Solar cells based on perovskite compounds could soon make electricity generation from sunlight even more efficient and cheaper. The laboratory efficiency of these perovskite solar cells already exceeds that of the well-known silicon solar cells. An international team has found microscopic structures in perovskite crystals that can guide the charge transport in the solar cell….
Solar energy researchers are shining their scientific spotlight on materials with a crystal structure discovered nearly two centuries ago. Read Full Article Here For more great articles: Solar Energy News — ScienceDaily
When sunlight shining on a leaf changes rapidly, plants must protect themselves from the ensuing sudden surges of solar energy. To cope with these changes, photosynthetic organisms have developed numerous tactics. Scientists have been unable, however, to identify the underlying design principle. A physicist has now constructed a model that reproduces a general feature of…
Researchers map the energy variations of the spacecraft orbits due to ‘Aerogravity Assisted’ manoeuvers. Read Full Article Here For more great articles: Solar Energy News — ScienceDaily
Solar power systems with double-sided (bifacial) solar panels — which collect sunlight from two sides instead of one — and single-axis tracking technology that tilts the panels so they can follow the sun are the most cost effective to date, researchers report. They determined that this combination of technologies produces almost 35% more energy, on…
Scientists have successfully split water into hydrogen and oxygen using light and meticulously designed catalysts, and they did so at the maximum efficiency meaning there was almost no loss and undesired side reactions. This latest breakthrough in solar hydrogen production makes the likelihood of scalable, economically viable hydrogen production more than likely, paving the way…
Tests on new designs for next-gen solar cells can now be done in minutes instead of days thanks to a new system. Read Full Article Here For more great articles: Solar Energy News — ScienceDaily
Engineers have developed a next-generation solar cell that takes advantage of the promising elctro-optical properties of perovskite materials. They’ve made the materials much more stable at high temperatures and demonstrated a consistent, clean way to fabricate them into solar cells. Those could be important steps toward commercial production of new, low-cost, efficient, lightweight and flexible…
Researchers have integrated high-efficiency solar cells and electrode catalysts into an efficient, low-cost device that splits water to produce hydrogen fuel. Read Full Article Here For more great articles: Solar Energy News — ScienceDaily
Mobility is a key parameter for semiconductor performance and relates to how quickly and easily electrons can move inside a substance. Researchers have achieved the highest mobility among thin films of tin dioxide ever reported. This high mobility could allow engineers to create thin and even transparent tin dioxide semiconductors for use in next-generation LED…
Scientists have fabricated a solar cell with an efficiency of nearly 50%. The six-junction solar cell now holds the world record for the highest solar conversion efficiency at 47.1%, which was measured under concentrated illumination. A variation of the same cell also set the efficiency record under one-sun illumination at 39.2%. Read Full Article Here…
A special branch in the famous NREL-chart for solar cell world records refers to a newly developed tandem solar cell. The world-record cell combines the semiconductors perovskite and CIGS to a monolithic ‘two-terminal’ tandem cell. Due to the thin-film technologies used, such tandem cells survive much longer in space and can even be produced on…
A new chemical compound is lighting the way for renewable energy. Read Full Article Here For more great articles: Solar Energy News — ScienceDaily
Lead-based perovskites efficiently turn light into electricity but they also present some major drawbacks: the most efficient materials are not very stable, while lead is a toxic element. Scientists are studying alternatives to lead-based perovskites. It is very important to investigate in situ how lead-free perovskite crystals form and how the crystal structure affects the…
Low-carbon technologies that are smaller scale, more affordable, and can be mass deployed are more likely to enable a faster transition to net-zero emissions, according to a new study. Innovations ranging from solar panels to electric bikes also have lower investment risks, greater potential for improvement in both cost and performance, and more scope for…