“Scientists boosted the significance of tandem polymer solar cells by successfully testing cells with low-bandgap polymers that achieved certified conversion efficiencies of 8.62 ± 0.3% with respect to standard terrestrial reporting conditions,” the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) announced today. “Further, after the researchers incorporated a new infrared-absorbing polymer … [continued]
Solar panels lose efficiency as they heat up, reducing their energy production. Researchers in Kyoto think they may have a solution to this problem: crab shells.
This is a special guest post from Ray Burgess, CEO of Solar Power Technologies. It covers some more minute (but very important) aspects of solar power that I think are worth a quick read, or, if you are involved in solar at this level, more than just a quick read…. … [continued]
By Andrew Myers Visitors to Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol Building may have experienced a curious acoustic feature that allows a person to whisper softly at one side of the cavernous, half-domed room and for another on the other side to hear every syllable. Sound whisks around the semi-circular … [continued]
Corning photovoltaic glass? I have to admit, I had to dig through our archives to see if we had ever covered this. And, nope, it’s a new one. Corning Incorporated, a ” world leader in specialty glass and ceramics,” has created photovoltaic glass that it claims is lighter and more efficient than thin-film solar modules. On February 1, it announced the first commercial order of its photovoltaic (PV) glass substrates.
It’s true—amazing solar tech innovations just keep coming. Some advances come in the form of new handheld devices and applications. Others promise to elevate solar into a mainstream energy source that may one day replace greenhouse-gas-emitting fossil fuels. Here are five recent innovations that have left both solar experts … [continued]
UPDATE (January 3, 12:40 EST): I contacted Solar3D to get more clarity on what exactly achieved this 25.47%. Here’s Solar3D CEO Jim Nelson’s response: “The test is on a design–it is an analytical test, not a test on a developed prototype.” Solar 3D brings silicon solar cell efficiency record up … [continued]
Scientists at National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) reported “the first solar cell that produces a photocurrent that has an external quantum efficiency greater than 100 percent when photoexcited with photons from the high energy region of the solar spectrum” at the end of last week. Promising news. More from NREL: The … [continued]
Okayama Graduate School of Science and Technology is one of many developing solar cells and batteries, but their research team, led by one Professor Naoshi Ikeda, has a unique approach. Instead of silicon, currently the standard component in solar cells, the Okayama team is using an iron oxide compound it calls “green ferrite,” or GF. Professor Ikeda has gone so far as to claim his product will produce 100x the amount of energy as a traditional silicon solar cell.
This is one of the coolest stories I’ve seen in awhile. It was shared with me by one of CleanTechnica’s great readers on our Contact page, but I couldn’t get to it for awhile. Luckily, as I started writing on it, I found out that the technology and its 19-year-old inventor just got a $275,000 boost!
