Originally published on sister site Green Building Elements. Relatively inexpensive, easy-to-manufacture, nanoparticle-based solar cells can be created with materials that are abundantly common throughout the Earth’s crust, according to new work from researchers at the University of Alberta. The new nanoparticle-based solar cells — which could be mass-manufactured using simple … [continued]
As far as innovation on the technology front, this one is a winner. In tabulating efficiency ratings, however, quantum cells don’t seem to perform as well as either silicon-based or CIGS solar cells. This may soon change. Nature Materials writes that a new efficiency record for wrapping colloidal quantum dot solar cells may represent a step towards narrowing the gap.
You probably don’t think of cleantech when you think of Mitsubishi, but it’s been pushing its name into the field lately. A couple years ago, it broke the PV solar cell efficiency record. This year, it unveiled solar-powered EV charging stations at it headquarters in Cypress, California. And I’ve just read that it is developing spray-on solar cells.
