Photovoltaics and Solar Cells News

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Integrating Radiative Coolers can Enhance Power Conversion Efficiency of Solar Cells

A solar cell converts light into electricity. So, the longer a solar cell remains out in the sun, the more power it can produce, right- Not necessarily. Solar cells capture massive amounts of heat during the day and their temperatures typically rise to tens of degrees greater than the ambient temperature of ~25 °C. The materials that solar cells are made of degrade at such high temperatures and overall, the performance of the solar cells fall.

11 Feb 2022

Study may Help Optimize the Performance of All-Polymer Blend Solar Cells

All-polymer blend solar cells are expected to play an important role in the transition to clean energy technologies because they can be easily produced in large-scale flexible sheets. However, their performance has lagged behind that of more traditional silicon alternatives, as well as other organic solar cells.

31 Jan 2022

New Technique to Convert Greenhouse Gasses into Clean Energy Using Photonics

A European consortium is developing a new process that uses sunlight and LEDs to turn carbon dioxide and green hydrogen into clean energy products like methane gas and methanol liquid fuel.

19 Jan 2022

First-of-Its-Kind Smart Catalyst Turns Off When Illuminated with Light

Catalysts are compounds that enable and accelerate desired chemical reactions without themselves degrading and are pivotal in virtually all of applied chemistry.

17 Jan 2022

Chemists Improve the Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells Using Passivation Method

A group of chemists from Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), Lithuania synthesised materials that were used for constructing a record-breaking perovskite solar module, with an efficiency of 21.4 per cent. This was achieved through the passivation of the active solar cell layer, which increases the efficiency of the cell and significantly improves its stability.

12 Jan 2022

New Method to Rapidly Design CdSe Thin-Film Solar Cells

Si-based tandem solar cell is regarded as the most promising strategy to break the theoretical efficiency limit of single-junction Si solar cells. With Si as the bottom cells, the optimal bandgap of top cells is 1.7 eV, which enables high efficiency of ~45% for two-junction tandem solar cells.

11 Jan 2022

New Method to Stabilize Perovskites for Cheap Solar Cells

Researchers have developed a method to stabilise a promising material known as perovskite for cheap solar cells, without compromising its near-perfect performance.

24 Dec 2021

Toshiba Raises the Power Conversion Efficiency of Transparent Cu2O Solar Cell to 8.4%

Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has successfully raised the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of its transparent Cu2O solar cell to 8.4%, the world's highest level for a reported Cu2O solar cell. With the cell positioned as the top cell over a 25% PCE silicon cell (Cu2O-Si tandem cell), Toshiba estimates that an overall PCE of 27.4% can be achieved, notably above the 26.7% highest PCE reported for any standard silicon cell.

23 Dec 2021

New Perovskite Solar Cell with Exceptional Stability at Elevated Temperatures

Perovskites are the great hope for further increasing the efficiency of solar modules in the future. Until now, their short service life has been considered the biggest hurdle to their practical use, but this could soon change.

20 Dec 2021

New Device Selectively Converts Sunlight and Carbon Dioxide into Sources of Renewable Fuels

A research team has developed a new artificial photosynthesis device with remarkable stability and longevity as it converts sunlight and carbon dioxide into two promising sources of renewable fuels – ethylene and hydrogen.

20 Dec 2021

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