Pecologix Political Ecology Blotter

A startup in Germany has developed a new kind of solar panel made of small, organic molecules deposited on polyester films. The technology is similar to what’s used for OLED displays for phones and flat-screen TVs. The panels are flexible, and far lighter than conventional solar panels, yet in some locations—particularly where it’s hot or [...]

A number of commercial products are available for solar cooling components in residential and vehicular uses from Climate Well: http://www.climatewell.com/index.html#/applications

# INTRODUCTION# DESCRIPTION OF VAPOR ADSORPTION SYSTEM# THEORETICAL STUDIES 1. Adsorption mechanisms 2. Thermodynamic model 1. Isosteric heating 2. Isobaric desorption 3. Isosteric cooling 4. Isobaric adsorption# CHOICE OF ADSORBENT–ADSORBATE PAIRS 1. Zeolite–water 2. Activated carbon–methanol 3. Silica gel–water 4. Activated carbon–ammonia# EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF ADSORPTION COOLING SYSTEM 1. Flat plate collector 2. Compound parabolic [...]

Producing refrigeration and/or air conditioning from solar energy remains an inviting prospect, given that a typical building’s cooling load peaks within 2 or 3 h of the time of maximum solar irradiation. The attractiveness of “free” cooling obtained from the sun has spawned a wealth of research over the last several decades, as summarized in [...]

The present work compares the environmental impact of three different thermal energy storage (TES) systems for solar power plants. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for these systems is developed: sensible heat storage both in solid (high temperature concrete) and liquid (molten salts) thermal storage media, and latent heat storage which uses phase change material (PCM). [...]

This paper presents a first assessment of the renewable energy projects, proposed by the nine Mediterranean Partner Countries (MPCs) under the Mediterranean Solar Plan (MSP) and the associated potential economic impacts. As one of the priority projects of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), the MSP’s objective which attracted most attention until now is the [...]

The funding approach taken by the US Department of Energy’s SunShot programme, which aims to develop competitive solar technology, has proved very successful. Its director, R. Ramesh, explains why. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nmat3261