how easy the process is: “Take that bag (of chemicals), mix it with anything green and paint it on the roof.” That’s it – mix and paint. Mershin wants to see this inexpensive method used in developing countries, for example, where electricity is scarce and the power grids are unreliable. [Read this article]

A solar-powered car on a quest to circumnavigate the globe kicked off a 49-day trek across the U.S. in Half Moon Bay, California. Propelled only by the sun’s rays, the two-seat SolarWorld Gran Turismo sports car is slated to travel 21,000 miles and set a “Guinness World Records” record for the longest distance covered by a solar car, according to its co-creator SolarWorld. “The SolarWorld GT is an ambassador for sustainable personal transportation, reminding us that the power to shift our driving habits away from dirty fossil fuels is within our grasp,” said Kevin Kilkelly, president of SolarWorld Americas. “Clean energy from the sun is there for the taking – without depleting the Earth’s riches.” The car will make five planned stops along a 3,774-mile route from California to South Carolina. [Read this article]

A new study has found that being able to purchase a rooftop solar panel system is often a privilege of the affluent, but that leasing rooftop solar panel systems is an increasingly popular option for those who simply don’t have the money to pay up front. If you have the money to lease a rooftop solar panel system, you’re not only helping the environment, but, within just a year after you start, you can start saving money. The real benefit for those leasing a system is seen over the next few decades of their contract, where third-party companies are touting household savings of up to $10,000 to $15,000 over two decades. How? Because as you pay a constant $40 or $50 per month lease on the solar panels, the cost of electricity is going up, saving you money. The study was conducted by analysts from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, who found that leasing solar panels is surging in southern California and is especially being adopted by those in ‘less-affluent’ neighborhoods where households are earning between $100,000 and $150,000 a year. [Read this article]

The well-tuned geometry of the florets on the face of the sunflower head has inspired an improved layout for mirrors used to concentrate sunlight and generate electricity, according to new research. The sunflower-inspired layout could reduce the footprint of concentrating solar power (CSP) plants by about 20 percent, which could be a boon for a technology that’s limited, in part, by its massive land requirements. CSP plants employ arrays of giant mirrors, each the size of half a tennis court, to beam the sun’s rays up to heat a tube of fluid in the top of a tower. This hot fluid drives steam turbines that generate electricity. In the traditional layout, the mirrors are arranged in rows of circles that ripple out from the central tower. Alexander Mitsos of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology came up with a design where the mirrors are closer together, reducing the amount of land required by 10 percent. The pattern, a team member noticed, had some elements that resembled the spiraling pattern in sunflowers and suggested they mimic the florets. [Read this article]

Two years ago, when Aidan Dwyer was just 11 years old, he went hiking in the woods with his parents and he took a good long look at the trees. He wondered why the leaves grew the way they did and wondered if their patterns could somehow be used to improve solar power collection. With a little research, over the course of the next two years, he built a solar collector with panels arrayed like the leaves on a tree and compared their output to those of a traditional, flat solar panel. He compared measurements and found that his tree structure’s numbers were higher. Excitedly, the now 13-year-old submitted his results to the Young Naturalist Awards, a national contest run by the American Museum of Natural History, and was picked as one of 12 winners. And that’s when the real controversy began. Many scientists first lauded Aidan for his “out-of-the-box” thinking, but there was one little problem with his design: Aidan had measured and compared voltage when what he really needed to calculate was power. [Read this article]

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is letting the sun shine in, and some of its officers are getting a charge out of it. Solar charging panels on some police cars allow officers to take advantage of sun power. The average police car drains two 12-volt batteries a year due to all of the electronics and lights it has to operate. The solar panels help save gas too, said Assistant Chief John Lamb, in charge of the Sheriff’s Office’s logistics and general support division. “We wanted to look for alternatives to combat the problems and solar is free,” Lamb said. The basic Chevrolet Impala police cruiser packs a 230-horsepower V-6 gasoline engine with a heavy-duty 12-volt battery. Add spotlights, flashlight charger, radio and emergency lights as well as laptop computer, and that can tax the battery. [Read this article]