Tag Archives: researchers
Catching Photosynthesis in the Act
Photosynthetic oxidation of water is one of the central processes of life on Earth, but it is still not completely understood. Now, a German-American team of scientists has set out to observe the intermediate stages of this complex catalytic reaction using ultrashort snap shots taken at light sources including BESSY II in Berlin and the [...]
Cooking Solar in a Microwave Oven?
University of Utah metallurgists created a “recipe” to produce solar cell material in a microwave oven. Using this kitchen appliance, a nanocrystal semiconductor suitable for photovoltaic applications can be manufactured rapidly from cheap abundant and less toxic metals than other semiconductors. Scientists hope that this new method will be used for more efficient photovoltaic solar [...]
New Battery Can Store Solar and Wind Energy
Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have developed a relatively cheap, long-life “flow” battery that can be used to mitigate power fluctuations from solar and wind energy plants, therefore enabling them to become major suppliers to the electrical grid. The research, led by Yi Cui, a [...]
Researchers: Nanoscale Coating Improves Solar Efficiency
Scientists from the Aalto University offer yet another way of using nanostructures to improve solar cell efficiency. A new nanoscale coating technique can significantly reduce the losses of solar radiation that occur due to reflection. The new cost-effective photovoltaic material is currently being developed under a research program called “Photonics and Modern Imaging Techniques.” The [...]
PV from Trees
Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology and Purdue University have developed organic photovoltaic cells that are based on natural substrates from plant materials like trees. The new devices are not only made of natural substances, they’re also water soluble, so at the end of their life cycle, the devices can be recycled in water. Organic [...]
MIT’s Artificial Leaf Converts Sunlight into Hydrogen
A group of MIT scientists has published a paper that provides in-depth investigation of a system for converting solar energy to hydrogen and of all parameters that could limit the efficiency of such system. The paper lays out a plan for further studies of this system and may point a way to the production of [...]
Quantum Dot Solar Cell Efficiency Breakthrough Announced
Quantum dot solar cells, an emerging field in solar cell research that uses quantum dots as the absorbing photovoltaic material, could be significantly advanced by a new technique, developed by University of Toronto Engineering Professor Ted Sargent and his research group. In a paper “Jointly-tuned plasmonic-excitonic photovoltaics using nanoshells,” published in the journal Nano Letters, [...]
Panasonic’s New Compact Thermoelectric Solution
Capturing excess heat to convert it into electricity can help the world become more energy-efficient, but currently technologies are expensive and not efficient enough. Panasonic is hoping to change that in the coming years with a tubular thermoelectric technology it has developed to tap wasted heat from sources such as hot springs and factories and [...]
Next Generation Lithium Ion Battery Developed at USC
Researchers at USC, , according to recently published research in Nano Research, have “developed a new lithium-ion battery design that uses porous silicon nanoparticles in place of the traditional graphite anodes to provide superior performance.” “It’s an exciting research. It opens the door for the design of the next generation lithium-ion batteries,” said Chongwu Zhou, professor at [...]