Innovation Toronto

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered and demonstrated a new method for overcoming two major hurdles facing solar energy. By developing a new antireflective coating that boosts the amount of sunlight captured by solar panels and allows those panels to absorb the entire solar spectrum from nearly any angle, the research team has moved [...]

 
PARIS — Standing in the middle of his company’s display stand here at the Paris Motor Show, Gildo Pastor, chief executive of Venturi Automobiles, ran his hands through his thick black hair and let out a sigh.
His day had been crazy, he explained. Traffic had been crazy. Preparations for the show were crazy. In fact, [...]

An artist’s representation shows how a cost effective solar concentrator could help make existing solar panels more efficient. The dye-based organic solar concentrator functions without the use of tracking or cooling systems, greatly reducing the overall cost compared to other concentrator technologies. Dye molecules coated on glass absorb sunlight, and re-emit it at a different [...]

Sheila Kennedy, an expert in the integration of solar cell technology in architecture who is now at MIT, creates designs for flexible photovoltaic materials that may change the way buildings receive and distribute energy.
These new materials, known as solar textiles, work like the now-familiar photovoltaic cells in solar panels. Made of semiconductor materials, they absorb [...]

CAN Silicon Valley become a world leader in cheap and ubiquitous solar panels for the masses?
Given the valley’s tremendous success in recent years with such down-to-earth products as search engines and music players, tackling solar power might seem improbable. Yet some of the valley’s best brains are captivated by the challenge, and they hope [...]