solar

Rather than try to reinvent the solar cell, startup Thermata has engineered a high-tech mirror to cut the cost of solar power.

The company, incubated at Idealabs, has completed initial testing on a system executives say can cut the cost of sun-tracking mirrors, or heliostats, in half using cameras and other digital technologies. Thermata plans to start beta testing the heliostats this year with potential customers, which are concentrating solar power technology companies, and with Sandia National Laboratories.

Thermata typifies a new breed of green-technology startup which is targeting a specific niche in energy using technologies from other fields. Its … Read more

Astronomers have captured images of a solar tornado five times as wide as Earth, providing clues into how solar storms form.

Scientists at Aberystwyth University presented a movie of a solar twister yesterday at the National Astronomy Meeting in Manchester, England. The images were collected last September by a telescope on NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) satellite, which tracks variations in the sun to help predict space weather.

Solar tornadoes occur when super-heated gases get sucked up from sun and spiral towards its atmosphere. Along the way, these gases, traveling at about 185,000 miles per hour, drag magnetic … Read more

Wonders of the Universe -- based on the BBC series of the same name from HarperCollins -- is an elegant and visually gorgeous app that lets you explore our known universe on your iPad. The app comes with more than 2.5 hours of HD video, dazzling 3D graphics of everything from subatomic particles to galaxies, and tons of information to read as you explore, and it offers an excellent use of the iPad's touch-screen interface to browse all the content.

We got a sneak peak at the app, but Wonders of the Universe will not be available until tomorrow in the iTunes App Store. HarperCollins says the app will be at the discounted price of $6.99 initially, but will go up to $9.99 sometime after the launch.

The app starts you off by explaining the touch-screen interface and how to navigate through all of the content.… Read more

At a time of increasing solar storms, researchers have released images of how these solar outbursts affect the protective magnetic shield around the Earth.

The Southwest Research Institute yesterday published visualizations that show how powerful solar storms temporarily compress the magnetic field that surrounds the Earth.

Studying the impact of solar storms on the magnetosphere provides insight into how satellites could be affected. The sun is entering a period of peak activity where more coronal mass ejections of high-energy particles from the sun are expected in the year ahead.

Southwest Research Institute researchers collected data from two NASA spacecraft -- … Read more

SolarCity has rapidly grown to be one of the largest solar installers. Now it's applying its financing model to energy efficiency.

The company today announced the availability of energy-efficiency loans that homeowners can use to finance home upgrades and defray upfront costs.

SolarCity's main business is solar, installing photovoltaic panels and offering homeowners leases under which they pay a monthly charge rather than actually purchase the panels. Two years ago, it bought privately held Building Solutions to expand into services and get access to that company's software.

SolarCity has started offering home efficiency assessments to its solar … Read more

To get more light in a tight spot, solar panels should be three dimensional, according to a study detailed today.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology published a paper in the journal Energy and Environmental Science this week which found that building a solar array with panels at different angles can significantly improve performance. The best improvements were in cloudy conditions, in winter months, and in locations far from the equator.

Using simulations and small test structures, the group found power increased between two to 20 times compared to a set of flat panels. In initial tests, though, it … Read more

Startup Twin Creek Technologies is attacking the cost of solar by getting more bang from a wafer of silicon.

After four years of work, the San Jose, Calif.-based company today is coming out of stealth and introducing its product, a machine designed to slash the cost of solar cell manufacturing. The company claims its Hyperion system cuts the cost of making a solar cell in half and brings total production cost from about 85 cents a watt today to around 50 cents.

Hyperion is now being evaluated by leading solar manufacturers and the company expects to have a number … Read more

Space forecasters said today's solar storm is having relatively weak effects this morning, lessening the chances of disturbances to satellites or the grid. The event, however, is ongoing and still could cause problems.

A solar flare from an active spot on the sun Tuesday caused a coronal mass ejection (CME), where high-energy gases from the sun break off and hurtle off into space. This morning, this blast struck Earth in a storm which could last until tomorrow.

NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center yesterday had forecast it to be a strong geomagnetic storm but so far it's been … Read more

You may be having a typical Thursday, but the Earth is currently being blasted by a wave of radiation from a huge solar flare.

NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center said the solar storm hit the Earth at about 2:45 a.m. PT. The solar storm is one of the strongest in years and could cause disruptions in satellites, affect radio communications in polar areas, and even slightly decrease the efficiency of solar panels.

This solar storm follows a similarly strong one only two months ago. Here's a short primer on what's going on.

First, are these … Read more