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solar power

05/04/2018 / By David Williams

New nanomaterials will increase the efficiency of organic solar cells

The hard work of nanomaterials researchers looking to get more performance out of organic solar cells has paid off. They have reportedly found a method to “significantly improve” the efficiency of these cells while opening the door to a number of different applications. It is said that their work is built on top of previous […]

04/21/2018 / By Edsel Cook

Scientists have developed new semiconductors that are more environmentally friendly

Concerned with the prevalence of useful but toxic perovskites in photovoltaic cells, a group of Iowa-based researchers devised alternative materials. They reported creating cheaper and eco-friendly semiconductors with similar performance, according to a ScienceDaily article. Perovskites are light-gathering materials used as semiconductors in solar panels. While highly efficient – called “wonder materials” by the solar […]

04/07/2018 / By David Williams

Researchers discover a method to generate power from falling raindrops

Solar panels have proven to be highly effective sources of electricity, and they are shaping up to be the absolute best source of renewable energy now and in the future. A team of researchers wants to improve it even further, and now they’ve announced their latest innovation: Solar panels that can generate power from falling […]

04/01/2018 / By David Williams

Layered oxides may be the key to extending the life of the environmentally-friendly zinc-ion battery

The future of battery storage technology hangs in the balance. The standard lithium-ion battery technology that is widely used today, as it turns out, may not be the best solution for large-scale applications due to a number of reasons. Now a team of researchers has developed a way to create a viable alternative, in the […]

02/24/2018 / By David Williams

Engineers develop breakthrough method of combining solar panels and light-emitting devices

They say that necessity is the mother of invention. However, there are times when it simply makes sense to invent something, regardless of whether it’s really necessary at the moment or not. This might just be the case with the contraption made possible by a group of engineers that took perovskites and layered them on […]

08/04/2017 / By Jhoanna Robinson

Solar cell breakthrough could DOUBLE energy capture efficiency to over 40%

A prototype for a new solar cell that compiles multiple devices into a single device that has the capability of obtaining almost all of the energy in the solar spectrum has been designed by scientists at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The new model, which transforms direct sunlight into electricity at an accuracy level […]

02/18/2017 / By Jayson Veley

Solar power could get even more affordable as scientists discover way to replace platinum components with 3D graphene

Although solar power is one of the most popular forms of green energy, it certainly is not without flaw. For example, according to Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Director of Economics at the Manhattan Institute, solar energy is responsible for less than one percent of the country’s electricity, yet it costs almost twice as much to produce as […]

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