By Michelle Bryner, TechNewsDaily Contributor

Over time, most solar cells degrade due to prolonged exposure to the sun’s scathing rays and are rendered useless. But with a little inspiration from nature, researchers have now created a new solar material that regenerates its damaged energy-capturing packets on-demand.

A small prototype solar cell built from the self-healing material can continuously produce electricity for an entire week without losing any efficiency, the scientists report.

The team was inspired by plants in nature. The ingredients within a plant’s leaves that turn sunlight into energy aren’t actually immune to the sun’s damage. Instead, the molecules do their job (pump out sugar), get destroyed, and in less than an hour they regenerate. This process happens over and over again – enabling the leaves to produce energy at the same efficiency as they did on day one of their operation.

“Nature has figured out how to work with solar energy,” said study lead researcher Michael Strano, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). “It makes a dynamic cell that can constantly repair itself.”

Today’s solar materials, which range from the rigid-silicon panels found on rooftops to the flexible, organic kind that can be coated like paint onto surfaces, all degrade over time when exposed to sun and oxygen. The result of this damage is that the material’s ability to turn sunlight into electricity decreases over time.

Strano and his team have built what they call a “dynamic” solar cell. The light-capturing material is a mixture of several chemicals, including a photosensitive protein, a fatty substance called a phospholipid and carbon nanotubes.

The team found that when they added soapy liquid to the mix, the components of the material break apart and form a soupy solution. In this form, the material can’t produce electricity. However, when put into a special bag with tiny holes that only let the soapy molecules – called surfactants – leak out, the “disordered mess” turns into “a very structured, very ordered material” – one that can turn sunlight into electricity.

This process of adding and removing the surfactant can be repeated over and over again, allowing the mixture to constantly regenerate its electricity-producing structure.

There’s still a lot to do before this technology could be used in homes and buildings to produce electricity. For one, the initial efficiency – a measure of how much of the sun’s light the panel can convert into electricity – of the new system is much lower than today’s solar panels.

The researchers see this research as a “first step” in developing a solar cell capable of regeneration, Strano said.

Strano and his team detail their research online Sept. 5 in Nature Chemistry.

A trade show is coming to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center at Oaks April 16 to 18. It promises to have plenty of green ideas for home and business owners.

The aptly named “Go Green Expo”, one of the nation’s largest eco-friendly business and consumer lifestyle showcases, will be held Friday through Sunday at the large indoor expo facility located at 100 Station Ave., accessible via the Oaks exit off Route 422. The show stops in Montgomery County as part of a nationwide tour.

Touted as the area’s largest one-stop shop for all things green, from gadgets to home supplies to food, Go Green Expo will offer something for everyone, “no matter what your shade of green,” according to Bradford Rand, Go Green Expo founder and CEO.

Go Green Expo, the nation’s largest eco-friendly trade and consumer lifestyle showcase, returns to New York on March 19 – 21, 2010, as part of a nationwide tour that also includes Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Atlanta. Building on last year’s success, Go Green Expo 2010–which provides a comprehensive look at the growing green revolution–is expected to attract thousands to this year’s event.

Go Green Expo invites business leaders, eco-minded consumers and their families to explore the latest in every aspect of green living and sustainable business practices including green energy, home and building, transportation, electronics, food, and health & beauty. Joining the lineup of keynote speakers this year are actress Mariel Hemingway, award-winning actor / director Ed Begley Jr. (presented by Enviro-Energies & Water for Life) and award-winning actor / political activist Matthew Modine. Additional eco-celebrity speakers include nationally-renowned eco-friendly interior designer Robin Wilson, nutritional expert and world-class athlete Bobby Williams, Eco-Sex author Stefanie Iris Weiss, award-winning environmental journalist Dan Shapley, eco-fashion designer Linda Loudermilk, and more.

Go Green Expo offers a multitude of interactive seminars and speaker panels led by industry-leading experts including Watershed Program Director Craig Michaels, Senior V.P. Worldwide of Rainforest Alliance Ana Paula Tavares, eco-business leader David Kistner of Green Apple Cleaners and founder/CEO of Go Green Expo, Bradford Rand. NYSERDA will host a panel discussion about Workforce Development Initiatives, Green Jobs Green New York, Green Multifamily Buildings and Photovoltaic (PV) Systems. Other topics will include Success Stories of Eco-Entrepreneurs, Creating an Eco-Logical Home, Younger Generations Going Green, The State of Our Environment, and Eco-Fashion and Lifestyle.

Key exhibitors include The Home Depot, which will showcase the array of Eco-Options available in its stores, automakers Volkswagen and General Motors, earth-friendly paper goods company Marcal, eco-responsible dental care company Aquafree, sustainable printers Print Responsibly and Linda Loudermilk’s eco-fashion line.

To produce the event, Go Green Expo is partnering with numerous eco-responsible organizations, businesses and publications including Organic Spa Magazine, Community Energy, Habitat for Humanity, Riverkeeper, New York Restoration Project, Natural Home magazine, Gotham magazine, am New York, greenhome.com, Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, Sierra Club, New York City Audubon Society, KIWI magazine, E – The Environmental Magazine, the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce and Ogden Publications, Inc.

Go Green Expo welcomes all trade professionals to a complimentary business-to-business day on Friday, encouraging organizations to embrace the large-scale use of Earth-friendly products, services and ideas. The event opens Saturday to everyone interested in learning about environmentally friendly goods and services for an unprecedented weekend event.
For more information and a full schedule of the show’s events, please visit www.gogreenexpo.com.

WHERE AND WHEN:
Pier 92
12th Avenue and West 55th Street – on the Hudson River
(646) 778-3211
www.piers9294.com

Business-to-Business Expo:
Friday, March 19 — 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Tickets are complimentary to trade professionals, the press and corporate buyers (please bring business card for admission).

Open to Public:
Saturday, March 20 — 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Sunday, March 21 — 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

$25 for a full-weekend pass — open to both business buyers and consumers — includes complimentary admission to the Architectural Digest Home Design Show located next to Go Green Expo. Use promo code GGENYC for discounted tickets.
Tickets allow access to the entire exhibit floor as well as all panel and speaker discussions. Go Green Expo tickets at the door or online at gogreenexpo.com.
For exhibiting and sponsorship information, please contact:
Seth Berk, Go Green Expo, LLC, (212) 655-4505, Ext. 244 or SBerk@GoGreenExpo.com

Today, the CEO of the organic yogurt company ” Stonyfield Farm ” is offering a new business model for America. One that is clean, green and provides a return on investment.

Wednesday evening, Hirshberg will discuss the financial advantages of eco-friendly businesses as part of ” The Nature of Things ” lecture series, sponsored by the Utah Museum of Natural History.
Hirshberg, 55, has overseen the growth of Stonyfield Farm from a seven cow organic farming school in 1983 to a company with $300 million in annual sales. He also is profiled in the Oscar nominated documentary ” Food, Inc., ” and is author of ” In Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World. ”

Hirshberg presents evidence that businesses not only can save the planet, but they can also simultaneously deliver higher growth and superior profits.

” Running a green business is not just an ethically and environmentally responsible activity, it is the basis for economic growth in the 21st century, ” he said in a telephone interview from his office in New Hampshire.

America has a long tradition of making products as cheaply as possible and then spending heavily on advertising and selling. But China has surpassed the U.S. manufacturing sector, “so now we must use a different approach,” he said. Businesses can reap profits by reducing costly carbon footprints and making sustainable investments.

Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, seeks to reduce its carbon emissions by 25 percent and double the fuel efficiency of its mammoth, 6,900-truck fleet, which consumes more than 134 million gallons of diesel fuel each year, Hirshbert said. It also aims to reduce energy use by 20 to 30 % in its more than 6,600 big-box stores.

Many organic dairy farmers also are making more money than their traditional counterparts. Last year, milk prices hit a 30 year low, forcing many farmers to shut down operations or borrow to keep them running. At the same time, organic dairy farmers were getting prices up to 120 % higher than market.

” People will buy if there’s a perception of value, ” he said. ” Even in tough times, the cheapest products may not sell. That’s why Apple is doing so well in this economy. In the case of organic products, [ some ] consumers pay more because they’ll have lower health-care costs. ”

Additionally, the sustainable organic system avoided the use of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers that pollute the soil, water air, and food.

Companies can take baby steps by employing simple conservation methods, such as using energy-efficient light bulbs. But Hirshberg said conservation is not enough.

” We are not going to conserve or reduce our way out of this economic quandary. We must also do restorative work, such as rebuilding our topsoil. We’ve also sent a lot of carbon into the atmosphere. No matter the industry, we can regain control of our economic destiny with new ways of thinking. “