Power and Electrical Engineering
This topic covers issues related to energy generation, conversion, transportation and consumption and how the industry is addressing the challenge of energy efficiency in general.
innovations-report provides in-depth and informative reports and articles on subjects ranging from wind energy, fuel cell technology, solar energy, geothermal energy, petroleum, gas, nuclear engineering, alternative energy and energy efficiency to fusion, hydrogen and superconductor technologies.
Enhanced LEDs Promise To Transform Lighting
A research team at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has created a new type of reflector that has dramatically improved LED (light-emitting diodes) luminance. The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded the research team a three-year, $210,000 grant to move the patented omni-directional reflector to market.
“We have developed an omni-directional reflector (ODR) for LEDs that will accelerate the replacement of conventional lighting used for a multitude of applications, such as lig
Researchers Overcome Barrier to Shrinking Wireless Devices
James Bond-style technologies such as cell phones the size of earpieces and invisible sensors sprinkled about to detect toxins are closer to reality. University of Michigan researchers have figured out how to build wireless systems even smaller while still retaining range and power efficiency.
One obstacle to further shrink small wireless devices has been trying to fit all the components onto one chip but U-M researchers have built a tiny silicon-compatible antenna and frequency resonator
’Cool’ fuel cells could revolutionize Earth’s energy resources
UH researchers developing efficient, practical power source alternatives
As temperatures soar this summer, so do electric bills. Researchers at the University of Houston are striving toward decreasing those costs with the next revolution in power generation.
Imagine a power source so small, yet so efficient, that it could make cumbersome power plants virtually obsolete while lowering your electric bill. A breakthrough in thin film solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) is curren
Twisting the light away
Add a deceptively simple twist to a tiny fiber of glass and you get a versatile new class of optical devices to filter light; sense changes in temperature, pressure or other environmental factors; or transmit information via powerful, inexpensive lasers, according to researchers at Chiral Photonics Inc. of Clifton, N.J. Writing in the July 2 issue of Science, the company describes a new class of devices called chiral gratings that were developed with support from the Advanced Technology Program at t
USC scientist invents technique to grow superconducting and magnetic ’nanocables’
’we can supply a group of previously unavailable materials to the nanotechnology community’
A University of Southern California engineer has discovered a way to manufacture composite “nanocables” from a potent new class of substances with extraordinary properties called Transition Metal Oxides (TMOs).
Chongwu Zhou, an assistant professor in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s Department of Electrical Engineering, is creating dense arrays of ultrafine wires made of magn
Horns Reef work in progress
As previously informed, Vestas has experienced a series of problems with the operation of the offshore project Horns Reef located in the North Sea, 15 kilometres off the shore near Esbjerg located on the Danish west coast.
Harsh environment
The environment at Horns Reef is harsh and it has been ascertained that all transformers and a number of generators had to be changed. In close and constructive collaboration with the customer, the Danish utility Elsam, Vestas and ABB a