Mindzle

Author Archive

Even if silicon is the industry normal semiconductor in most electrical products, including the solar cells that photovoltaic panels utilize to convert sun rays into energy, it is hardly the most cost-efficient product on the market. For example, the semiconductor gallium arsenide and connected compound semiconductors provide practically 2 times the efficiency as silicon in solar devices, however they are rarely utilized in utility-scale applications because of their high production value.

U. of Illinois. professors J. Rogers and X. Li investigated lower-cost methods to produce thin films of gallium arsenide which also granted usefulness in the sorts of products they can be incorporated into.

If you can reduce significantly the expense of gallium arsenide and other compound semiconductors, then you might expand their variety of applications.

Usually, gallium arsenide is transferred in a individual thin layer on a smaller wafer. Either the ideal device is made specifically on the wafer, or the semiconductor-coated wafer is break up into chips of the preferred dimension. The Illinois group chose to put in multiple levels of the material on a individual wafer, making a layered, “pancake” stack of gallium arsenide thin films.

If you grow ten layers in 1 growth, you only have to fill the wafer 1 time. If you do this in 10 growths, loading and unloading with temp ramp-up as well as ramp-down get a lot of time. If you consider exactly what is necessary for every growth – the equipment, the research, the time, the workers – the overhead saving this approach gives is a considerable expense decrease.

Next the scientists separately peel off the layers and move them. To complete this, the stacks alternate levels of aluminum arsenide with the gallium arsenide. Bathing the stacks in a solution of acid and an oxidizing agent dissolves the layers of aluminum arsenide, freeing the single small sheets of gallium arsenide. A soft stamp-like device selects up the levels, 1 at a time from the top down, for move to another substrate – glass, plastic-type or silicon, depending on the application. Then the wafer could be reused for another growth.

By executing this it’s possible to produce considerably more material more quickly and more cost efficiently. This process could generate bulk amounts of material, as compared to just the thin single-layer method in which it is typically grown.

Freeing the material from the wafer also opens the opportunity of flexible, thin-film electronics produced with gallium arsenide or different high-speed semiconductors. To make products that could conform but still retain higher efficiency, which is significant.

In a paper released on-line May 20 in the academic journal Nature, the group explains its methods and shows 3 kinds of units making use of gallium arsenide chips produced in multilayer stacks: light products, high-speed transistors and solar cells. The authors also provide a comprehensive cost evaluation.

An additional advantage of the multilayer approach is the release from area constraints, especially essential for solar cells. As the levels are removed from the stack, they may be laid out side-by-side on one more substrate to make a significantly larger surface area, whereas the standard single-layer process restricts area to the dimension of the wafer.

For photovoltaics, you need large area coverage to catch as much sunshine as possible. In an extreme situation we might grow enough layers to have 10 times the area of the standard.

Up coming, the group programs to explore more prospective device applications and other semiconductor materials that could adapt to multilayer growth.

About the Article author – Shannon Combs publishes articles for the residential solar power cost blog, her personal hobby blog focused on tips to help home owners to save energy with sun power.

Complete Bio Photo of the Author

Related articles by Zemanta

• Thin-Film Trick Makes Gallium Arsenide Devices Cheap (spectrum.ieee.org)
• Solar cells sliced and diced (nature.com)
• Spire Produces World’s Most Efficient Large Area Concentrator Solar Cell (eon.businesswire.com)
• Research hints at cheaper, more efficient photovoltaics (lightbulbs.org)

As more and more people live and work in the cities, even the best developed public transport and a network of highways may soon not be enough to serve all the commuters. What is more, if we won’t stop the usage of petrol and diesel cars, the quality of the air is the overcrowded cities will deteriorate noticeably. That is why General Motors and its strategic partner in China – Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. Group (SAIC) – have been working on a new type of vehicle that could help to revolutionize the idea of urban mobility.

GM EN-V
The vehicle called EN-V (short for Electric Networked-Vehicle) was designed to help in the elimination of diesel and petrol cars in the urban areas what should result is better air quality. What is more, due to its small size (it needs around 5 times less space than a typical automobile) the car can also reduce the problem of traffic jams and limited parking space. Unfortunately the EN-V has a range of only 40km (25 miles), so it is suitable only for city transportation; nevertheless it has several advantages that are worth consideration. Thanks to combination of GPS-based navigation with wireless vehicle-to-vehicle communication and distance-sensing technologies, the vehicle can drive itself, without engaging the passengers. Another advantage of the high-tech solutions is that the vehicle will ‘sense’ what is going on around, react quickly to changing driving conditions and – as a consequence – significantly reduce the number of accidents. Furthermore, the EN-V can also automatically select the best route basing on real-time traffic information.
The vehicle has been presented publicly for the first time at the end of March 2010. It will be also shown between May 1st and October 31st at Shanghai World Expo 2010. There are three body versions of EN-V at the moment: blue which is called Xiao (in Chinese: laugh), red – Jiao (pride), and gray – Miao (magic).

The author recommends CarTruckTrader.com. Visit the website to find a comprehensive list of new and used hybrid vehicles for sale online.

Related articles by Zemanta

• GM floats autonomous two-seater city car idea (news.cnet.com)
• G.M. EN-V: Sharpening the Focus of Future Urban Mobility (wheels.blogs.nytimes.com)
• GM unveils three futuristic, urban EN-V concepts (autoblog.com)
• Tech in Sight (spectrum.ieee.org)
• They’re Also Known As…: (brothersjuddblog.com)
• GM EN-V concepts (designboom.com)
• Is it a bike, is it a car? GM debuts electric mini-vehicle concept car (businessgreen.com)
• GM Pod Car Looks Like a 2-Wheeled Vacuum (wired.com)

Most celebrities splurge their fortune on outrageously extravagant homes with everything from multi-car garages and huge swimming pools to state-of-the-art kitchens and entertainment rooms with enough high-tech gadgets to use up a small town’s worth of electricity.
Clearly, these home owners have given little to no thought to the massive increase in their carbon footprint which these homes are causing. But, there are some celebrities out there who put their care for the environment before their obsession with luxury:

Johnny Depp

Not only is Johnny Depp one of Hollywood’s hottest actors, he is also known as one of Hollywood’s most environmentally-friendly A-Listers.
Johnny Depp enlisted eco-homes expert Michael Strizki to turn his 35-acre island getaway in the Caribbean into a self-sustaining habitat run on solar-hydrogen power. With Strizki – project promoter of The Hopewell Project – on the case, it is doubt the rest of the building plans will be equally as energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall

Before Julia Louis-Dreyfus and husband Brad Hall became famous for their comedic acting and writing on Saturday Night Live, Seinfeld, and The New Adventures of Old Christine, they were a pair of environmentally-minded theatre students. Now they share an energy-efficient Santa Barbara bungalow that includes a retractable roof, which stimulates airflow and negates the need for air conditioning; day-lighting, to reduce the need for electric lights; and solar heating that’s put back into the grid when the house isn’t in use. The couple also had their contractor salvage all the pre-renovation wood since, as Hall put it: “Having a second home is itself a sort of appalling excess. We figured if we’re going to do it, we better be as responsible as we can.”

Daryl Hannah

Known just as much these days for her environmental passion as she is for her films, actress Daryl Hannah spends her days off in the Rocky Mountains, where her converted-stagecoach-stop home is almost entirely solar powered. The off-grid dwelling sits next to a winterised barn (also solar powered) made of reclaimed wood, and inside, Hannah and her guests sit on a moss-covered stone that doubles as a couch.

Julia Roberts

Julia Roberts, her husband Danny Moder and their three children share an over-sized, 6,000-square-foot home, complete with tennis court and pool, but the home’s recent estimated $20 million green renovation – including recycled tiling and sustainable building materials – help keep the mansion’s carbon footprint restrained. The home’s three roofs’ worth of solar panels takes advantage of living in Malibu by harnessing the climate’s natural energy.

Orlando Bloom

Perhaps all the time together Orlando Bloom shared with Johnny Depp on the Pirates of the Caribbean set allowed some of Depp’s environmentalism to rub off on co-star Orlando Bloom.
Bloom, who is a participant of the Global Cool climate change campaign, made his new-construction home in London as green as possible, with everything from solar panels to energy-efficient light bulbs. He has since said that the project required nearly twice as much money as he had initially budgeted, but the finished product is sure to be well worth the cost.

Like this post? See more like it at Letitflow.com– your one-click stop for all the latest news on celebrities, fashion, high-tech gadgets, luxury cars, exotic travel destinations, and much more!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Julia Louis-Dreyfus: Why I Had to Let Go of Guilt (celebrity-babies.com)

Have you ever wondered how “green” and sustainable your cup of coffee is? If yes, which type of coffee beans do you choose – organic, shade-grown or fair trade? Read on to learn all that true eco-enthusiastic coffee fans should know about the different certifications…

Organic coffee

When buying organic, you decide on coffee that is grown without pesticides, herbicides and artificial fertilizers. This is beneficial not only to your health (as the coffee beans do not contain any chemicals), but also to the environment since the soil and water are not contaminated with artificial substances. In order to be sold as organic, the coffee has to be processed under special conditions without chemicals in an organic mill.

Shade-grown coffee

Shade-grown coffee is grown in a traditional, environmentally friendly way from farms with thick layers of trees and bushes. Unfortunately, as demand for coffee grew, a new, higher-productivity approach was introduced to coffee farming. The system, introduced in 1970s, is called sun cultivation since coffee is grown in rows under the sun with little or no forest canopy.  It has become popular because the growing process is more rapid and gives higher yields, however it has several disadvantages:

-          it requires the increased use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides, which can contaminate land and water; however, when growing under the shade, there is less risk of pathogen infection and the leaves that drop from the shade are a natural fertilizer;

-          it has led to deforestation of many areas of coffee cultivation, which is disastrous for some animal species like songbirds, howler monkeys, iguanas, ocelots, and pumas;

-          the taste of coffee is worse; although the yields are higher, shade-grown beans are of a lower quality since a longer ripening time contributes to complex flavor.

This is why many eco-conscious consumers prefer the traditionally grown coffee. As shade coffee farms in general use little or no chemical fertilizers, the shade grown coffee is often also certified as organic.

Fair Trade coffee

Even though the price for a cup of coffee seems high, many farmers that grow the beans live in extreme poverty. It is due to the fact that most of the costs that add up to the price of coffee are generated by the middlemen. Fair Trade organizations help producers in developing countries cut out middlemen, and obtain better trading conditions, so that they are not forced to compromise the quality of their products and work hygiene or turn to child labor to earn for living.

Written by PennySaverUSA. If you would like to have a cup of organic, shade-grown or fair trade coffee and looking for an interesting place in your area, visit us online to find a comprehensive list of cafes in the USA.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Coffee plantations deforesting the tropics. (thepetitionsite.com)
• Coffee demand threatens to outstrip the market (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• 25 Creative Uses for Coffee Filters (stacksandstacks.com)

New Homes of the Future: What Will They Look like?

Housing is and always has been an excellent barometer of society and culture. The way housing is designed and structured gives us a glimpse into how our communities work, the way that we live our lives on a daily basis and how our families interact.

Just take a look at the dwellings of Native American’s: their tepees were made from animal hides and wood, designed to be portable and quick to assemble, a necessity for their nomadic lifestyles. Victorian terraces are another example demonstrating how social values shape housing, with elements such as the design of the windows and the location of the property reflecting the owner’s social status.

And as our societies continue to evolve, so too does our housing. What will our future homes look like and what will they say about us as a society? There are two elements which are having a significant impact on us already and will continue to do so in ever increasing amounts.

The environment is the first major element that influences the design of new eco friendly homes. As climate change becomes ever more real, and the depletion of the world’s resources of fossil fuels looms; we continue to seek new methods to achieve energy efficiency in a sustainable way. Domestic energy use accounts for around 40% of the UK’s total energy consumption – making efficiency gains in this area a major target for the Government.

Specific areas for improvement include:

• Sustainable energy production. This is set to increase for the future, and you can realistically expect to see elements like solar panels and wind turbines as a standard feature in new homes.
• Focus in insulation improvement. Thick foam insulation and building techniques are required to minimise heat loss for the most eco-friendly homes.
• Wastage avoidance. Recycling bins, urban drainage and rainwater harvesting are examples of the ways energy wastage can be reduced.

Sustainable development meets modern design: Barratt Homes’ Green House

The second area that will change the face of our homes is digital technology. Already, some new home builders are incorporating computer systems which manage the heating of each and every room in the house. This will develop in future, so much so that almost every machine led aspect of home life may be automated. From lights that switch on when you enter a room, to controlling home entertainment systems with one touch, to systems that alert you to the security of your house remotely; all via one handheld device.

Say goodbye to all those wires and cables too, because wireless technology is set to be the order of the day. Space saving needs will combine with advances in gaming technology, as gaming pods will have the adaptability to transform into the entertainment of choice for whoever happens to be playing.

So there you have it: carbon neutral homes that enhance rather than damage the environment with automated and intuitive technologies that enrich our lives. Good news for us and our planet.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Exploring a Carbon Neutral City – Notes from Seattle’s Unconference (worldchanging.com)
• Going carbon neutral: California pours a foundation for cities to build on (guardian.co.uk)
• Green investment bank may be announced in the budget, but what would it deliver? (guardian.co.uk)

Ten sites off the coast of northern Scotland have been leased out by The Crown Estate – property owned and managed by the United Kingdom – for the development of new wave and tidal energy installations. It is hoped that once completed, the installations will be able to power 750,000 homes in Scotland.

The waters around the area are described as the “Saudi Arabia of marine power”, owing to the fact that they possess up to one quarter of Europe’s tide and wind resources and one tenth of the continent’s wave capacity.

Wave energy occurs when wind blows over the surface of the sea, moving the water and creating waves. The greatest amount of energy is found in deeper, more exposed waters, making those off the coast of North Scotland ideal.

Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond, has called the plans – which are a world first – a ‘major milestone in the global journey towards a low carbon future, with the commercial-scale deployment of marine renewables set to power our economies and help safeguard the planet for generations to come”.

Mr Salmond went on to say that these developments demonstrate Scotland’s commitment to renewable energy sources which do not harm the environment. According to the wildlife charity WWF Scotland, this can be achieved with careful planning.

Seven companies have won the right to develop projects which harness the power of the waves off Scotland including E.ON – the home and business electricity supplier – Pelamis Wave Power, SSE Renewables Developments and ScottishPower Renewables.

The Secretary of State for Scotland Jim Murphy said: “This is a welcome world-first for Scotland and I am happy to see the major steps being taken to harness Scotland’s wave and tidal energy. It is an extremely exciting time for renewables in Scotland and across the rest of the UK as we use more of our natural resources to generate our power”.

Author Bio
Lucille Groutadge is a freelance writer with a particular interest in green energy and business electricity suppliers.

Related articles by Zemanta

• ‘Milestone’ for wave energy plans (news.bbc.co.uk)
• New marine energy business park to support Cornish Wave Hub (businessgreen.com)
• Wave Energy Scales Up Off Scotland (technologyreview.com)
• Scottish Wave Energy Plans Move Forward (news.slashdot.org)
• World first wave and tidal energy projects for Scotland (telegraph.co.uk)

So you probably know the basics, stick a brick in the toilet, unplug things you are not using, and maybe even turn the heat down right? Well if you want to green your house in a hip and chic way there are some changes that you’ll probably want to make.

1. First things first, thermal imaging can be very useful in discovering what parts of your home emit the most heat so you will be able to save energy by targeting these areas.

2. Use Green Walls to cool your home! Evapotranspiration is a process where plants release water vapor. Combined with shade, it can lower temperature in surrounding areas up to 9 degrees Fahrenheit. So the idea is to surround your house with strong trees and enjoy the pleasure of having a cool summer. Also, another great tip is to grow shrubbery/vines on walls surrounding your house as well as on your house. –hint this can be hip!

3. Stick some shag on the fridge – it is said if you put the shag carpet on the fridge it will make it much more efficient, but why go out and buy more carpet that is not a good recyclable.

This is where carpet tiles come in. They are an excellent way for homeowners to step forward in protecting the environment while stepping out in ‘Green Fashion’. Let’s see, they are durable, movable, delectable, and beautiful.

• You can stick them on your fridge and your wall

• You can put them anywhere in your house and move them with ease.

• They last longer and are a lot easier to take care of than carpet.

Many Carpet Tiles are constructed of recycled raw materials and exceed the Green Label standard established by the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI). They are almost 100% recyclable where as carpet is not. With that being said I can’t let you go without giving you a couple of ways to get rid of your old carpet:

• You can always donate to a charity so it can be used again.

• A network called the Carpet American Recover Effort (CARE) has joined over 50 carpet reclamation centers together across the US to help you dispose of this monstrosity.

• You can also cut carpet up and put it into places like your car, or even in between the rows in your garden to keep the weeds out. –that’s a little weird right? But it works!

With efforts like these we can keep our environment cleaner as well as keep landfills from doing more damage than they already do. We are discovering many new ways to green our homes every day, but one that is on the rise is finding new uses for old carpet and hip green uses for Carpet Tiles.

Related articles by Zemanta

• A Guide to Recycling Nearly Anything [Recycling] (lifehacker.com)
• Restore Your Carpets Back to Like New Condition (thehomeadventure.com)
• No More Downcycling? Breakthrough Organic Catalyst = More Effective PET Plastic Recycling (treehugger.com)

Our world is being plagued by “Global warming” and we keep on threatening to do something about it. However are we actually seeing any changes that are significant to save our planet from ultimately, destruction? Is Global warming real, well yes, it is blatantly obvious, and the science backs it all up. These things need to be monitored and although we are watching what is happening we are doing nothing to stop it.

Read the rest of this entry »

To say that the staging the Winter Olympics is a monumental task is a lot like saying the Pacific Ocean is a pretty big body of water. The 2010 Olympic games in Vancouver/Whistler required massive building and renovating of new and existing structures and infrastructure. Along with all of these colossal undertakings, there was also the need to find ways of moving large crowds and staff safely and efficiently from one venue to the next without leaving a King Kong-sized carbon footprint. Here are the top five of the many green initiatives employed by the organizers and sponsors of the games.

5. Have A Coke And A Smile

Coca-Cola set up a waste diversion program to ensure that 95% of waste generated during the games wound up in recycling plants and not landfills. Bottles, shrink wrap and cardboard trays will be recycled and reused, sparing the city a huge influx of excess waste courtesy of the thousands of tourists flocking to the city to cheer on their athletes.

4. Generator Nix

A large number of diesel generators were usually kept on hand during past Olympic games sites in case of emergency. As it was imperative that the generators be ready to be put into place at a moment’s notice, they were usually kept idling until needed, polluting the air and burning fuel. The solution to this problem came courtesy of BC Hydro and two underground power lines, one of which served as a back up in case of a power loss in the main trunk. With a switching system, power could be diverted from one trunk to the next almost instantly.

3. On The Road

Even before the games officially got under way, steps were taken to reduce the carbon footprint of the torch relay across Canada and the rest of the world. Through use of recycled materials and making smart, green transportation choices in moving staff and volunteers from one spot to the next, this green approach produced an energy efficient relay that was good for the planet. Also energy efficient skytrain systems were expanded along with hybrid taxis brought into service to help shuttle people about.

2. Village, People

The Olympic Village, called Millennium Water, is a shining example of sustainability. Half of the buildings have green roofs which cut down on the cost of heating and cooling the 200 units in each of the buildings spread over 9 blocks. Also the US Green Building Council is expected to give the Olympic Village a LEED gold certificate for the green initiatives utilized in the facilities.

1. Used Medals?

Were you aware that the Olympic medals are made from recycled end-of-life electronics? And by making the medals some of the heaviest ever distributed at the games, more recycled material was kept out of landfills and instead was transformed into one of a kind works of art. Each medal is unique but the sustaining initiatives employed to create them hopefully aren’t.

Andrew Salmon is a freelance writer. He writes on a variety of financial topics such as universal life insurance policies.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Vancouver using recycled metals for medals (guardian.co.uk)
• Coca-Cola Canada Opens Happiness at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games (newswire.ca)
• Winter Olympic medals: Gold, silver bronze and green (businessgreen.com)
• Winter Olympic Medals Made From Recycled E-Waste (huffingtonpost.com)

Natural Cleaning Techniques: “But…how did they do it 100 years ago?”

This is a common question that I ask myself and my fellow community members here at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, a striving-to-be-sustainable community. How did they do this or that before electricity? Before mass production? Before everything came in plastic? More often than not we adopt the old way of doing things here: canning or root cellaring our food for preservation, heating our homes with wood, and making butter with a hand cranked, turn-of-the-century churn.

When it comes to cleaning, there are certainly many old fashioned ways of cleaning that one could easily choose to use. From baking soda to lemon juice, there may be simple ways to save yourself from adding too many products to your life. I know at least a few folks who believe that you can clean just about anything with white vinegar and newspaper or an old rag. And while we do employ a number of very simple cleaning techniques here at Dancing Rabbit, even we are not free of mass-produced cleaning products… but we stick to those that meet our standards for sustainability.

That’s why you’ll find a number of Seventh Generation products under our sinks. We’ve been known to use their various spray bottle bathroom cleaners and those squirty-topped dish soaps, because we know this company shares our vision of living more lightly on the Earth. Having replaced toilets with a simple humanure system, we don’t need to use any of their toilet cleaning products (though we do still use Seventh Generation toilet paper).

You will also find a number of citrus-based cleaners used for anything from mopping the floor to washing our clothes. Citric acid can, in almost all cases, be used in the same way as bleach. Mixed with salt, citrus becomes especially powerful. And just think of how much more pleasant the smell of lemon is compared to the smell of bleach!

Personally, I have, at one time or another used Dr Bronner’s Magic Soaps for just about everything. From its inception, Dr. Bronner’s has listed “eighteen-in-one” potential uses for their product on the bottle, and it can really be used for every one of them. Along with body wash and hand soap, Dr Bronner’s also makes great laundry soap, and is even safe to use on your pets!

I have no doubt that some people look at our way of life, and think that we’re trying to return to the 19^th century. With some specific practices, they’re right! But we don’t reject progress… we just want to see it achieved sustainably. These natural cleaning products allow us to enjoy a bit of convenience, while still maintaining our values.

Best of luck combining simplicity, sustainability, and practicality, and happy cleaning!

Mary Beth Bishop is a resident of Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in Northeastern Missouri, and a freelance writers currently under contract with long-running green blog sustainablog, which now features an eco-friendly shopping portal that carries a full range of cleaning brands, including Dr. Bronner’s.

Related articles by Zemanta

• 5 Green Ideas For Naturally Clean Kitchen (bargaineering.com)