Technical Construction Unit Tecnalia with researchers at the University of Cantabria , participated in the project Sunglass . The objective of this project is to develop a new product for the building , a glass by itself increase the efficiency of solar photovoltaic systems , thereby promoting renewable energy use in the construction sector .

The term ” photovoltaic ” literally means “light – electricity. ” This technology , which emerged in the ’50s, now has the potential to contribute significantly to the transition towards sustainable development of the construction sector . Therefore, the challenge of the project is to enhance the implementation Sunglass of photovoltaic solar energy by increasing the efficiency of solar panels that currently exist, thus surpassing the 15% of its current performance.

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Built for $ 600 million by the French Total (logistics industry) and the Spanish Abengoa Solar ( engineering) , the plant will capture solar rays by 768 parabolic mirrors redirected to pipes containing a heat transfer oil . The heated liquid and then exchange its heat in a heat exchanger with a second circuit containing steam under pressure. Which will turn a turbine connected to a generator . All the energy is not yet home solar to ensure the power of 100 MW , a burner fueled by natural gas will heat the steam and the deficit and offset of light in case of cloudy weather , or simply when the sun declines ( the plant will be closed at night , either from 20 hours in winter, 21 hrs ). The supply of electricity will be ensured Shams 1 to 20 % by gas, annual consumption of 15,120 tonnes of oil equivalent .

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This wind turbine has been placed in the newly built Park III Trial of Small Wind Turbines (PEPA III) in Lubia CEDER -CIEMAT (Soria ) and will allow the additional incorporation of a new power electronics, improving the quality of energy center.

Thus, the new turbine , manufactured by the Spanish company Abrica ADES ( Alternative Energy Applications , SL) , production will ensure not only renewable but also an improvement in network conditions , disturbed by the use of many plants demonstration in which the reactive power consumption is sometimes high .

The most descable of this team is its design, since instead of the usual three blades , has a single blade. It also includes a very interesting concept from the standpoint of research and development, it adds to the movement of a normal rotation of the rotor pendulum powertrain and an oscillating rotor , which allows you to compensate , accumulate, and regular a simple way the variations caused by wind.

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The Parliament has ratified July 5, 2010 the result obtained by the Conciliation Committee , stating that the harsh clipping grants are made in two stages: they will take effect from 1 July 2010 , but will be at a reduced level until October when they take the value originally planned . Thus the reduction of subsidy for installations on the roofs should be limited during the first three months to 13 % instead of 16 % originally expected. For free surfaces industry , the figure is 12% instead of 15 % originally announced . For converting surface (former military sites , landfills or areas formerly reserved for the transport and now abandoned ), the reductions should also be 8 % instead of 16 % predicted , the time to free surfaces for up to 11 % In October. The bill remains unchanged in its main lines. Notably , no further grants will be granted for agricultural land .

Mr. Röttgen , Minister of the Environment , welcomed the agreement : “This is an important signal : investors and entrepreneurs have more clarity for investment decisions and consumers are now aware that support solar will not grow without limit . The Federal Ministry of Environment ( BMU ) expects 6,000 MW of new PV capacity in 2010 , against 2000 MW in 2008 and almost 4,000 in 2009 . A fierce competition has driven down prices and increasing demand over the past two years .

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Slovakia has a high potential to produce this type of energy, but unfortunately it is rarely used. Moreover, in comparison with some EU member countries, the Slovakian researchers have exploited this little search box. Moreover, existing geothermal projects rely on imported technologies and services. This set of elements omen interesting opportunities for long-term cooperation between universities, small and medium innovative enterprises.

GeoEnergia is a response to this challenge. It aims to identify and develop a sustainable strategy for the promotion and marketing of geothermal energy in Slovakia with the following objectives:
- Creating a framework in which all sectors can be involved in the promotion of geothermal energy in coordinating their activities to the development of new technologies and the commercialization of renewable energy.
- Analyze the current situation and potential of geothermal energy in Slovakia, the distribution of potential sites and their qualities.

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The terrestrial heat is a source of sustainable energy for the production of heat and electricity with the advantage that it does not depend on weather conditions or seasons. A drill is able to extract heat from either sources or hydrothermal water in water injected under pressure in underground rocks.

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However, it may be that physical limitations to the improvement of cell efficiency is about to be bypassed: it is heat losses. Nanocrystals based on semiconductor materials to prevent leakage of electrons over energy would result from the work of researchers from universities of Minnesota and Texas [1].

Remember that solar cells are made from semiconductor materials because of very specific properties of these materials. When a photon with the correct wavelength is to meet such a component, it releases an electron which then will cause its congeners with electricity. However, many of these freed electrons are dissipated as heat instead of participating in the overall flow of electricity. The work of these teams have already shown in the past that the nanocrystals based on semiconductor materials could indeed “slow down” the electrons “overheated”. Consequently, these nanocrystals, also called quantum dots (QDs) [2], are likely to increase the efficiency of solar cells. The research results show that in practice the case. In addition to capturing the energetic electrons, quantum dots can also transmit to a receiver material such as titanium dioxide, commonly used in conventional solar cells.

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The two researchers, Risan Hanne Johnsen and Kristen Krause of the Institute of Arctic Biology and Marine at the University of Tromso ( UIT) has awarded the Energy ” Green Phase ” in 2010 , introduced by the ” FME tankesmia Gronn Fase ” ( brainstorming workshop ” green phase “) , under the auspices of the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy [1 ] . They have won this award for their idea of using enzymes of parasitic plants to produce biofuels from second generation. The work of the two winners entitled “Production of enzymes for the degradation of plant cell walls from a parasitic plant , the Dodder : new tools for the production of biofuels .

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The ” large ” hydro, fossil fuel or nuclear , produce the most or almost all , of the electricity we need. However , significant developments are underway, notably because of the appearance of numerous sites of electricity production of small size, scattered over the territories ( PV modules on buildings, wind farms … ) KW and supplying between a few and several MW. In the Czech Republic , this type of facility is growing, phenomenon due, inter alia, a policy of incentives to increase the share of renewables in the energy mix Czech. Thus, it appears necessary to adapt and modernize therefore not only energy networks of production and processing , but also those of distribution. To do this, the Czech authorities are counting on the project called “Smart Grids ” (or intelligent network ). The network should allow, with recourse to information technology , to regulate and optimize the distribution of electricity and especially to integrate the flow of electricity from the multitude of facilities operating from sources renewable.

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These have the advantage of being flexible , thinner and lighter than the inorganic . They can thus be applied as a thin film on awnings, blinds or shutters for example.

Specializing in these applications , researchers at the Center for Materials Research ( FMF ), Freiburg (Baden – Wurttemberg ) developed in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ( ISE ) of the cells reaching the largest factor filling [2 ] to date for organic solutions. The fill factor is close to the short circuit current and load voltage, an important quality criterion that defines the solar cell efficiency .

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