Recycling Impressions

Scotland Gearing Up For 50% Renewable Energy by 2030

[source]

The government of Scotland aims to increase the speed with which it wants to implement new renewable energy capcity to the tune of 50% by 2030. This involves overall energy consumption, including heat and transport, so not just electricity.

[news.gov.scot] – The future of energy in Scotland
[cleantechnica.com] – Scotland Aims For 50% Renewable Energy By 2030

New Perovskite Solar Cell

[source]

An interdisciplinary team of researchers has laid the foundations for an entirely new type of photovoltaic cell. In this new method, infrared radiation is converted into electrical energy using a different mechanism from that found in conventional solar cells. The mechanism behind the new solid-state solar cell made of the mineral perovskite relies on so-called polaron excitations, which combine the excitation of electrons and vibrations of the crystal lattice.

[phys.org] – Scientists lay foundations for new type of solar cell
[onlinelibrary.wiley.com] – Evolution of Hot Polaron States with a Nanosecond Lifetime in a Manganite Perovskite
[cleantechnica.com] – Holy Hot Polarons, Batman! New Perovskite Solar Cell Shows Promise

Forget everything you know about solar cells and check this out. A research team based at the University of Göttingen in Germany has come up with something they call an “entirely new” way to harvest energy from sunlight. In effect, the new solar cell puts the brakes on excited electrons, extending their lifetime. The result is a more efficient solar cell, with less energy lost in the form of heat and more energy converted to electricity.

[wikipedia.org] – Polarons

A polaron is a quasiparticle used in condensed matter physics to understand the interactions between electrons and atoms in a solid material. The polaron concept was first proposed by Lev Landau in 1933 to describe an electron moving in a dielectric crystal where the atoms move from their equilibrium positions to effectively screen the charge of an electron, known as a phonon cloud. This lowers the electron mobility and increases the electron’s effective mass.

Solar Project Completed in the Netherlands

Largest solar park in the Netherlands, ironically covered in snow

Location: Delfzijl [Google Maps]
Capacity: 7500 households
Panels: 120,000
Owner: German energy company Wirsol
Size: 65 soccer fields

Coming Spring the title “largest solar park in the Netherlands” will move from Delfzijl to Vlissingen [Sloehaven], with 140,000 panels.

In general, investment in solar energy is booming in the Netherlands. In 2016 500 MW new capacity was installed, 100 MW more than in 2015.

[nos.nl] – Delfzijl heeft grootste zonnepark van Nederland
[nu.nl] – Grootste zonnepark van Nederland geopend in Delfzijl

[source] Same park

Plundering Appalachia

790 GW Renewable Energy Potential SE-Europe

The report underscores that SEE possesses vast technical renewable energy potential – equal to some 740 GW.” This renewable energy potential is dominated by wind and solar. “The region’s wind energy (532 GW) and solar PV (120 GW) potential is largely untapped, and 127 GW of this overall renewable energy potential could be implemented in a cost-competitive way today.”

[irena.org] – Cost-competitive renewable power generation: Potential across South East Europe (pdf 124p)
[cleantechnica.com] – 790 Gigawatts of Cost-Cutting Renewable Energy Potential in South East Europe

Track Side Solar Panels in UK?

Belgium giving the good example: railway tracks covered with solar panels.

Great-Britain is a mid-sized country with high population density. Not strange then that a study has been started to see if space near railway tracks can be used to place solar panels.

[solarlove.org] – UK Studying Track Side Solar Panels To Power Electric Trains

Israel Building Giant CSP Facility In Negev Desert

Tower height: 240 m
Power: 121 MW
Cost: $700 million

[solarlove.org] – Israel Building Concentrated Solar Power Facility In Negev Desert
[wikipedia.org] – Ashalim Power Station

Ten Largest Wind Turbines To Date

Name	Diam.	Power	Firm	Country of Origin
—	—	—	—	—
V164	164 m	8 MW+	Vestas	Denmark
AD-180	180 m	8 MW	Adwen	France
SWT-8.0-154	154 m	8 MW	Siemens	Denmark
E-126	127 m	7.5 MW	Enercon	Germany
SCD	140 m	6 MW	Ming Yang	China
152	126/152 m	6.2 MW	Senvion	Germany
Haliade	151 m	6 MW	Alstom	Spain
SL6000	128/155 m	6 MW	Sinovel	China
AMSC	140 m	5.5 MW	Dongfang/Hyundai	China
AD5-135	135 m	5 MW	Adwen	France

[windpowermonthly.com] – 10 of the biggest turbines
[de.wikipedia.org] – Liste von Windkraftanlagenherstellern

How Powerful Is Big Oil?

[seeker.com] – How Powerful Is Big Oil?