Shady solar outhouses
Each outhouse costs $10, 000 and designed to use solar panels to power fans which pipe out smelly air. Unfortunately, some were built in areas that are frequently in the shade. The outhouses can be...
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Bright outlook for solar cells
Blue-sky thinking New developments in solar-cell technology could help us to harness even more of the Sun’s power. (Source: Maximilian Stock Ltd/Science Photo Library) The burning of skin on a hot...
View ArticleThin-film dyes boost solar cells
Scientists in the US have shown how to multiply the power output of photovoltaic (solar) cells by up to ten times using organic dyes to concentrate sunlight. They say that their work could be scaled up...
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‘Self-repairing’ photovoltaics not damaged by the Sun
Test cell Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have fabricated the first synthetic photovoltaic cell capable of repairing itself. The cell mimics the self-repair system naturally...
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Quirky solar cell sets new efficiency record
Researchers in the US have built a new type of solar cell that emits light as well as absorbs it, making it the most efficient single-junction device ever developed. The efficiency of their prototype...
View ArticleNew theory describes ultrathin solar cells
Physicists in the US have developed a new theoretical technique for calculating the properties of ultrathin solar cells. Their method suggests that designs that boost the amount of light absorbed by...
View ArticleMaking better solar cells with polychiral carbon nanotubes
A new solar cell made from carbon nanotubes (CNTs) that is twice as good at converting sunlight into power than the best previous such cells has been unveiled by a team of researchers in the US. The...
View ArticleKirigami solar cells follow the Sun
The ancient Japanese art of kirigami, or paper cutting, has been used by researchers in the US to improve the efficiency of solar-panel tracking systems. The researchers cut a pattern in thin-film...
View Article‘Solar glasses’ provide power as well as shade
The dark lenses of sunglasses have been replaced with organic solar cells by scientists in Germany. The cells are able to power a small mircocontroller that sends information on ambient conditions to a...
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Nanoflowers harness sunlight
Flower power: A one-pot production produces submicron flower-like structures with high photocatalytic activity for water splitting to produce hydrogen. Credit: ChemSusChem A one-pot production method...
View ArticleSubstrate exfoliation carves an opening for kesterite photovoltaics
The voltage of Cu2ZnSn(SxSe1−x)4 (CZTSSe) kesterite solar cells has so far limited their efficiency. But by carefully tweaking the composition of CZTSSe, Priscilla Antunez along with her co-workers at...
View ArticlePolymer nanofibre could help improve solar cells
Materials that can transport excitons (photo-generated electron-hole pairs) over distances of more than 100 nm are useful for a range of light-harvesting and optoelectronics devices, including solar...
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Seeing through a glass, darkly
Back in 2010 Oxford PV was a small start-up with a big dream: it wanted to pioneer the market in solar windows. The idea of integrating sources of renewable energy directly into the buildings they...
View ArticleCaffeine boosts perovskite solar cells
Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have succeeded in improving the performance and thermal stability of metal halide perovskite solar cells by adding an unexpected...
View ArticleEmerging photovoltaic technology efficiencies line up
What was the motivation behind publishing this table of efficiencies? Ten years ago the search for new materials that can bring additional advantages with respect to those we already have, started to...
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How have solar cells undercut coal?
In a recent perspective article you highlight potential production of a terawatt per year from photovoltaics worldwide within the next decade. What is the significance of a terawatt per year? The world...
View ArticleCan surface treatments enable commercial perovskite solar cells?
Lower costs, shorter pay back times and even higher efficiencies than pure silicon – the promise of perovskites for solar cells may sound too good to be true, and so far it has been. Perovskites are...
View ArticleTwo-dimensional MXenes improve perovskite solar cell efficiency
This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. With the reality of climate change looming, the importance...
View ArticleMetallic tin ‘reduces’ limitations of perovskite solar cells
Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites have garnered significant interest in the solar cell community in light of their excellent optoelectronic properties and low manufacturing cost. Meanwhile, in...
View ArticleWide-band-gap semiconductors could harvest sunlight underwater
Solar cells based on wide-band-gap semiconductors work better under water than the narrow-band-gap ones used in conventional silicon photovoltaic devices. This finding by researchers at New York...
View ArticleTinted solar panels allow plants to grow efficiently on ‘agrivoltaic’ farms
Tinted solar panels could allow land to be used to grow crops and generate electricity simultaneously, with financial gains, according to researchers in the UK and Italy. The orange solar panels absorb...
View ArticleRadiative cooling boosts solar cell voltage by as much as 25%
Cheap and simple radiative cooling technologies can significantly increase the performance and lifespan of concentrated photovoltaic systems, according to researchers in the US. They found that a...
View ArticlePhotonic-crystal ‘sunflower’ follows the light
An artificial “sunflower” that autonomously bends, folds and twists itself to optimize the amount of light it receives could be a key ingredient in intelligent solar cells of the future. The device is...
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Sunny superpower: solar cells close in on 50% efficiency
For solar cells, efficiency really matters. This crucial metric determines how much energy can be harvested from rooftops and solar farms, with commercial solar panels made of silicon typically...
View ArticleTandem solar cells edge towards 30% efficiency
Late in 2020, scientists in Germany and Lithuania announced a new milestone in so-called “tandem” solar cells – that is, cells made from two different types of photovoltaic material. Writing in...
View ArticleIn search of new solutions for cheap and stable solar cells
What materials are you studying? My research focuses generally on hybrid perovskite materials for optoelectronics, and more specifically on hybrid perovskite solar cells. Hybrid perovskites are...
View ArticleUltrathin flexible solar cells get an efficiency boost
Researchers have used materials known as transition metal dichalcogenides to make ultrathin, flexible solar cells with a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.1% – a record for cells made from this...
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Two-dimensional nanoribbons make more efficient perovskite solar cells
Phosphorene nanoribbons can improve the efficiency of perovskite solar cells, a new study has shown. This is the first time that the benefits of the unique electrical properties of this novel...
View ArticleTime for a change: what it’s like to win a prize for work you did before...
Congratulations on winning the 2022 Rank Prize for Optoelectronics for your work on perovskite semiconductors. Could you explain why these materials are so important for solar power? Akihiro Kojima:...
View ArticleSolar cell keeps going after sunset
A new type of photovoltaic cell continues working after sunset thanks to an additional generator that harvests electricity from the temperature difference between the cell and its surroundings. The...
View ArticlePassive optical concentrator could boost solar-cell efficiency
A new optical lens harvests and concentrates scattered light from multiple directions without any moving components, raising hopes that it could help make future solar cells more efficient. Designed by...
View ArticleThinner solar cells are more robust to space radiation
A new ultrathin photovoltaic cell could be used as a power source for satellites in regions of space that experience high levels of radiation. Developed by researchers from the University of Cambridge...
View ArticlePhase heterojunction solar cell is a first
A new type of solar cell based on heterojunctions between different crystalline phases of the same light-absorbing material boasts a maximum power conversion of 20.1% and is stable for long periods of...
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Hydrogen-producing solar cells mimic photosynthesis
Using the full spectrum of sunlight contributes to the higher efficiency of the new system. (Courtesy: Z Mi) Two independent teams have taken inspiration from nature to develop better ways of producing...
View ArticleConcentrated solar reactor generates unprecedented amounts of hydrogen
A new solar-radiation-concentrating device produces “green” hydrogen at a rate of more than 2 kilowatts while maintaining efficiencies above 20%. The pilot-scale device, which is already operational...
View ArticleAustralian firm’s watery solution for solar power
Australian company RayGen is tackling a problem that faces all solar farms: how to deal with the Sun’s intermittency in a way that makes economic sense. In temperate, cloudy locations such as the UK,...
View ArticlePerovskite solar cells reach new milestones for stability and efficiency
It’s been a good couple of months for perovskite solar cells, with a trio of new results that could make it easier to commercialize these next-generation devices. The first result concerns...
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Silicon solar cells gain new flexibility
A flexible module. (Courtesy: W Liu) Most silicon solar cells are completely rigid, but researchers in China, Germany and Saudi Arabia have now succeeded in making them bend and flex like paper. The...
View ArticleRoll-to-roll-fabricated hybrid perovskite solar cells reach record efficiencies
Large-area solar cells made from hybrid perovskite materials have taken a step closer to commercialization thanks to researchers in Australia and the UK who fabricated the cells with industrial methods...
View ArticleNew photovoltaic 2D material breaks quantum efficiency record
Convention solar cells have a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 100%: for every photon incident on the cell, they generate one photoexcited electron. In recent years, scientists have sought...
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