- Latest news on Home Star
Here’s a recent update on the legislation that includes the Home Star Program. Its Senate passage after the August break is far from certain.
READ MORE > - Did Cash for Appliances Work?
The Cash for Appliances program has been adopted in all 50 states, but the results vary widely from state-to-state. What’s been going on?
READ MORE > - Cash for Caulkers: The Definitive Guide
The Home Star Program is nearing approval. Here is everything homeowners need to know about the requirements to take full advantage of Home Star.
READ MORE > - Cash for Caulkers update
Here’s an update on Home Star, including the Senate legislation and press release; it has bi-partisan support and there are hopes for passage by July 4th.
READ MORE >
Researchers harness nanotechnology to help make cost-efficient solar panels
Posted on 10. Jul, 2009 by GMS Editor in Berkeley
By Natalie Marsh
Contributing Writer
Thursday, July 9, 2009
The answer to developing low-cost solar panels may lie in the creation of tiny 3-dimensional fibers that are 1,000 times smaller than a human hair.
UC Berkeley researchers have developed a method to grow nanopillars, which could eventually be used to produce more cost-efficient solar panels.
“A nanopillar is a 3-dimensional, wire material that is made of fiber,” said researcher Zhiyong Fan, postdoctorate scholar in the electrical engineering and computer science department.
These nanopillars must grow through specific chemical reactions atop a piece of aluminum foil.
The potential for developing cheap solar panels out of the nanopillars stems from using aluminum as a substrate-rather than silicon-as is currently used in the roll-to-roll process that creates a solar cell, said lead researcher Ali Javey, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences.
The price of the nanopillars may also be lower than that of the silicon-based counterparts because “the material is more tolerant to surface interface,” Javey said.
