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Bendy solar panels are just as good as regular ones

24 May 2023

Existing solar cells are normally only used on flat, static surfaces to avoid them cracking, but now there is a flexible alternative with the same energy-generating efficiency

Putting solar panels in grazing fields is good for sheep

1 February 2023

Sheep living in pasture with solar panels benefit from shade in hot weather and more nutritious grass – and they stop weeds from growing on the panels

Pleco, the world?s lightest autonomous waterless solar panel cleaning robot. The robot is specifically designed to handle the unique safety and efficiency challenges involved in cleaning C&I installations.

Solar panel cleaning robot can be dropped off and picked up by drone

27 January 2023

Dirty solar panels reduce global solar energy output as much as 5 per cent, but a start-up in Israel has tested drone delivery of a new autonomous robot to clean rooftop arrays

Hydrogen produced from air could provide low-carbon fuel in deserts

6 September 2022

Device using solar power to capture water from the air could make hydrogen production viable in places such as central Australia and the Middle East

Outdoor test on the River Cam (UK), in front of the Bridge of Sighs, St John?s College, during a cloudy day

Floating artificial leaf converts energy from sunlight into fuel

17 August 2022

A solar fuel cell that produces carbon monoxide and hydrogen is light enough to float on water, which could help address the shortage of land available for solar projects

Flying at some 65,000ft, the ultra-lightweight Zephyr S is uniquely capable of providing persistent surveillance or communications over the same area of land or sea for weeks at a time without landing.

Zephyr solar-powered drone smashes record with 2-month-long flight

15 August 2022

The Airbus Zephyr S, a military reconnaissance aircraft, has more than doubled the record it set in 2018 for an uncrewed flight duration

Roasting green chile on top of Sandia National Laboratories? National Solar Thermal Test Facility. Roasting green chile with concentrated sunlight instead of propane produces flavorful chile and reduces carbon dioxide emissions.

Roasting green chillies in the sun could pave way for solar cooking

10 August 2022

An experiment using solar concentrators, which focus sunlight to a point, to roast green chillies suggests it may be possible to build portable solar cookers

Adding tomato pigment to solar panels increases their efficiency

30 May 2022

Lycopene, which makes fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes red, improves the efficiency of perovskite solar cells

UK government backs plan to harvest solar power from space

17 March 2022

Science minister George Freeman says he won't write a cheque for pioneering plans to beam energy down from a solar array in orbit, but the UK government will offer its support

Static electricity can keep desert solar panels free of dust

11 March 2022

Dust drastically lowers the output of solar panels, but applying an electric field to the panels can make dust particles repel each other and disperse