Over the weekend, the New York Times noted that the solar power “craze” is partly responsible for Wall Street’s recent good times. The Times used the example of solar giant SolarCity, which has seen a sevenfold increase in its share price to $59.27 since it went public, but this could … [continued]
Does Robin Thicke’s notorious hit “Blurred Lines” contain secret references to graphene? We don’t know, but we are interrupting our New Year’s Day Walking Dead marathon to bring you news that graphene, the notoriously hard-to-handle nanomaterial of the new millennium, has been domesticated to the point where it could help … [continued]
Organic solar cells could receive a big boost to their efficiency through the manipulation of the “spin” of the electrons that they generate, according to new research from the University of Cambridge and the University of Washington. Organic solar cells are a relatively new class of solar cell that works … [continued]
The price of solar panels has been sinking like a stone for the past few years, and that could be just the beginning of a low cost solar power future. When that happens, it will be partly due to the development of solar cells made of organic materials, which are … [continued]
This article was originally published on the website of CSIRO. Scientists have produced the largest flexible, plastic solar cells in Australia – 10 times the size of what they were previously able to – thanks to a new solar cell printer that has been installed at CSIRO. The printer has … [continued]
The concept of a liquid, paint-on solar cell is old news these days, but a research team from the University at Buffalo in New York has come up with an interesting new angle. The team is working on a paintable solar material enhanced with nanoparticles of metal, in order to … [continued]
If researchers could develop a low cost, invisible solar cell to sub in for ordinary window glass, the result would be a sustainability twofer of epic proportions. Windows are notorious as a weak spot for energy efficiency, even in newer buildings. That goes double for millions of older buildings in … [continued]
In a potentially breakthrough discovery, researchers at Northwestern University have designed a new type of organic solar cell that will very likely lead to much higher efficiency and cheaper solar power. The new cell design is based around a new geometrical pattern to be used in the ‘scattering layer’ of … [continued]
A new and somewhat unexpected way to create very high-efficiency organic solar cells has been found. Rather than working solely to increase the purity of a solar cell’s two domains — acceptor and donor — researchers found that if impure domains are made smaller, this also increases efficiency levels. … [continued]
Cheaper and more efficient solar cells are within reach thanks to new research that has deepened our understanding of fullerene, a primary but expensive component of organic solar cells. The new research has clarified a great deal about how they function, and will help in the development of cheaper, … [continued]
