[amor de cosmos]

Pentagon awards US$7 billion of solar contracts
By John Parnell - 28 August 2013, 12:30
In News, Power Generation, Project Focus

The US Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded US$7 billion of contracts to 22 companies for the right to develop and sell solar energy to the US Army.

The winning companies include Gehrlicher US, Siemens and Sunpower.

Once projects are developed it is understood winning companies will bid against eachother to supply solar power with the remainder of the ring-fenced US$7 billion available for purchasing.

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/pentagon...olar_contracts

BNEF: China to install up to 206GW utility-scale PV by 2030
By Andy Colthorpe - 28 August 2013, 12:38
In News, Power Generation, Finance

Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) has issued forecasts for the amounts of distributed PV and utility PV to be installed in China between now and 2030 under a range of four different scenarios.

The forecasts are published as part of BNEF’s ‘The Future of China’s Power Sector: From centralised and coal powered to distributed and renewable?’ report.

In the four scenarios, BNEF expects between 117GW and 206GW of utility-scale PV to be installed, with the prediction for distributed PV ranging from 191GW to 294GW. Under BNEF’s ‘new normal’ or ‘base case’ scenario, around 123GW of utility scale PV and 207GW of distributed PV would be installed between 2013 and 2030.

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/bnef_chi...nstalled_in_20

Hydrogen Fuel From Sunlight:
Berkeley Lab Researchers at Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis Make Unique Semiconductor/Catalyst Construct
August 29, 2013
Lynn Yarris

In the search for clean, green sustainable energy sources to meet human needs for generations to come, perhaps no technology matches the ultimate potential of artificial photosynthesis. Bionic leaves that could produce energy-dense fuels from nothing more than sunlight, water and atmosphere-warming carbon dioxide, with no byproducts other than oxygen, represent an ideal alternative to fossil fuels but also pose numerous scientific challenges. A major step toward meeting at least one of these challenges has been achieved by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) working at the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP).

“We’ve developed a method by which molecular hydrogen-producing catalysts can be interfaced with a semiconductor that absorbs visible light,” says Gary Moore, a chemist with Berkeley Lab’s Physical Biosciences Division and principal investigator for JCAP. “Our experimental results indicate that the catalyst and the light-absorber are interfaced structurally as well as functionally.”

Moore is the corresponding author, along with Junko Yano and Ian Sharp, who also hold joint appointments with Berkeley Lab and JCAP, of a paper describing this research in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS). The article is titled

“Photofunctional Construct That Interfaces Molecular Cobalt-Based Catalysts for H2 Production to a Visible-Light-Absorbing Semiconductor.” Co-authors are Alexandra Krawicz, Jinhui Yang and Eitan Anzenberg.

Earth receives more energy in one hour’s worth of sunlight than all of humanity uses in an entire year. Through the process of photosynthesis, green plants harness solar energy to split molecules of water into oxygen, hydrogen ions (protons) and free electrons. The oxygen is released as waste and the protons and electrons are used to convert carbon dioxide into the carbohydrate sugars that plants use for energy. Scientists aim to mimic the concept but improve upon the actual process.

http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-st...from-sunlight/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ACS News Service Weekly PressPac: August 28, 2013
Butterfly wings + carbon nanotubes = new ‘nanobiocomposite’ material
"Self-Assembled Carbon Nanotube Honeycomb Networks Using a Butterfly Wing Template as a Multifunctional Nanobiohybrid"
ACS Nano

Leveraging the amazing natural properties of the Morpho butterfly's wings, scientists have developed a nanobiocomposite material that shows promise for wearable electronic devices, highly sensitive light sensors and sustainable batteries. A report on the new hybrid material appears in the journal ACS Nano.

Eijiro Miyako and colleagues explain that Morpho butterfly wings have natural properties that are beyond the capabilities of any current technology to reproduce artificially. In addition to being lightweight, thin and flexible, the butterfly’s wings absorb solar energy, shed water quickly and are self-cleaning. Miyako’s group had been working with tiny cylinders of carbon termed carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and became fascinated with CNTs’ unique electrical, mechanical, thermal and optical properties. Miyako’s team set out to marry the wings and nanotubes to produce an all-new hybrid material.

http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pr...composite.html