{"id":40,"date":"2014-12-04T09:17:01","date_gmt":"2014-12-04T07:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/solar.straton.org.za\/?p=40"},"modified":"2014-12-04T09:17:01","modified_gmt":"2014-12-04T07:17:01","slug":"could-we-soon-wear-solar-generating-cells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/could-we-soon-wear-solar-generating-cells\/","title":{"rendered":"Could we soon wear solar generating cells?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Australian scientists have recently developed a way to print solar cells from organic plastics and materials. The implication is decentralised power plants printed on to any surface that can absorb sunlight: rooftops of cars, windows of high-rise buildings, laptop covers, outdoor advertising, roofing materials and so on.<\/p>\n<p>A Tunisian company, Saphon Energy, has produced a wind turbine that does not make use of blades and captures 80 percent of the wind\u2019s energy rather than the 30 percent that current technologies do.<\/p>\n<p>Scientists from Europe have discovered that graphene \u2013 the world\u2019s thinnest material \u2013 allows protons to pass through it but not atoms. Nobel prize winner Andre Geim, the head of the research, said this opened the possibility for hydrogen to be sieved from the air to be used in fuel cells \u2013 allowing hydrogen vehicles (which use hydrogen and oxygen as fuel and emit only water) to become commercially viable.<\/p>\n<p>More: <a href='http:\/\/www.iol.co.za\/business\/opinion\/columnists\/sa-needs-to-consider-new-forms-of-power-generation-1.1790425#.VIAJlV2lilM'>SA needs to consider new forms of power generation<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Australian scientists have recently developed a way to print solar cells from organic plastics and materials. The implication is decentralised power plants printed on to any surface that can absorb sunlight: rooftops of cars, windows of high-rise buildings, laptop covers, outdoor advertising, roofing materials and so on. A Tunisian company, Saphon Energy, has produced a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[102],"class_list":{"0":"post-40","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-solar","7":"tag-solar-power","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Alan","author_link":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/author\/alan\/"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5HvVd-E","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1000,"url":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/using-solar-power-to-store-energy-as-hydrogen\/","url_meta":{"origin":40,"position":0},"title":"Using Solar power to store energy as hydrogen","author":"Alan","date":"3 February 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Although solar panels can be used to power a home with clean energy, demand for power fluctuates during the day and excess power is often also produced. A new development in Chiang Mai, Thailand, reportedly solves these problems. It converts excess power to hydrogen and stores it for use later.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Solar&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Solar","link":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/category\/solar\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Phi Suea House","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Phi_Suea_House-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Phi_Suea_House-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Phi_Suea_House-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Phi_Suea_House-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1414,"url":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/getting-more-energy-from-the-sun-how-to-make-better-solar-cells\/","url_meta":{"origin":40,"position":1},"title":"Getting more energy from the sun: how to make better solar cells","author":"Alan","date":"5 May 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Solar panels on a Walmart roof, Mountain View, California. Walmart\/Flickr, CC BYGlobal demand for energy is increasing by the hour as developing countries move toward industrialization. Experts estimate that by the year 2050, worldwide demand for electricity may reach 30 terawatts (TW). For perspective, one terawatt is roughly equal to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Solar&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Solar","link":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/category\/solar\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/image-20160502-19557-1axrkh2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1765,"url":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/getting-more-from-hybrid-lead-halide-perovskites\/","url_meta":{"origin":40,"position":2},"title":"Getting more from hybrid lead halide perovskites","author":"Alan","date":"15 June 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Businesses and individuals who have been holding out until solar power technology gets cheaper and better should get ready to jump in the game. Solar energy is about to become brighter, more efficient and more affordable than ever, thanks to recent developments in solar cell technology. A group of materials\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Solar&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Solar","link":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/category\/solar\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":947,"url":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/solar-balloons\/","url_meta":{"origin":40,"position":3},"title":"Solar balloons","author":"Alan","date":"12 January 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"A team of Japanese and French researchers on solar photovoltaic, NextPV, based in Tokyo are currently working on a solar balloon concept that could be deployed as an energy storage system. Solar balloons generate power when cloudy The energy storage system is planned to involve a combination of solar PV\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Solar&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Solar","link":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/category\/solar\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":711,"url":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/hydrogen-fuel-cell-tech-an-answer-to-load-shedding\/","url_meta":{"origin":40,"position":4},"title":"Hydrogen Fuel cell tech an answer to load shedding","author":"Alan","date":"19 August 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Many companies were of the opinion that fuel cell technology was an alternative to the major problems South Africa had been experiencing with load shedding. These were some of the comments made at the first annual HYSA (Hydrogen SA) meeting held in Cape Town. The purpose of the meeting was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Solar&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Solar","link":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/category\/solar\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":753,"url":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/are-solar-panels-more-efficient-in-high-heat\/","url_meta":{"origin":40,"position":5},"title":"Are Solar Panels more efficient in high heat?","author":"Alan","date":"25 September 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"One more reason why Solar is efficient in the Windy City: It may seem counter-intuitive, but solar panel efficiency is affected negatively by temperature increases. Although the specifications of most panels indicate that their operating temperature is in a range between -40 and 85 degrees centigrade, PV modules are tested\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Solar&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Solar","link":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/category\/solar\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}