A team of researchers from the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi and the US-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a low-cost solar thermal energy conversion system that can easily generate steam from sunlight.
The solar conversion system can help make technologies that rely on steam, like seawater desalination, wastewater treatment, residential water heating, medical tool sterilization and power generation, more efficient and affordable, news agency WAM reported.
The new receiver device floats on water, converting 20 percent of incoming solar energy into steam at 100 degrees Celsius without expensive optical concentration devices and is made of cheap, commercially available materials, including bubble wrap and a polystyrene (plastic) foam, it added.
"This project is an excellent demonstration of how international collaboration and use-inspired research can yield cutting-edge scientific findings that have direct applications to the sectors that are at the core of the UAE’s continued evolution toward an innovation and knowledge-based economy," said Dr Steve Griffiths, vice president for Research and Associate Provost at the Masdar Institute..... Read more »
Posted on : 10/18/2016