Recently, some pretty strange solar tech has caught my eye. Before you lies three new contraptions for every kind of conjurer: a coating that could someday transform objects into miniature solar panels, a memory alloy that can shift panels into different shapes, and a dye that can transmute a solar
Solar panels are typically made with silicon as their semiconducting material. But you know what they say: The grass is always greener with cadmium telluride … wait, what do you mean you’ve never heard of that? Well, I don’t blame you. Cadmium telluride-based photovoltaics (or CdTe for short) are
Growing the world’s renewable energy capacity has always been a delicate balancing act, and one of the many plates we have to spin during that act is land use. Utility-scale solar and wind parks are rapidly expanding in size and prevalence all over the world, including right near my
Ever heard of a quantum dot? What about an artificial atom? Though it might sound like technobabble from Star Trek (which of course I’m a fan of), this is a real piece of nano-technology that has the potential to revolutionize fields like medicine, consumer electronics, and especially solar energy.
Did I get ripped off and scammed with my solar? According to the comments on my recent solar panel video, where I compared a Tesla Solar Roof to my more modular solar panel system, I surely did get scammed and ripped off. … but did I? The critical comments really boiled
Perovskites are often hailed as the next big thing for solar panels. They’re more efficient than silicon PVs could ever be, and they have higher yields. However, their fragility and short lifespans have relegated them to the lab…so far. But 2024 is looking to be the year of
You’re probably used to solar installations that look like this – solar panels facing up towards the sky, which makes sense. You want a wider area to catch more of that sweet solar energy, right? However, bifacial vertical solar panels have started to gain traction recently. Their more flexible-footprint has
This is the biggest solar plant in the United States, located in Kern, California. The Solar Star Plant is over 8 square miles and has a generation capacity of 579 megawatts, powering around 255,000 homes.1 This is impressive, but about 6,500 miles away, in this remote desert,
“So the panel comes at the bottom and the glass comes out at the top?” -Matt Ferrell “Yeah, the plastics and metals come at the bottom there, and then the glass comes at the top here.” -Suvi Sharma “That is insanely cool.” -Matt Ferrell “I know, having been, having worked
In the summer of 2023, the Rijnstate hospital of Elst, The Netherlands opened its doors. What makes this particular campus interesting is how it generates its energy. Heat pumps, PV panels, and an electrolyzer all work in concert to maintain a constant supply of power. The building collects energy from
What’s stopping us from converting the open ocean into a massive solar power plant? To the tune of almost 6 times more energy than the world uses every year. Several companies are trying to do just that by floating solar panels out on the open ocean, but that raises
Are solar panels on your home worth it? And did I go too far this time? Well, I’ve shared my experiences living with solar panels on my previous home for five years now. Including the pros and cons of it. I just moved into my new factory built home