A study led by engineers at Michigan State University says that the use of transparent solar cells could potentially fulfill roughly 40 percent of the United States’ energy demands, the equivalent of the potential for bulkier rooftop solar units, if applied to the abundant area of glass available in the US.
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An engineering research team in Japan has developed a new solar cell that may be able to raise the efficiency of photovoltaic cells above 50 percent, and theoretically as high as 63 percent under certain conditions. This is important as consumer-grade cells are hindered by a lower maximum efficiency of around 26 percent, with most cells on the market only boasting an efficiency of 12 to 18 percent. If that value can be improved, it will make for greater accessibility for consumers looking toward renewable energy sources, and drastically improve the output of commercial solar farms.
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Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, along with a host of other investment partners, is starting a $1 billion investment group, called the Breakthrough Energy Ventures fund, aimed at fighting climate change through investing in the business of clean energy production. The BEV fund, intended to run for 20 years, will be focusing on investing in companies that are developing new technologies that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the areas of agriculture, electricity generation and storage, transportation, industrial processes, and energy-system efficiency.
“Anything that leads to cheap, clean, reliable energy we’re open-minded to,” explains Gates, acting as BEV’s chairman.
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While the steady increase of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere and the rise of global temperatures can make the state of affairs for the future of our climate seem bleak, there is positive progress being made in regards to how we, as a species, respond to the crisis. A report released recently by the Paris-based International Energy Agency revealed that over three-quarters of newly-installed electrical production in 2015 was made up of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power.
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