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Hot top hat! News

by David Shaw, 18 September 2016 | 0 comments

A cool circle with a very hot centre.

Perched high atop a giant shiny dish, sits a strange top hat. This hat is filled with high pressure steam, and it’s the secret to efficient solar power that can work even after the Sun sets. Welcome to the world of concentrated thermal energy.

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Zippy zappy cars News

by David Shaw, 2 May 2016 | 0 comments

An electric car outside a big building.

It’s been really busy at Double Helix headquarters in the last few weeks. We’ve moved office, to the CSIRO Discovery Centre in Canberra. There are lots of cool things at our new workplace, including a whole museum of CSIRO science!

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Kirigami steers solar panels News

by David Shaw, 15 December 2015 | 1 comments

A solar panel cut into a lattice shape.

When you’re installing solar panels, it’s important to point them at the Sun. But the Sun isn’t always in the same place – it moves across the sky over the course of a day. If you can aim the panels towards the Sun as it moves, they can produce up to 40 per cent more power…

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Solar race across Australia News

by David Shaw, 30 October 2015 | 0 comments

A very streamlined car driving in the desert.

In the latest issue of Double Helix magazine, we feature solar powered cars racing from Darwin to Adelaide. They zoomed to the finish line last week. The winner is Dutch team Nuon with their car Nuna 8!

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Solar spiral optimises power News

by David Shaw, 14 August 2012 | 0 comments

Sunflower

Imagine a flat spiral, similar to a snail’s shell, coming closer and closer to a point. Now imagine more spiral lines, all centred on the same point. This shape looks like the clouds over a cyclone, or a whirling galaxy.

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