How Solar Panels Work

How close are we to human extinction because of AI? Leading AI expert Professor Stuart Russell believes we’re much too close for comfort and has been raising the alarm for a few years. Ironically, Stuart himself wrote the book that laid the foundation for AI research back in the ... Show More

Evan looks into the depths of his AI-powered voice agent by sending it on a new mission: going to therapy. Shell Game is made by humans. More specifically, it's made by three humans: Evan Ratliff (host and writer), Sophie Bridges (producer), and Samantha Henig (executive producer ... Show More

How much of what you see online is actually real? This week, Reed Albergotti (Semafor) breaks down Anthropic's latest clash with the Trump Administration. Is Anthropic’s own messaging to blame? Then, Nitasha Tiku (The Washington Post) talked to students that walked out on Google ... Show More

<p>This week we are talking about SOLAR PANELS! We recently had Solar panels installed on our house, so we wanted to discuss how solar energy can have a huge impact on the climate crisis. We'll also chat about our experience so far living with solar energy and our thoughts on it. ... Show More

Complex, outdated, expensive: concentrating solar power used to be a clunky way of harnessing the sun. What’s changed to now make it viable? Concentrating Solar Power, or CSP, takes energy from the sun, converts it to heat, and uses it to drive a turbine to provide renewable elec ... Show More

<p>Solar electricity generation is on the rise. In fact, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reported in late 2023 that more new solar generating capacity was installed in the U.S. during the first eight months of 2023 than any other renewable or fossil fuel-based energy sou ... Show More

First up in our energy series: solar! How do we harness the energy from the sun to produce electricity? Why should we? What are the environmental impacts? Resources for this episode: National Renewable Energy Laboratory How Does Solar Work (energy.gov) End of Life Solar Panels: R ... Show More

Brains On is a non-profit public radio program. There are lots of ways to support the show:Support the podcast with donation | Subscribe to Smarty Pass for ad-free episodes and bonus content | Buy our book and merch | Come to our live showsSolar panels capture energy from the sun ... Show More

Solar energy is booming, which is good news for Glint Solar. The Norwegian software-as-a-service startup has built a platform that’s helping energy giants and large solar developers such as E.ON, Recurrent Energy, and Statkraft cut the time it takes to plan and pre-design solar i ... Show More

Solar power now provides 6% of the world's electricity, thanks to rapid growth. Host Jon Krohn discusses the factors driving this rise, the challenges ahead, and how AI and data science are optimizing solar technologies. Tune in for insights on the future of solar power, and don' ... Show More

Tom Buttgenbach, CEO and president of 8minute Solar Energy, one of the most successful developers of utility-scale solar projects in the United States, joins us to discuss what he sees in store for the solar market. We get into how solar technology has affected the energy industr ... Show More

4.5 million households in the U.S. have solar panels on their homes. Most of those customers are happy with it - their electricity bills have just about disappeared, and it's great for the planet. But thousands and thousands of people are really disappointed with what they've bee ... Show More

Solar power and batteries are becoming cheap and ubiquitous. Great. But there are problems batteries can’t solve – like fueling ships and planes. One way to solve those problems: Use solar power to create hydrogen, and turn that hydrogen into fuel. Today’s guest is Raffi Garabedi ... Show More