Biologically, cyanobacteria are the only photosynthetic prokaryotes (unicellular organisms without nucleus and mitochondria) that have the ability to produce oxygen. And interestingly enough, these photosynthetic micro-organisms have been existing on Earth for billions of years, and are considered as one of the driving forces behind the oxygen-rich environment of our planet. And now, scientists are…
Last week, we reported how a new study estimated that around a quarter of our world's net energy will come from renewable sources by 2020. And among these renewable energy sources, solar power is expected to still remain the king, especially with the trend of cheaper pricing (utility-scale systems in China and India are predicted…
Tiny homes are quite the rage in the low impact side of the architectural realm. But snowboarder Mike Basich surely pushed the celebrity side of affairs for such type of architecture, with his nigh unbelievable 228 sq self-sustaining home near Truckee, California. The interesting part is - this totally off-grid house was built on an…
Boasting of a whopping 40,000 sq m (430,000 sq ft) of area, Deloitte's new headquarters at Amsterdam, designed by PLP Architecture, is not just about gargantuan coverage. The imposing building christened as 'The Edge' has been heralded as the most sustainable office building on the face of our planet, with BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment…
The arena of Photovoltaics is currently being bombarded with numerous, and indeed ambitious, research activities, all of which strive to enhance the efficiency of available technologies. Previously, we talked about perovskite solar cells, whose low manufacturing cost and high power conversion efficiency can easily rival that of the commercially available varieties. This time around, a…
The new wearable SLIVER solar panels, designed to replace the heavy batteries that soldiers usually carry with lighter, rechargeable ones, has finally received a thumbs up for commercial release, after successful field tests conducted by the Australian National University(ANU). The technology is in the form of a military backpack fitted with specially-engineered, minute solar cells,…