Boston Globe reporter Bette Keva spotlights SeaTrac Systems, Inc., which was founded by MIT alumni Buddy Duncan and James Herman, and has developed an autonomous, solar-powered boat. Herman explains that SeaTrac’s goal is to develop a boat that could be used on “dirty, dull, dangerous, or expensive” missions.
A Vox article on the potential and challenges of scaling solar power cites the MITEI Future of Solar Energy report’s findings about the relationship between market penetration of solar, market prices, and solar revenues. In the article, MITEI researcher Jesse Jenkins discusses what it will take to make solar energy competitive.
In an article for The Boston Globe, Prof. Emeritus Richard Schmalensee writes that policies should be enacted in Massachusetts that make solar power cost-effective for all consumers. Schmalensee writes that, “public policies must place a greater emphasis on rewarding the lowest-cost sources of solar electricity.”
MIT solar, wind, energy storage, and nuclear innovations are among the eight technology breakthroughs of 2015 recognized by National Geographic editor Wendy Koch. Discussing MIT’s approach to addressing climate change, MIT Energy Initiative Director Robert Armstrong says, “We’re problem solvers here, so there’s nothing like a great challenge.”
Boston Herald reporter Jordan Graham writes about the MIT team working to develop a Hyperloop transportation system. “The Hyperloop would be a system of near-vacuum tubes that sends levitating pods from one place to another at 760 miles per hour,” Graham explains.
Katie Peek revisits an article from the March 1949 edition of Popular Science about a solar-powered house developed by MIT researchers. The house was designed to channel the “sun’s warmth to the sodium-sulfate tanks, which meted out heat on cold or overcast days.”
Liat Clark reports for Wired on Changing Environments, an MIT Media Lab spinoff that is developing solar-powered smart benches to be placed around Cambridge and Boston. These benches allow users to charge their mobile devices and download environmental data.
“Solar-powered benches, called Soofas, will pop up in Boston parks over the next week,” writes Joey Cosco for Slate about a project by Changing Environments out of the MIT Media Lab. The benches collect environmental data and allow users to charge their mobile devices.
“Soofas are the creation of Changing Environments, an MIT Media Lab spin-out co-founded by three women in their early thirties—a designer, an electrical engineer, and a marketing expert,” writes Caroline Winter of Bloomberg Businessweek about new smart, solar-powered benches in Cambridge and Boston.
ABC News reports on the new smart benches created by Changing Environments, a spinoff from the MIT Media Lab. The ‘Soofas’ will be placed in various locations throughout Boston and Cambridge and allow users to charge phones and download environmental data.
“The high-tech benches were invented by MIT Media Lab spinoff Changing Environments,” writes Meghan Irons of The Boston Globe about new solar-powered “smart benches” coming to Boston. “Your cellphone doesn't just make phone calls, why should our benches just be seats?” Boston Mayor Marty Walsh says of the project.
Writing for Scientific American, Melissa Lott reports on how a team from MIT has developed an integrated circuit design that doubles the capacity of existing solar arrays.
Boston.com reporter Matt Rocheleau reports on how Professor Jeffrey Grossman and postdoctoral associate Timothy Kucharski have developed a new material that can produce solar power for times when the sun is not shining.
MIT Professor Tonio Buonassisi speaks about the current state of the solar power industry and the future of renewable energy on NPR’s On Point with Tom Ashbrook.