California Institute Of Technology | The Green Economy Post: Green Careers, Green Business, Sustainability

High Efficiency Solar Cells Can Be Made At a Much Lower Cost

By Naimish Upadhyay on March 2, 2010 17 Comments California Institute of Technology, Daniel Turner-Evans, electrical power, Emily Warren, Harry Atwater, internal quantum efficiency, Jan Petykiewicz, Joshua Spurgeon, Michael Kelzenberg, Morgan Putnam, Nathan Lewis, optical concentration, photons, photovoltaic, Resnick Institute, Ryan Briggs, scattering interactions, semiconductor, Shannon Boettcher, silicone, solar cells

Scientists at the California Institute of Technology have developed a new type of solar cell that comprise of arrays of thin silicon wires embedded in polymer substrate. The unique optical interactions between these wires provide the cells with an enhanced light absorption capability and improved internal quantum efficiency over conventional solar cells. These new cells are much cheaper to produce on account of the very low amounts of silicon needed to build them. The superior structural flexibility possessed by the silicon wire array solar cells is expected to further reduce their production cost since they can be produced using a lower-cost process.

DOE Promoting Energy Efficiency in the Information Economy

By Chris de Morsella on January 20, 2010 1 Comment advanced heat-sink, air conditioning, air-leakage measurement, Alcatel-Lucent, Alternating Current, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, BAE Systems, Bell Labs, CA, California, California Institute of Technology, carbon pollution, Central Processing Unit, cloud computing, computer network, Cornelius, CPU, Data Center, data center cooling, datacenter, DELC, Department of Energy, Direct Current, DOE, Dual Enclosure Liquid Cooling, Edison Materials Technology Center, electric grid, energy efficiency, Energy Secretary, Federspiel Controls, Hewlett-Packard, hot-spot management, Houston, IBM, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, information economy, information technology, integrated hardware and software, Ithaca, Lineage Power Corporation, Liquid Metal Thermal Interface, Lockport, Los Angeles, Manassas, Menlo Park, Mountain View, NC, networking devices, New York, North Carolina, NY, Palo Alto, Plano, Poughkeepsie, Power Assure, Power Supply Chain, Providence, Real-Time Optimal Control, real-time temperature, Recovery Act, rectifier, Research Triangle Park, Rhode Island, RI, router, RTOC, Santa Clara, SeaMicro, smart grid, Steven Chu, Telecommunications, Texas, Trustees of Columbia University, TX, VA, Very Dense Liquid Cooled Computer Platform, Virginia, Yahoo, Yorktown Heights

The Department of Energy is awarding $47 million to support the development of new technologies and knowhow aimed at improving energy efficiency in the information technology (IT) and communication technology sectors. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that 14 projects across the country will share in this award. Information technology and telecommunications are vital and rapidly growing sectors of our overall economy and will become even more central as the smart grid is deployed. As our country increasingly comes to rely on an information economy in sector after sector the underlying physical infrastructure that supports it, such as the data centers, networks, routers and so forth, is expected to continue to rapidly grow.

Department of Energy Announces Grants To Establish 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers

By Chris de Morsella on May 6, 2009 2 Comments Actinides, Adaptive Materials, advanced catalysis, advanced energy storage, advanced nuclear energy systems, advanced nuclear systems, Albuquerque, Alex Zunger, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Amherst, Ann Arbor, ANSER, Argonne IL, Argonne National Laboratory, Arizona, Arizona State University, Armstrong Neal, atomic scale, Atomic Scale Design, Atomic-Level Synthesis, Austin, Bartosz Grzybowski, Baton Rouge, Berend Smit, Berkeley, Berkeley CA, bio-polymers, biofuels, biomass, Brent Gunnoe, brookhaven National Laboratory, C3Bio, California, California Institute of Technology, Cambridge, carbon capture, carbon sequestration, carbon-neutral energy, Carnegie Institute of Washington, Chapel Hill, Charlottesville, Chas, Christopher Marshall, CIS:HSEM, CITFAM, Clare P. Grey, Clean Energy Technologies, coal, College Park, Colorado, Columbia, Columbia University, combustion Science, Computational Catalysis, Cornell University, Danforth Plant Science Center, Daniel Cosgrove, David Wesolowski, Deleware, Department of Energy, Dieter Wolf, Dionisios Vlachos, DOE, Donald DePaolo, Donald Morelli, East Lansing, efficient combustion, EFRC, Efree, electrical energy storage, electricity storage, electrode components, emergent Superconductivity, Emerging Materials, Energy Conversion, energy economy, energy efficiency, Energy Frontier Research Center, Evsnston, excitonics, fossil fuels, Fritz Prinz, Gang Chen, Gary A. Pope, Gary Rubloff, Gas Separations, General Electric Global Research, Geologic CO2, geological storage of carbon dioxide, Golden CO, greenhouse gases, Grigorii Soloveichik, Gust J. Devens, Harry Atwater, Hector Abruna, Ho-Kwang Mao, hung K. Law, hybrid inorganic-organic materials, Hybrid Solar-Electric Materials, hydrocarbon gases, hydrogen, IACT, Idaho, Idaho Falls ID, Idaho National Laboratory, Illanois, Indiana, Ithaca, J.C. Davis, James Spivey, James Yardley, Jerry Simmons, John Bowers, Kenneth Reifsnider, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Light-Material Interactions, lignocellulose Pennsylvania State University, Los Alamos, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Angeles, Louisiana State University, Malcolm Stocks, Marc Baldo, Maryland., Massachusets, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, materials sciences, Maureen McCann, Michael Nastasi, Michael Thackeray, Michael Wasielewski, Michigan, Michigan State University, Missouri, MIT, molecular catalysts, Molecularly Assembly, Morris Bullock, nanoparticles, Nanoscale, nanoscale architectures, nanoscale material architectures, Nanostructuring, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, natural photosynthesis, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Newark DE, Niskayuna, NOCESC, North Carolina, Northwestern University Evanston IL, Nuclear Fuel, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Science, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Pasadena, Paul Barbara, Paul Daniel Dapkus, Peter C. Burns, Peter Green, Photovoltaics, plutonium, predictive combustion, predictive computational models, president obama, Princeton, Princeton University, Purdue University, renewable energy, Richard Sayre, Richland, Robert Blankenship, S3TEC CENTER, Sandia National Laboratories, Santa Barbara, Seamus, SECCM, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, self-assembled polymer materials, solar energy, Solar Fuel, solid state lighting, SOuth Carolina, St. Louis, Stanford CA, Stanford University, State University of New York, Steven Chu, Stony Brook, superconductivity, Tempe AZ, Tennessee, Texas, thin films, Thomas Meyer, Tuscon, UCLA, UCSB, United States, University of Arizona, University of California, University of Delaware, University of Maryland, University of Massachusetts, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina, University of Notre Dame, University of South Carolina, University of Southern California, University of Texas, University of Virginia, Upton NY, uranium, USC, Victor Klimov, Vidvuds Ozolins, Virginia, Washington, Washington D.C., Washington University, West Lafayette, White House

The White House announced that the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science will invest $777 million in Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) over the next five years. In a national effort to accelerate scientific advances in critical areas of the new energy economy the United States Department of Energy (DOE) will establish 46 new multi-million dollar Energy Frontier Research Centers (or EFRCs) across the nation.

L.A. Makes Play to Become World’s Clean Tech Capital

By Chris de Morsella on April 25, 2009 1 Comment Antonio Villaraigosa, California Institute of Technology, Caltech, clean tech corridor, clean technologies, clean technology, CleanTech Los Angeles, Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles, CRA/LA, DWP, green building techniques, green economy, green jobs, green manufacturing, green technology, JPL, L.A., Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, renewable energy resources, sustainable technology, UCLA, USC, water conservation technologies

CleanTech Los Angeles is a multi-agency collaboration between CRA/LA, Caltech, DWP, JPL, Mayor’s Office, Port UCLA, and USC to establish Los Angeles as the global leader in research, commercialization, and deployment of clean technologies. It brings together groups like the city’s power and water utility, the chamber of commerce, and the universally recognized scientific research heavyweights UCLA, USC and CalTech with the aim to help LA region become a global center of green technology, green jobs and green manufacturing, officials explained. The ultimate goal is a lofty one: to become the global capital of clean technology.