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Sun-Boosting Systems

MIT's Clean Energy Accelerator Improves Solar Energy in Every Way

— October 24, 2011 — Eco
While the majority of the eco-conscious world eagerly wait for the moment at which renewables are more profitable and reliable than fossil fuels, MIT is shortening the wait-time with their new Clean Energy Accelerator, which renders solar power cheaper, cleaner and ultimately more efficient.

'Grid parity' is the point at which solar energy becomes as easy to adopt for a homeowner as fossil fuels are, due to their respective availability in the market. Though forecasters have predicted this wouldn't happen for decades, MIT's Engineering Systems Division is intent on proving that estimate wrong. Although the system itself is incredibly complicated, Assistant Professor Jessika Trancik (pictured above) is willing to break down the concept: The Clean Energy Accelerator uses complex mathematics to discover which materials, components and chemical processes will yield the best and cleanest solar cells. Within months, the team should have newer panels that yield more energy, produce fewer by-products and are infinitely cheaper.

Onwards, to carbon neutrality!
Trend Themes
1. Clean Energy Accelerator - MIT's Clean Energy Accelerator renders solar energy cheaper, cleaner, and ultimately more efficient with complex mathematics, yielding an opportunity for the renewable energy industry to become more cost-competitive with fossil fuels.
2. Grid Parity - The Clean Energy Accelerator aims to achieve grid parity, where solar energy becomes as easy to adopt as fossil fuels, presenting an opportunity for the solar industry to become more accessible to homeowners and businesses alike.
3. Improved Solar Cells - The Clean Energy Accelerator uses mathematics to discover which materials and components will yield the best and cleanest solar cells, offering an opportunity for innovation in the materials science industry with the development of new, more efficient solar cell components.
Industry Implications
1. Renewable Energy - The Clean Energy Accelerator offers an opportunity for the renewable energy industry to become more cost-competitive with fossil fuels and improve the adoption of solar energy.
2. Materials Science - The Clean Energy Accelerator presents an opportunity for the materials science industry to innovate with the development of new solar cell components, ultimately leading to more efficient solar cells with fewer by-products.
3. Carbon Neutrality - The Clean Energy Accelerator's efforts towards improving solar power and driving renewable energy adoption assist in the goal of achieving carbon neutrality and present opportunities for disruption throughout the industries that contribute to global emissions.
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