solar research

Self-Healing Solar Cells — Vascular Channels Based On Plant Leaves Allow For Self-Healing In New…

Self-healing solar cells — possessing “vascular” networks similar to those in plant leaves — have now been created by researchers from North Carolina State University. The new solar cells are able to effectively and inexpensively restore themselves to optimal functioning thanks to their possession of a “network of channels” which … [continued]

More Sustainable Solar Cells From Cobalt

More environmentally friendly and cheaper solar cells could be manufactured using cobalt, new research as found. Researchers from the University of Basel have developed a copper-based, dye-sensitized solar cell where the expensive (and relatively rare) element iodine has been replaced by the much more common element cobalt. The new Cu-Co … [continued]

University of Utah metallurgical engineers Prashant Sarswat and Michael Free used an old office microwave oven to produce a nanocrystal semiconductor named CZTS that is made from cheaper, less toxic materials than other semiconductors and holds promise for more efficient solar power cells and lighting by LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, as well as sensors for medical tests and systems to convert waste heat to electricity. Image Credit: Lee J. Siegel, University of Utah

Solar Cell Material Created From Microwave Oven

Another fun solar science story, this one via the University of Utah: University of Utah metallurgists used an old microwave oven to produce a nanocrystal semiconductor rapidly using cheap, abundant and less toxic metals than other semiconductors. They hope it will be used for more efficient photovoltaic solar cells and … [continued]

Researchers Construct Atom-Thin Solar Photovoltaic Device

An atom-thin photovoltaic device with high quantum efficiency has been developed by an international team of researchers, researchers from the University of Boston, University of Oxford, and the National University of Singapore. The atom-thin photovoltaic device has a quantum efficiency of 30%, which is simply a measure of the number of photons … [continued]