big ideas

The scale of China’s renewables.

The scale of China’s renewables. “The 22m tonnes of steel used to build new wind turbines and solar panels in 2024 would have been enough to build a Golden Gate Bridge on every working day of every week that year.” […]

big ideas

We’re going to need a lot of solar panels.

This will really expand your mind. Casey Handmer makes the case that with the solar costs declining 30% with every doubling of production, an average doubling time of 3 years, and a little more time, we’ll soon see solar energy […]

under the microscope

Transparent solar panels & quantum dots

“in august 2020, a team led by university of michigan researchers set a new efficiency record for color-neutral, transparent solar cells. the team achieved 8.1% efficiency and 43.3% transparency with an organic, or carbon-based, design rather than conventional silicon.” I […]