Posts: 12,025
Threads: 1,809
Joined: Apr 2008
Reputation:
227
An international team of researchers has developed a way of mass producing high efficiency flexible polymer solar cells in rolls. The team, led by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), used a mock-up of a high-volume, roll-to-roll processing method to produce cells with a power conversion efficiency of 9.5%. This is just short of the minimum commercial target of 10%. The mass-produced versions showed molecular packing and texture significantly different from spin-coated cells developed in the lab with around 11% efficiency. While this is a lower efficiency that cells on a solid substrate which approaches 30% (see below), the lower manufacturing cost and ease of use for the flexible polymer cells is attractive.
Mass produced polymer solar cells move closer to reality | Electronics EETimes
Posts: 12,025
Threads: 1,809
Joined: Apr 2008
Reputation:
227
Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Golden, CO) have used nanocrystals to boost the efficiency of solar cells using perovskite materials, removing the need for organic compounds. The team at NREL used nanocrystals of cesium lead iodide (CsPbI3) in perovskite cells to reach an efficiency of 10.77%. While this is less then the current record of 22%, the design removes organic dyes and so boosts the lifetime of the cells.
Quantum dot perovskite solar cells offer 'exceptional' properties | Smart2.0
Researchers at Stanford (Stanford, CA) and Oxford Universities (Oxford, UK) have combined two perovskite materials to produce a stable solar cell with efficiency over 20% that can be printed on a plastic substrate.
New perovskite solar cell design could rival, even outperform silicon | Smart2.0
Posts: 12,025
Threads: 1,809
Joined: Apr 2008
Reputation:
227
Researchers in Berkeley, CA have developed a flexible perovskite solar cell that hits a peak conversion efficiency of 26% and could be manufactured using a low-cost roll-to-roll process. The researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory use two layers of different perovskite materials that can be sprayed onto a flexible surface. Their design achieves an efficiency of 21.7% and a peak efficiency of 26%.
Perovskite solar cell breakthrough sets new efficiency record | Smart2.0
Posts: 12,025
Threads: 1,809
Joined: Apr 2008
Reputation:
227
Traditionally, energy systems flowed in one direction: from big power producers to consumers. Now, with more people getting rooftop solar panels, they're increasingly two-way: homes send excess power back to utilities, reducing their household bills. In the future, we may see a third change: people trading power not only with utilities, but also with each other. Several startups are now working on the trading aspect, including Power Ledger in Western Australia. It's launched trials based on blockchain technology, which offers an inviolable internet-based record of transactions as they take place. Blockchain came to prominence with the bitcoin virtual currency, but increasingly it's being used to track and authenticate all kinds of asset trading, from stocks and bonds to electrons.
The Blockchain Energy System Is Going To Be Great For Consumers | Co.Exist | ideas + impact
Posts: 12,025
Threads: 1,809
Joined: Apr 2008
Reputation:
227
Researchers at the University of Surrey (Guildford, UK) have analyzed how low-cost materials combine to achieve a record power conversion efficiency of 6.7% for large-area organic solar cells. Such cells are flexible, lightweight, and environmentally-friendly and have the capacity to be printed in different colors and shapes allowing commercial applications such as integration into building façades etc.
Large-area organic solar cells achieve record efficiencies | Smart2.0
The race to boost the efficiency of large perovskite solar cells continues with researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia claiming a new record figure of 12% and looking to double the performance within the next year. The 12.1% efficiency rating was for a 16 cm 2 perovskite solar cell, the largest single perovskite photovoltaic cell certified with the highest energy conversion efficiency, and was independently confirmed at the international testing centre run by Newport Corp in Bozeman, Montana. The new cell is at least 10 times bigger than the current certified high-efficiency perovskite solar cells on record.
Large perovskite solar cell efficiency hits 12% | Electronics EETimes
Posts: 12,025
Threads: 1,809
Joined: Apr 2008
Reputation:
227
HyperSolar has previously shown that it could reliably achieve photovoltages exceeding 1.5 Volts, the widely accepted voltage needed for splitting water using sunlight as the sole energy input. With the photovoltage challenge solved, the Company has focused on improvements to photocurrents with a current density of 5 mA cm-2, or two-thirds of the value needed to achieve the Company’s commercialization goal of 10% solar-to-hydrogen efficiency.
hypersolar.com/news_detail.php?id=81
Posts: 12,025
Threads: 1,809
Joined: Apr 2008
Reputation:
227
The new study, published in the journal Applied Physics Letters, outlines how silicon wafers can be coated with thin films of tantalum and silicon nitride to enhance their ability to absorb sunlight. The modified surface is then able to selectively absorb photons within a certain range on the light spectrum, while reflecting those that cannot be used. The resulting solar cells can withstand temperatures up to 535 degrees Celsius without any performance or stability issues, converting a staggering 50 percent of sunlight into useable energy. This research has some interesting applications – for instance, the same film could be painted on the surface of mirrored parabolic troughs used in concentrated solar plants in order to make them even more efficient.
Low-cost “solar absorber” could supercharge solar power plants | Inhabitat - Green Design, Innovation, Architecture, Green Building
Posts: 12,025
Threads: 1,809
Joined: Apr 2008
Reputation:
227
As a follow up research on bio-inspired light-harvesting textures mimicking the surface of roses' petals, researchers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have investigated how a photoresist coating imprinted with the texture of Viola petals could further improve light input into photovoltaic cells.
Flower-inspired texture to boost photovoltaics | eeNews Europe
Posts: 12,025
Threads: 1,809
Joined: Apr 2008
Reputation:
227
Quote:Bill Gates is backing a new venture which aims to turn sunlight into a source of heat exceeding 1,000C that could help replace fossil fuels. The world’s richest man is joining investors behind Heliogen, the first company to concentrate sunlight to reach temperatures that are high enough to power heavy industry without carbon emissions. The technology could even reach temperatures of 1,500C to split hydrogen particles from water to create a fossil-free gas to warm homes, fuel cars and power factories.
Bill Gross, the chief executive and founder of California-based Heliogen, said the company represents a technological leap forward in tackling the emissions from industry and transport that make up 75% of the world’s carbon footprint. The company uses software to align a large array of mirrors to reflect sunlight to a target, creating a source of heat almost three times as intense as previous commercial solar systems.
Gross said creating low-cost, ultra-high-temperature process heat gives the company an opportunity to make meaningful contributions to solving the climate crisis. The technology can generate temperatures high enough to manufacture cement without creating greenhouse gases. Cement is the world’s third largest source of emissions behind oil and coal, and its production is expected to boom due to urbanisation in developing countries and economic growth.
Bill Gates backs startup using sunlight to create 1,000C-plus heat | Environment | The Guardian
- Concentrated solar isn't dead!
|
