In this edition, sponsored by Ocean Optics and NANMAC:
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• Thin Film Barrier Enables Flexible Solar Shingles
• NASA Process Creates Clean Energy From Waste Water
• New Technique Reduces Electricity Used to Cool Computer Equipment
• Laser Doubles Efficiency of Traditional Light Bulbs
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Thin Film Barrier Enables Flexible Solar Shingles
 | | The film encapsulation process would enable flexible solar panels like this. (Vitex Systems) |
A transparent thin film barrier used to protect flat-panel TVs from moisture could become the basis for flexible solar panels that would be installed on roofs like shingles. The flexible rooftop solar panels - called building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs) - could replace today's boxy solar panels that are made with rigid glass or silicon and mounted on thick metal frames. The flexible solar shingles would be less expensive to install than current panels and made to last 25 years.
Researchers at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are creating the flexible panels by adapting a film encapsulation process currently used to coat flat-panel displays that use organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs. The work is a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between Vitex Systems and Battelle, which operates PNNL.
The encapsulation process and the ultra-barrier film - called Barix(TM) Encapsulation and Barix(TM) Barrier Film, respectively - are already proven moisture barriers. But researchers need to find a way to apply the technology to solar panels. Under the agreement, researchers will create low-cost flexible barrier films and evaluate substrate materials for solar panels. Both the film and substrate must survive harsh ultraviolet rays and natural elements like rain and hail for 25 years.
The agreement also calls for researchers to develop a manufacturing process for the flexible panels that can be readily adapted to large-scale production. If successful, this process will reduce solar panel manufacturing costs to less than $1 per watt of power, which would be competitive with the 10 cents per kilowatt-hour that a utility would charge.
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Sponsor Message
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NASA Envisions Clean Energy From Waste Water
 | | Plastic bags with semi-permeable membranes allow fresh water to flow out into the ocean, while retaining the algae and nutrients. (Penny Slinger Hills) |
NASA Ames Research Center scientists have proposed a process to produce clean-energy biofuels that cleans waste water, removes carbon dioxide from the air, retains important nutrients, and does not compete with agriculture for land or freshwater. The project, "Sustainable Energy for Spaceship Earth," was developed for astronauts going into space.
Algae are similar to other plants in that they remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and produce oxygen. Unlike many plants, they produce fatty, lipid cells loaded with oil that can be used as fuel. Plants currently used to produce biodiesel and other fuels include soy, canola, and palm trees.
"The inspiration I had was to use offshore membrane enclosures to grow algae. We're going to deploy a large plastic bag in the ocean, and fill it with sewage. The algae use sewage to grow, and in the process of growing, they clean up the sewage," said Jonathan Trent, lead research scientist on the project at NASA Ames.
The bag will be made of semi-permeable membranes that allow fresh water to flow out into the ocean, while retaining the algae and nutrients. The membranes are called "forward-osmosis membranes." NASA is testing these membranes for recycling dirty water on future long-duration space missions. They are normal membranes that allow the water to run one way. With salt water on the outside and fresh water on the inside, the membrane prevents the salt from diluting the fresh water.
Floating on the ocean's surface, the inexpensive plastic bags will be collecting solar energy as the algae inside produce oxygen by photosynthesis. The algae will feed on the nutrients in the sewage, growing rich, fatty cells. Through osmosis, the bag will absorb carbon dioxide from the air, and release oxygen and fresh water. The temperature will be controlled by the heat capacity of the ocean, and the ocean's waves will keep the system mixed and active.
When the process is completed, biofuels will be made and sewage will be processed. For the first time, harmful sewage will no longer be dumped into the ocean. The algae and nutrients will be contained and collected in a bag. Even if the bag leaks, it won't contaminate the local environment. The enclosed fresh water algae will die in the ocean. The bags are expected to last two years, and will be recycled.
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New Technique Reduces Electricity Used to Cool Computer Equipment
 | | Professor Yogendra Joshi shows perforated floor tiles from the cold-aisle used to supply chilled air from beneath the floor of a simulated server room. |
Approximately a third of the electricity consumed by large data centers doesn't power the computer servers. Instead, that electricity is used for cooling the servers, a demand that continues to increase as computer processing power grows.
Georgia Institute of Technology researchers are using a 1,100-square-foot simulated data center to optimize cooling strategies and develop new heat transfer models that can be used by the designers of future facilities and equipment. The goal is to reduce the portion of electricity used to cool data center equipment by as much as 15 percent.
Five years ago, a typical refrigerator-sized server cabinet produced about one to five kilowatts of heat. Today, high-performance computing cabinets of about the same size produce as much as 28 kilowatts, and machines already planned for production will produce twice as much.
Most existing data centers rely on large air conditioning systems that pump cool air to server racks. Data centers have traditionally used raised floors to allow space for circulating air beneath the equipment, but cooling can also come from the ceilings. As cooling demands have increased, data center designers have developed complex systems of alternating cooling outlets and hot air returns throughout the facilities.
Researchers have assembled a small, high-power-density data center on campus that includes different types of cooling systems, partitions to change room volumes, and both real and simulated server racks. They use fog generators and lasers to visualize airflow patterns, infrared sensors to quantify heat, airflow sensors to measure the output of fans and other systems, and thermometers to measure temperatures on server motherboards.
Beyond reducing cooling load, the researchers are also looking at how waste heat from data centers can be used. The problem is that the heat is at relatively low temperatures, which makes it inefficient to convert to other forms of energy. Options may include heating nearby buildings or pre-heating water.
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Laser Doubles Efficiency of Traditional Light Bulbs
 | | Researcher Chunlei Guo, associate professor of optics at the University of Rochester. |
Optics researchers at the University of Rochester (NY) have developed a process that could make a light as bright as a 100-watt bulb consume less electricity than a 60-watt bulb, while remaining far cheaper and radiating a more pleasant light than a fluorescent bulb.
The laser process creates a unique array of nano- and micro-scale structures on the surface of a regular tungsten filament - the tiny wire inside a light bulb - and these structures make the tungsten become far more effective at radiating light.
The key to creating the super-filament is an ultra-brief, ultra-intense beam of light called a femtosecond laser pulse. The laser burst lasts only a few quadrillionths of a second. During its brief burst, the laser unleashes as much power as the entire grid of North America onto a spot the size of a needle point. That intense blast forces the surface of the metal to form nanostructures and microstructures that dramatically alter how efficiently light can radiate from the filament.
In addition to increasing the brightness of a bulb, the process can be used to tune the color of the light as well. The team has even been able to make a filament radiate partially polarized light, which until now has been impossible to do without special filters that reduce the bulb's efficiency. By creating nanostructures in tight, parallel rows, some light that emits from the filament becomes polarized.
The team is now working to discover what other aspects of a common light bulb they might be able to control. Fortunately, despite the incredible intensity involved, the femtosecond laser can be powered by a simple wall outlet, meaning that when the process is refined, implementing it to augment regular light bulbs should be relatively simple.
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Sponsor Message
Monitor Photovoltaic Panels & Solar Simulators
Ocean Optics offers optical-sensing systems and components for characterizing photovoltaic cells used in solar panel production and for monitoring the spectral output of solar simulators used in solar panel testing. We offer options ranging from modular UV-Vis-NIR spectrometers and accessories that can be custom-configured for a variety of applications to turnkey systems such as our NanoCalc Thin Film Reflectometer. OEM options are also available.
Click here to learn more.
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