Solar Energy, the safest and eternal of all the green energy suffers from just two drawbacks. Most of the solar cells existing do not absorb all the wavelengths of visible light and also fail to convert this little engrossed energy into electricity. Researchers at the Ohio State University headed by Prof. Malcolm Chrisholm, have created a material that can overcome these weaknesses. This new hybrid prepared by combining conductive plastic and metals like molybdenum absorbs all the visible colors and converts them more efficiently in contrast to other solar cells. Read the full story »

Believe it or not but even music can be eco-friendly. I am not just talking about the green lyrics but the production bit as well. Caribbean musician Turtuga Blanku creates music that is powered by the sun.

The studio that he records his blend of rock, reggae and pop is called the Green Machine and is lined with strong photovoltaic cells. These cells absorb solar energy during the day in a battery such that the studio can utilize them at night. Plus Blanku keeps the recording process very simple to make it solar power friendly. He used recording hardware only for drums, bass, guitar, piano and voice keeping the rest for software, also instrument overload is avoided. And we thought Cloud Cult had given us the greenest music.
Hats off to Blanku for giving us a rare bare music in times when digital studio experimenting is a huge fad. And must we add Blanku’s music is good what with his strong focus on well-developed guitar hooks, rhythms and beautiful piano melodies.
Via treehugger

We had been hearing of it unofficially for some time now, but finally Toshiba has come out with the actual schedule of the fuel cell-powered mobile devices. Releasing in March 2009, the new mobile devices will be equipped with a methanol fuel cell that gets charged with a dedicated cartridge. However, there will be a second built-in-Li-ion battery that will provide a strong back up.

Hear hear the cartridge can make space for around 50 ml of 99 per cent methanol which can charge a mobile phone 10 times. Priced at 700 yen, the cartridge has already become hot property but Toshiba is planning to reduce the cost price further down to 100 yen. A wise move as it will increase salability manifolds.

The big Toshiba plan is to use these fuel cells in digi cams, lappy etc as well. And the best part is, the cartridge being designed will be of a single type and will be compatible with many devices.

Via nikkei

Suniva Inc., a manufacturer of high value crystalline silicon solar cells, recently announced that its R&D team has developed several silicon solar cells with over 20% conversion efficiencies using a patented combination of simple cell designs and screen printing technologies. These high efficiency milestones have been verified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the U.S. Department of Energy’s premier laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. Following the company’s two recent customer agreements with Germany’s Solon AG and India’s Titan Energy Systems Ltd, together worth approximately USD$1 billion, this demonstrates “Suniva’s advanced technologies in diffusion, surface passivation and contacts increase conversion efficiency while reducing processing time and maintaining low cell cost.” according to Dr. Ajeet Rohatgi, its founder and CTO.

Suniva’s current ARTisun(TM) cell technology has produced a verified efficiency of 18.5% in the lab and its techniques can produce solar energy for 8 to 10 cents per KWh— a comparable price to conventional energy sources in the United States. Suniva can create a higher sheet resistance emitter as well as enhanced surface passivation dielectrics in a single high temperature step. It produces narrower screen-printed contacts on the front of the cell and a high-quality surface reflector on the back. These components, combined with improved texturing methodologies, allow it to trap light and achieve high efficiencies while keeping costs low.

Though it’s still time for long way to go before the cheap solar cells are on the market, this one is sure to be a cost-effective and environment friendly device & indeed worth being called a breakthrough in the cell technology.
Via Earth2Tech

The much abhorred E. coli for its close association with food poisoning will earn some of its lost respect if Thomas Wood’s research turns out to be fruitful. A professor of chemical engineering at Texas A&M Wood successfully tweaked a strain of E.coli to get it to produce 140 times more hydrogen than it does naturally. With the help of his friends, he was able to remove 6 genes from the strain’s DNA to convert its cell machinery into a mini hydrogen-producing dynamo powered by glucose. E-coli is known to convert sugar into hydrogen through a special fermentative process.

Wood’s plan will also solve the problem of transportation, a major hassle in hydrogen production. In his own words, Wood puts it, “the idea is to make the hydrogen where you need it.” He is already confident about the potential of his project which will power the next generation of homes and vehicles. In the current stage of his experiment, he estimates that an individual would need to shovel the equivalent of a man’s weight of sugar into a 250-gallon fuel tank so that the E. coli-reactor could produce enough hydrogen to power the average home for an entire day. We sure wish him luck!

Via Treehugger/ Sciencedaily

The world of dentistry will be revolutionized if Japanese manufacturers and a University of Saskatchewan researcher have their way. A company by the name of Shiken, based in Japan, is seeking to take dentistry in the future. Yes, they have visualized it to be a time when your toothbrush may no longer need your toothpaste to get the job done. The idea is to have a solar-powered toothbrush which will cause a chemical reaction in your mouth to eliminate plaque and bacteria from your mouth.

Sask dentistry professor Dr. Kunio Komiyama thought of it first when he created this type of toothbrush 15 years ago. A titanium dioxide rod was contained in the neck of the brush a little below the nylon bristles. Light falling on the wet rod would release electrons, which would react to the acid typically found in the mouth, helping break down plaque. The latest model is called the Soladey-J3X and works in the same way, except that it’s twice as powerful. The toothbrush needs about as much light as a solar-powered calculator.

Via DiscoveryChannel

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Mobile phones have become such an important part of our modern lives, that even the slightest hic up is not appreciated. And ‘running out of phone battery’ is a technological calamity that has given trouble to most of us. For whatever the amount of phone charging may be, the battery always fails to fit our requirement. But good news is finally here. A Canadian firm by the name of Angstrom Power has been working for the past six months to find a solution for this problem.
They have come up with a unique battery that runs on a hydrogen based fuel cell. And it does not even increase the overall size of the mobile phone. Battery backup has always been a problem area but the hydrogen battery will make a new history. It takes only 10 minutes to recharge this battery and so has a lower energy consumption. Angstrom has just finished working on prototypes and will massively launch this unique product only by 2010.
Via SevenClick