solar

What happens when solar panels die?
07 Oct

What happens when solar panels die?

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By the end of 2024, the world will have nearly 2,000 Gigawatts of solar generation capacity in service. Each panel is made of silicon, glass, various polymers, aluminum, copper and an assortment of other metals that capture the sun’s energy. It’s a rule of thumb that, barring damage, a panel will last for up to 30 years before it needs to be replaced. But what happens to all of those raw materials when the current crop of solar panels becomes obsolete? Surely, we’re not just wasting it all, are we?What kills a solar panel?Received wisdom suggests solar panels last for…
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Self-storage rooftops will become a nationwide 100MW+ solar farm
28 Aug

Self-storage rooftops will become a nationwide 100MW+ solar farm

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reports that a solar energy company is renting 8.5 million square feet of roof space from the buildings for its newest solar panel project.The commercial and community solar developer Solar Landscape’s new rooftop solar panel grid on the NSA’s 1,052 self-storage facilities and properties across 42 states and Puerto Rico are expected to produce at least 100 megawatts of solar capacity. The NSA, headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado, is one of the nation’s largest self-storage operators with brands like iStorage, Move It, Northwest and SecurCare.These solar energy panels won’t just generate power for the NSA’s facilities. The panels will also…
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China claims to have already reached its 2030 clean energy goal
23 Aug

China claims to have already reached its 2030 clean energy goal

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In some good news for the environment, China has reached a clean energy goal six years sooner than expected. In 2020, President Xi Jinping set a goal to have at least 1,200 gigawatts of clean energy sources by 2030. In a new statement, China's National Energy Administration claims the country has reached 1,206 gigawatts, thanks to 25 gigawatts of turbines and panels added last month, Bloomberg reports.This milestone is critical for China, the world's biggest polluter, which produces about 12.7 metric tons of emissions produced annually as of 2023, The New York Times reports. For context, the United States is…
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Oxford scientists’ new light-absorbing material can turn everyday objects into solar panels
09 Aug

Oxford scientists’ new light-absorbing material can turn everyday objects into solar panels

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Oxford University scientists may have solved one of the greatest hindrances of expanding access to solar energy. Scientists from the university’s physics department have created an ultra-thin layer of material that can be applied to the exterior of objects with sunlight access in place of bulky silicon-based solar panels.The ultra-thin and flexible film is made by stacking layers of light-absorbing layers of perovskite that are just over one micron thick. The new materials are also 150 times thinner than a traditional silicon wafer and can produce 5 percent more energy efficiency than traditional, single-layer silicon photovoltaics, according to a statement…
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A Manhattan Project nuclear weapons site is being turned into a giant solar farm
02 Aug

A Manhattan Project nuclear weapons site is being turned into a giant solar farm

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The US Department of Energy (DOE) to turn land that previously housed aspects of the Manhattan Project into a 1 GW solar farm. For the uninitiated, the Manhattan Project was a top-secret and successful effort to develop nuclear weapons during the 1940s.This particular renovation is being conducted at the former home of the Hanford nuclear testing facility, otherwise known as Site W, which is in Washington state. This site housed the world’s first full-scale plutonium production reactor. Plutonium made at this location and the Fat Man bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.The location certainly is intriguing, but so is…
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Google invests in Taiwanese solar company to boost green energy
01 Jul

Google invests in Taiwanese solar company to boost green energy

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Google is investing in a Taiwanese solar company with plans to build a 1 gigawatt (GW) pipeline of sustainable energy in the region. The company is placing a stake in New Green Power (NGP), part of BlackRock’s investment portfolio, for the project. The move could help Google and Taiwan move closer to their climate goals while stabilizing green energy production in one of the most crucial semiconductor hubs of our new AI-infused world.Google already has a significant presence in Taiwan, including a data center. According to Amanda Peterson Corio, Google’s global head of data center energy, fossil fuels currently generate…
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China is plowing $11 billion into a solar, wind and coal energy project
28 Jun

China is plowing $11 billion into a solar, wind and coal energy project

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A state-owned power company is splashing out 80 billion yuan ($11 billion) on an energy base that will generate electricity from , and sources. China Three Gorges Renewables Group, a subsidiary of the country’s largest hydropower company, plans to build a plant with a 16-gigawatt capacity and a five-gigawatt storage facility, reports.This is part of China’s aim to build 455 gigawatts worth of renewable energy projects in the desert by 2030. This plant is being constructed in Inner Mongolia, which will get 135 gigawatts of the total planned output.The China Three Gorges Corporation is looking to diversify its energy sources…
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