Solar Thermal

Engineers in the US and Mexico have developed a way to use soot from emissions to improve solar thermal devices. The coatings are not only cheaper to produce but more efficient than using materials like graphene, while reducing pollution.

Desalination is an important technology that may help expand the world’s supply of drinking water. Now, engineers in China have demonstrated a new, relatively simple design for a solar still with a high efficiency and low cost.

Solar-concentrating thermal technology is being used to power the air-conditioning system of an entire shopping center in Australia solely from the rays of the sun. It is expected that this technology will help drastically reduce commercial building energy use.

Using superconducting, nano-particle infused ink, researchers have increased the efficiency of solar water heaters by up to 70 percent.

The CSIRO has claimed a world record for the highest temperatures ever recorded using solar energy to generate "supercritical" steam at its solar thermal test plant in Newcastle, Australia. This achievement is touted as a breakthrough for solar energy production.

The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System is now fully operational. The 392 MW plant is expected to generate enough electricity to power 140,000 homes each year. NRG announced last week that each of the plant's three units is now supplying electricity to California’s grid.

IBM is developing an affordable High Concentration PhotoVoltaic Thermal (HCPVT) system that uses cooling technology from supercomputers to harvest solar energy and produce drinkable water.