Apparently some people don’t like being beholden to others. At least that seems to be the case for Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors. On Wednesday (May 22), the high-end electric vehicle (EV) maker announced that it fully repaid the $451.8 million that it borrowed through the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program, making it the first auto manufacturer to do so.
The natural world has often inspired science and where researchers at North Carolina State University turned for inspiration to harness light more efficiently in solar devices.
The new printer installed at Australia’s science agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is making solar modules as fast as the news can print it. But this isn’t a conventional inkjet by any means.
Photosynthesis, the ability of plants to create food from water and carbon dioxide with the help of the sun, has drawn the interest of scientists, who have wished to ape the process, for a long time. Now they may have done it. Late last week the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory announced that it made a breakthrough in creating artificial photosynthesis by creating a nanoforest.
SunEdison aims to grow its South American presence with a 50-megawatt solar farm in Chile’s Atacama Desert.
The proposed project is expected to cost $120 million to develop and the power could be sold at prevailing electricity prices, according to a proposal from the company.
