Solar

In an invited report and presentation at the White House ahead of the Paris climate negotiations, Jessika Trancik of the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society described an analysis that she and her colleagues at MIT and Tsinghua University performed, including results that demonstrate a mutually reinforcing cycle between emissions-reduction policies and technology development.

Reducing emissions, improving technology: A mutually reinforcing cycle

An MIT study on the connection between technology development and emissions-reduction policies informs Paris climate negotiations.

August 8, 2016

MIT Energy Initiative researchers are making technological progress across the low-carbon energy spectrum.

Addressing climate change with Low-Carbon Energy Centers

New interdisciplinary centers will advance clean technology in key areas.

July 28, 2016

A woman and her son, who live in Chellur, India, walk home with the reverse-osmosis-treated water she bought at Chellur’s community desalination plant.

The quest for clean water

MIT researchers design a solar-powered desalination device for rural India.

July 18, 2016

CoalMap is an online tool that allows users explore the potential effects of various market factors on the cost-competitiveness of coal versus renewable energy.

Mapping coal’s decline and renewables' rise

CoalMap online tool shows what policy regulations and technological advancements can do for the cost-competitiveness of solar and wind energy.

June 22, 2016

By patterning a solar absorber with tiny holes with diameters less than 400 nanometers, an MIT-Masdar Institute team has enhanced the range of solar energy that the device can absorb. Here, Masdar Institute postdoc Jin You Lu characterizes the nanoporous solar absorber using UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy.

New solar absorber could improve efficiency of solar thermal technology

Masdar Institute-MIT team develops device that harnesses more sunlight, enhancing efficiency of heat production.

June 13, 2016

“Researchers and practitioners have struggled to compare the costs of different [energy] storage technologies, because of the multiple dimensions of cost and the fact that no technology dominates along all dimensions," says Jessika Trancik, the Atlantic Richfield Career Development Assistant Professor of Energy Studies at MIT.

Energy storage for renewables can be a good investment today, study finds

Systems that bank energy can add value to solar and wind projects.

June 13, 2016

While all research in traditional photovoltaics faces the same underlying theoretical limitations, MIT PhD student David Bierman says, “with solar thermal photovoltaics you have the possibility to exceed that.”

Hot new solar cell

System converts solar heat into usable light, increasing device’s overall efficiency.

May 23, 2016

MIT Energy Initiative awards nine seed fund grants for early-stage energy research

Winning teams will use grants to advance research in areas including fuel cells, solar-powered desalination, and impacts of electric vehicle charging on the power grid.

April 25, 2016

Left to right: Michael Birk, Statoil-MIT Energy Fellow and research associate for the MIT Energy Inititative’s Utility of the Future; David Danielson, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy; Joyce Yang, former Department of Energy lab impact director; Johanna Wolfson, DOE energy efficiency and renewable energy tech-to-market director; Brian...

U.S. Department of Energy leaders highlight clean energy research, career opportunities

Sustainable transportation, grid modernization, building efficiency among topics at MIT Energy Initiative event with Department of Energy's David Danielson.

April 14, 2016

Shown here is guest speaker Ernest Moniz (right), with Robert Armstrong, director of the MIT Energy Initiative.

“Big meets small” at annual MIT Energy Conference

Speakers describe energy solutions at varying scales, and need for further progress.

March 8, 2016

Innovation, Ernest Moniz said, is “the essence of America’s strength.”

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz touts great opportunities in energy

New international agreement on “Mission Innovation” could lead to major progress on climate change.

March 4, 2016

The MIT team has achieved the thinnest and lightest complete solar cells ever made, they say. To demonstrate just how thin and lightweight the cells are, the researchers draped a working cell on top of a soap bubble, without popping the bubble.

Solar cells as light as a soap bubble

Ultrathin, flexible photovoltaic cells from MIT research could find many new uses.

February 25, 2016

Boston Citywide Energy Model simulated energy use in a 200-by-200-meter grid for the City of Boston.

MIT researchers create citywide building energy model for Boston

Detailed model can help planners meet climate goals, increase resilience.

February 22, 2016

Professor of mechanical engineering Amos Winter (left) and graduate students Natasha Wright (on ladder) and Georgia Van de Zande assemble their desalination system a day before the USAID Desal Prize competition, which they won.

Cleaning water without the grid

MIT researchers have developed a solar-powered desalination system that could significantly increase the groundwater available for drinking in Indian villages.

February 16, 2016

On Mapdwell’s satellite-map website, people can click on an individual roof to receive information about installation price, energy and financial savings, and environmental impact.

Realizing your true (solar) potential

Mapping website tells building owners if going solar is worth the cost of installation.

February 5, 2016

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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