Ikea to Expand Michigan’s Largest Solar Array

CANTON, Mich. — Beginning in spring 2015, Ikea will be installing more solar panels on top of its expansive Detroit-area store. The project will be the state’s largest rooftop solar array.

Ikea is planning a 44,000-square-foot expansion for the eight-year-old store. The expansion will also add 40,000 square feet of new solar panels. The addition will consist of a 240.9-kW system comprising 765 panels that will produce 287,490 kWh more of electricity annually for the store.

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Nanoscopic Solar Revolution Continues with New Research

ESPOO, Finland — A team of physicists from several international universities recently released a report on a new technology they believe will increase the efficiency of solar panels. Scientists from Aalto University in Finland, the National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics in Russia and the Australian National University collaborated to create what they call a “novel concept of efficient light-trapping structures for thin-film solar cells.”

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