Before the First New Nuke Goes On Line 10 Years From Now?

Amazing what happens when you do research. Probably more than a few concepts from the 1970s that could be recycled to good end. My own pick in wind is the Thomas Sweeney sailwing designs that he developed while at Princeton.

MIT Opens New 'Window" on Solar Energy - MIT News Office - 10 Jul 08

"Imagine windows that not only provide a clear view and illuminate rooms, but also use sunlight to efficiently help power the building they are part of. MIT engineers report a new approach to harnessing the sun's energy that could allow just that.

The work, to be reported in the July 11 issue of Science, involves the creation of a novel 'solar concentrator.' 'Light is collected over a large area [like a window] and gathered, or concentrated, at the edges,' explains Marc A. Baldo, leader of the work and the Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Career Development Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering.

As a result, rather than covering a roof with expensive solar cells (the semiconductor devices that transform sunlight into electricity), the cells only need to be around the edges of a flat glass panel. In addition, the focused light increases the electrical power obtained from each solar cell 'by a factor of over 40,' Baldo says.

Because the system is simple to manufacture, the team believes that it could be implemented within three years--even added onto existing solar-panel systems to increase their efficiency by 50 percent for minimal additional cost. That, in turn, would substantially reduce the cost of solar electricity."

Before the First New Nuke Goes On Line 10 Years From Now?

Amazing what happens when you do research. Probably more than a few concepts from the 1970s that could be recycled to good end. My own pick in wind is the Thomas Sweeney sailwing designs that he developed while at Princeton.

MIT Opens New 'Window" on Solar Energy - MIT News Office - 10 Jul 08

"Imagine windows that not only provide a clear view and illuminate rooms, but also use sunlight to efficiently help power the building they are part of. MIT engineers report a new approach to harnessing the sun's energy that could allow just that.

The work, to be reported in the July 11 issue of Science, involves the creation of a novel 'solar concentrator.' 'Light is collected over a large area [like a window] and gathered, or concentrated, at the edges,' explains Marc A. Baldo, leader of the work and the Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Career Development Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering.

As a result, rather than covering a roof with expensive solar cells (the semiconductor devices that transform sunlight into electricity), the cells only need to be around the edges of a flat glass panel. In addition, the focused light increases the electrical power obtained from each solar cell 'by a factor of over 40,' Baldo says.

Because the system is simple to manufacture, the team believes that it could be implemented within three years--even added onto existing solar-panel systems to increase their efficiency by 50 percent for minimal additional cost. That, in turn, would substantially reduce the cost of solar electricity."