Even though LED lights are among the most energy efficient available, there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Researchers recently found that light emitting diodes’ efficiency can be impeded by trace amounts of iron, which is a byproduct of LED production. That conclusion was the result of an international study involving KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, and other universities, including University of California Santa Barbara, Rutgers University, the Univers...

World's first solar highway has been opened in France. Wattway is a patented French innovation that is the fruit of 5 years of research undertaken by Colas, world leader in transport infrastructure, and the INES (French National Institute for Solar Energy). By combining road construction and photovoltaic techniques, Wattway pavement provides clean, renewable energy in the form of electricity, while allowing for all types of traffic. As the energy transition becomes reality, imagine a road ...

What would happen if an electric current no longer flowed, but trickled instead? This was the question investigated by researchers working with Christian Ast at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research. Their investigation involved cooling their scanning tunnelling microscope down to a fifteen thousandth of a degree above absolute zero. At these extremely low temperatures, the electrons reveal their quantum nature. The electric current is therefore a granular medium, consisting of...

Michigan State University engineering researchers have created a new way to harvest energy from human motion, using a film-like device that actually can be folded to create more power. The research, funded by the National Science Foundation, suggests "we're on the path toward wearable devices powered by human motion," said Nelson Sepulveda, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and lead investigator of the project. The completed device is called a biocompatible ferroel...

E-mobility challenges the tradition of stationary energy metering and billing. At present, charging stations are not available in all of the locations users need to recharge their vehicles. Additionally, until now, creating an adequate charging infrastructure for electric cars has been very costly and utilities have had few incentives to install charging stations. ubitricity allowed the Iserlohn public utility to introduce a new electric power product: the Sauerland PowerMobil. It compris...

The BIQ House in Hamburg, Germany, is the first building in the world with a dynamic, algae-based, bio-reactive façade. With 200 square meters of integrated photo-bioreactors (PBRs), this passive-energy house generates high-value biomass and solar thermal heat as renewable energy resources. At the same time, the innovative façade system also integrates additional functionalities, such as adaptive shading and noise reduction. In total, 129 SolarLeaf bioreactors have been installed on the southwes...

Solar Cells Get Boost with Integration of Water-Splitting Catalyst onto Semiconductor Scientists have found a way to engineer the atomic-scale chemical properties of a water-splitting catalyst for integration with a solar cell, and the result is a big boost to the stability and efficiency of artificial photosynthesis. Led by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), the project is described in a paper published this week in the jour...

In a new twist to waste-to-fuel technology, scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed an electrochemical process that uses tiny spikes of carbon and copper to turn carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into ethanol. Their finding, which involves nanofabrication and catalysis science, was serendipitous. ORNL’s Yang Song (seated), Dale Hensley (standing left) and Adam Rondinone examine a carbon nanospike sample with a scanning electron microscope. “We disc...

Fossil fuels have ushered in the modern industrial age, but carbon-neutral methods of electricity production are needed for the future. Salinity gradient energy (SGE) is one approach that is based on using two solutions with large differences in salt concentration to produce electricity. These include naturally occurring water sources with different salinities, such as river water and seawater, and salt brines and seawater or river water, or treated used waters and seawater prior to discharge in...

A microbial fuel cells (MFC) or biological fuel cell is a bio-electrochemical system that drives a current by using bacteria and mimicking bacterial interactions found in nature. MFCs can be grouped into two general categories: mediated and unmediated. Renewable and clean forms of energy are one of society's greatest needs.  At the same time, 2 billion people in the world lack adequate sanitation and the economic means to afford it.  In this research, we are working to address both of these hum...

As humans, we sniff out different scents and aromas using chemical receptors in our noses. In technological gas detection, however, there are a whole host of other methods available. One such method is to use infrared lasers, passing a laser beam through the gas to an adjacent separate detector, which measures the degree of light attenuation it causes. TU Wien's tiny new sensor now brings together both sides within a single component, making it possible to use the same microscopic structure for ...

A team of 13 students from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA, has earned First Place in NASA’s 2015-2016 University Aeronautics Design Challenge for their concept of an electric-powered, commuter-sized airplane featuring “green aviation” technologies. Sponsored by NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, the engineering design contest specifically asked students to incorporate distributed electric propulsion, or DEP, in their concept for an airplane that could enter se...

1.6 billion people worldwide have no access to electricity. Blue Freedom - the smallest and lightest hydropower plant in the world - enables people without access to a power grid the freedom to produce energy themselves. Complete with ultramarine rotor blades, the microturbine can be used by anyone with access to flowing water to produce and store electrical energy in an eco-friendly way that preserves biodiversity. Blue Freedom is world's smallest hydropower plant. It can be used by anyone wit...

Sound can now be structured in three dimensions. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and the University of Stuttgart have found a way of generating acoustic holograms, which could improve ultrasound diagnostics and material testing. The holograms can also be used to move and manipulate particles. Shaped with ultrasound: Max Planck researchers from Stuttgart transmit ultrasonic waves through a bath of water © Kai Melde / MPI for Intelligent Systems Pee...

Lucy is the first device of its kind: It can illuminate your home with real sunlight, by finding and redirecting natural light for you. Most individuals spend over 90% of their lives inside, with limited exposure to natural light. Winters can lead to seasonal depression, and at large, last a long time, preventing us from receiving the Vitamin D and serotonin boosts associated with natural light. Further still, from an aesthetic standpoint, interior designers suggest decorating tricks to br...

So far, Innovation Essence has featured 3d printed prosthetics, 3d printing pens, and 3d printers that print a house, and even food printing. However, another 3d printing product is also extremely innovative, as all of the former were limited in how much they could print by the amount of filament used. The SolarSinster prints glass, is entirely solarpowered, and runs off of natural resources. All it needs is the sun to be out and sand and it can function, making it ideal for a desert. Factories ...

WiTricity Corporation developed highly resonant wireless power transfer, and is the foundational technology for wireless electricity via magnetic resonance. As a licensing and technology transfer company, WiTricity Corporation works with OEMs to design and develop innovative products that incorporate WiTricity technology.  In addition, we have created a number of reference designs that provide a fast-path route to introducing new products and systems based on these designs. WiTricity conti...

There’s a new tool in the push to engineer rechargeable batteries that last longer and charge more quickly. An X-ray microscopy technique recently developed at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has given scientists the ability to image nanoscale changes inside lithium-ion battery particles as they charge and discharge. The real-time images provide a new way to learn how batteries work, and how to improve them. The method was developed at Berkeley ...

Pavegen, a renewable method of power generation, is taking the world by storm. This new technology allows power to be generated simply by walking on the Pavegen’s tiles. It works in a rather unique way. It works by using electro-magnetic induction, or the production of an electric current by moving a loop of wire through a magnetic field or moving a magnet through a wire loop. By stepping on the tile, the weight of your foot causes generators to vertically displace, creating the energy for the s...

Clean Energy Researchers at NASA Ames are conducting cutting-edge research in the development of clean energy technologies for NASA mission needs in the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate and the Science Mission Directorate. Our renewable energy focus is on advancing biofuels, solar, and wind technologies that also help reduce our nation’s dependence on petroleum-based fuels. By advancing clean energy technologies, NASA Ames hopes to help our nation reduce its generation of greenhouse ga...

Tesla Home Battery Powerwall is a home battery that charges using electricity generated from solar panels, or when utility rates are low, and powers your home in the evening. It also fortifies your home against power outages by providing a backup electricity supply. Automated, compact and simple to install, Powerwall offers independence from the utility grid and the security of an emergency backup. Tesla home batteries maximize the usefulness of your solar panels and offer a variety of backup ...

Ikea created a collection that make charging a lot more available, yet a lot less obvious. Ikea calls these products as wireless charger furniture, because that’s what they are: a range of products that make it possible to charge your smartphone, without messy cables. From charging pads to furniture with built-in charging spots, you have a greater choice of where to charge. How does it work? Many smartphones support the wireless charging standard (Qi), but sometimes it needs to be activated in...

imbus Roxxane Fly is the wireless light source that puts lamp design in a whole new light. Brilliantly portable and powered by LED lights this luminaire comes with an integrated rechargeable cell to keep it powered without wires or cables.     Nimbus goes on creating sophisticated wireless lighting solution, lamps that are not connected with wires to ensure freedom of use and many different possibilities of installation. After the launch of Roxanne Fly and Roxanne Legge...

Ginkgo Solar Tree charging station for the iPhone and iPad is a astonishing solar charger. Ginkgo comes with a extra large 4.000 mAh rechargeable lithium battery to store your clean energy and a perfect addition to your storm kit. This unique design is based on the Japanese Ginkgo tree. This design solar charger is made from eco-friendly plastic and bamboo. On the aluminum base there is a small black grip located to use as phone or tablet standard while charging. A green LED light will pop up wh...

Smart clothing and accessories that charge your smartphone, smartwatch and bluetooth earphones wirelessly.     Technology used for the charging of our bluetooth earphones is conductive charging. The wireless charging technology used to charge smartphone, smartwatch and battery bank is inductive charging, which works on the principle of electromagnetic induction. We are using the Qi protocol for inductive charging. Most of the smartphones made by Samsung, Googl...

NASA reached an agreement with the US Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service to test prototype fire shelters made from the space agency's next-generation thermal protection systems (TPM) materials—intended, initially, to protect future spacecraft upon re-entry (in fact, a first generation of the material has already been tested on the agency's third Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment vehicle, IRVE-3). Not unlike a spacecraft tearing through the atmosphere, NASA’s hope is that its mater...

Indigi® Car Jump Starter Mobile Battery Charger Power Bank As Emergency Car Battery Booster 12800mAh Cellphone Laptop Backup Power Source   Smallest, lightest, and most powerful portable 12 Volt Car Vehicle Jump Starter - Power Bank Power Source for All iPhone, iPad, iWatch, Galaxy Phone, Smartphone, Android Phone, Smartwatch, Watch Phone, Laptop, Notebook, MP3/MP4 Player, GPS, Camera and PSP so on Built-in 12800mAh power bank with 12V DC output, it features a key switch to choose...

THE POWERWALK® KINETIC ENERGY HARVESTER The PowerWalk enables users to produce 10-12 watts of power as they walk. Over the course of an hour, walking at a comfortable pace, users wearing a harvester on each leg can generate enough power to charge up to four smart phones. The system typically can generate enough power from one hour of walking to recharge four smartphones. The product is initially intended for military use; if a soldier can generate extra electri...

Driven by Dow’s strong heritage of innovation in the building & construction industry, DOW introduced POWERHOUSE™ Solar System 2.0 (PH 2.0). Dow developed a higher energy density system that improves industry leading integrated aesthetics and delivers the same high quality you have come to expect in a Dow solution. PH 2.0 has been developed with the professional roofer in mind, featuring robust waterproofing integration with common roofing materials and fewer roof penetrations than panels...