This is the PVNET Roadmap for European Research and Development for Photovoltaics, a network, which brought together representatives of relevant research and development (R&D) and production areas in photovoltaics. Their main task was to stimulate communication within the whole PV community by organising expert meetings, workshops and symposia, and disseminating the information gathered therein. This Thematic Network was carried out in the framework of the specific research and technological develop

Researchers Provide Boost For Nanotechnology Appplicatons

“Nanodumbells” – gold-tipped nanocrystals which can be used as highly-efficient building blocks for devices in the emerging nanotechnology revolution – have been developed by researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The technology, developed by a research group headed by Prof. Uri Banin of the Department of Physical Chemistry and the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology of the Hebrew University, is des

An experimental campaign has been conducted for investigating the response of anchorages in concrete, principally to dynamic loads. Normal high performance steel fiber reinforced concretes have been considered and the best test pieces included: plain concrete specimens, cast-in-place and post installed rebars and cast-in-place and post-installed anchors. Innovative, Hopkinson bar based experiments have been produced for strain rates from 10E-6/sec up to 20/sec. The satisfactory performance with resp

The target of the project was to develop new magnetic sensors to help measure process variables in steel production, such as velocity or elongation.

Uniovi developed high sensitive magnetic sensors for a harsh environment.

A non-contact speed-measuring device based on the developed sensor was installed in the continuous annealing line of Aceralia. The system used a magnetic marker and two sensors separated more than 2 cm from the strip, working on a differential principle to impr

Fagor is working in three lines of research of solar energy, one of which involves a system for cooling household temperatures. Trials are being carried out in the experimental house installed in the Miñano Technological Park.

Perhaps it is the photoelectric energy that is the best known of the three. For years the production photoelectric energy has had the sole aim of on-site consumption for personal use, and thus were often installed in places lacking power supply lines. However, in the l

Penn State environmental engineers have removed and replaced one of the most expensive parts of their prototype microbial fuel cell and the device now costs two-thirds less and produces nearly six times more electricity from domestic wastewater.

Earlier this year, the Penn State team was the first to develop a microbial fuel cell (MFC) that can generate electricity while simultaneously cleaning domestic wastewater skimmed from the settling pond of a sewage treatment plant. Now, they’ve

What happened in Vegas didn’t stay in Vegas for device’s inventors

Back in 2002, Stanford University engineers Kevin Montgomery, PhD, and Carsten Mundt, PhD, found themselves bored at a conference in Las Vegas. So they did what you’d expect from any researchers stuck in Sin City with frequent thoughts about life in outer space: They headed to a casino, downed a few cocktails and drew up a plan for the ideal physiological monitor for astronauts.

But here’s

USC/UT ’Quantum Dot’ nanodevices promise improved night vision goggles, medical sensors and more

Researchers at the University of Southern California and the University of Texas at Austin have built and tested a device based on nanostructures called quantum dots that can sensitively detect infrared radiation in a crucial wavelength range. Quantum dot IR receptor unit.

The atmosphere is opaque to most infrared, but it is transparent for a narrow “window” between 8 a

Bad weather is bad news for any ship. High-speed craft, able to skim open seas at 35 knots or more, are particularly vulnerable in strong winds. But captains may soon base their sail decisions on real-time information, generated by sophisticated new on-board equipment.

Some 300 high-speed vessels today criss-cross busy European sea routes. Though popular with passengers, they are more prone to cancellation than traditional ships when the weather turns nasty. According to Marielle Labrosse o

A new type of liquid crystal – recently discovered by a research team that includes a Kent State University professor – holds the promise of faster liquid crystal displays at a lower price.

A new liquid crystal phase – the biaxial nematic liquid crystal – which is likely to revolutionize the liquid crystal display technology, has been discovered by three researchers, Dr. Satyendra Kumar, professor of physics at Kent State; Dr. Bharat R. Acharya, of Platytus Technologies, Madison, WI; and Dr

University of California scientists working at Los Alamos National Laboratory with a colleague from Sandia National Laboratories have developed a new method for exciting light emission from nanocrystal quantum dots. The discovery provides a way to supply energy to quantum dots without wires, and paves the way for a potentially wider use of tunable nanocrystalline materials in a variety of novel light-emitting technologies ranging from electronic displays to solid-state lighting and electrically pumpe

Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and Northern Illinois University have shown that very thin materials can still retain an electric polarization, opening the potential for a wide range of tiny devices.

The researchers found that the ferroelectric phase – the ability to hold a switchable electric polarization – is stable for thicknesses as small as 1.2 nanometers, one-billionth of a meter, or a size several hundred thousand times smaller than t

Last July the Mancomunidad de AGUAS DEL AÑARBE (Association of Municipal Councils supplied with water from the Añarbe reservoir) contracted the CIDETEC Research Centre to carry out a study of the corrosive capacity of the water supply treated at the AÑARBE reservoir purification plant and supplied to households in pipes made of various materials. The Mancomunidad de Aguas del Añarbe is made up of Donostia-San Sebastian City Council and the following Town Councils; Rentería, Pasaia, Hernani, Lasarte,

Two major British landmarks now count among the world’s smallest objects

Scientists & engineers based at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne specialising in miniaturisation technology have recreated North East England’s Tyne Bridge and Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North sculpture so they are smaller than a pinhead and invisible to the naked eye.

The team used a combination of chemistry, physics and mechanical engineering techniques to create the tiny struct

Eric Drexler, known as the father of nanotechnology, today (Wednesday, 9th June 2004) publishes a paper that admits that self-replicating machines are not vital for large-scale molecular manufacture, and that nanotechnology-based fabrication can be thoroughly non-biological and inherently safe.

Talk of runaway self-replicating machines, or “grey goo”, which he first cautioned against in his book Engines of Creation in 1986, has spurred fears that have long hampered rational public debate ab

An innovative yarn tension measuring instrument which could help cut textile makers’ costs, has been unveiled at the University of Leeds.

Yarn tension directly affects the quality of cloth, so the device is important for textile manufacturers, in particular for British firms, many of which are specialising in the increasingly important technical textiles market.

The novelty of the instrument is that it is does not need to touch the yarn, so machines do not need to be stopped and mea