Beyond solar panels: can solar technology change the world?
If you didn’t already know, then let me be the first to tell you when and how solar technology will change the world.
OK, well maybe I won’t be the first to make the claim, but I can at least tell you that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has included solar tech in its annual list of 10 technologies that will save the world.
Technology Review is an MIT publication which publishes an annual list of 10 new technologies that are anticipated to change the world. While solar power is certainly not “new,” in the sense that people have been using energy from the sun to cook food and dry clothes for hundreds of years, MIT has put stock in two solar power applications it believes will positively impact the future.
1. Solar Fuels
There was some buzz about solar fuels last year. We even blogged about it here, noting that:
Researchers are looking into the potential of reversing fossil fuel combustion with the use of sunlight to re-energize molecules from air. Using solar chemical reactors “solar fuels” could one day be created from a variety of materials. Already, the technology has been able to produce hundreds of gallons of clean, energy fuel per hour.
Technology Review reports that Noubar Afeyan of Joule Biotechnologies has genetically engineered microorganisms that can convert sunlight into ethanol or diesel. This green innovation could help make biofuels competitive with conventional diesel, gasoline or natural gas.
New discoveries and developments are underway in solar technology
2. Light Trapping Photovoltaics
Thin-film solar cells have been newsworthy of late, as well. Their flexibility and slim profile allows for a multitude of applications. With light-trapping photovoltaics, Kylie Catchpole of the Australian National University has discovered how to increase solar efficiency of thin film cells by depositing nanoparticles of silver onto the cell’s surface. The nanoparticles trap the photons allowing for increased solar cell efficiency. Of course, with solar panels gaining in efficiency, solar power rises in status as a desired alternative to coal or gas-based electricity.
So there you have it – two of 10 technologies that the wise people at MIT believe will change the world! What do you think of these solar technologies? Do you agree they have the potential to make a positive impact?
Check out the complete list of technologies to change the world at Earth Times.
Tags: change the world, green innovations, light trapping photovoltaics, massachusetts institute technology, MIT, solar efficiency, solar fuels, solar power applications, solar technology, technology review, thin film solar
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