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Category: solar power – Page 4

New cooling technology raises power and longevity of solar cells

A team of international researchers led by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and including researchers from King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) has developed a new composite material that enhances the performance of solar cells. Solar cells with the material functioning for weeks in the Saudi Arabia desert showed higher power output and a longer operation time than solar cells without. Additionally, the material is cheap to fabricate and reduces the cost of maintaining solar cells. The study can be read in Materials Science and Engineering.

Composite material keeps solar cells cool using air moisture and no electricity to extend solar cell lifetime more than 200%.

New imaging method reveals how light and heat generate electricity in nanomaterials

UC Riverside researchers have unveiled a powerful new imaging technique that exposes how cutting-edge materials used in solar panels and light sensors convert light into electricity—offering a path to better, faster, and more efficient devices.

The breakthrough, published in the journal Science Advances, could lead to improvements in solar energy systems and optical communications technology. The study title is “Deciphering photocurrent mechanisms at the nanoscale in van der Waals interfaces for enhanced optoelectronic applications.”

The research team, led by associate professors Ming Liu and Ruoxue Yan of UCR’s Bourns College of Engineering, developed a three-dimensional imaging method that distinguishes between two fundamental processes by which light is transformed into electric current in quantum materials.

Ateneo scientists make aluminum transparent by using tiny acid droplets

Transparent aluminum oxide (TAlOx), a real material despite its sci-fi name, is incredibly hard and resistant to scratches, making it perfect for protective coatings on electronics, optical sensors, and solar panels. On the sci-fi show Star Trek, it is even used for starship windows and spacefaring aquariums.

Current methods of making TAlOx are expensive and complicated, requiring high-powered lasers, vacuum chambers, or large vats of dangerous acids. That may change thanks to research co-authored by Filipino scientists from Ateneo de Manila University.

Instead of immersing entire sheets of metal into acidic solutions, the researchers applied microdroplets of acidic solution onto small aluminum surfaces and applied an electric current. Just two volts of electricity—barely more than what’s found in a single AA household flashlight battery—was all that was needed to transform the metal into glass-like TAlOx.

Perovskite Under Pressure: A New Era in Light-Handling Materials

Perovskites have long captivated the interest of materials scientists and engineers for their remarkable potential in next-generation solar cells, LEDs, and optoelectronic devices. Now, a newly published study pushes the envelope even further by showing how carefully applied pressure can finely tune the light-handling properties of a 2D hybrid perovskite, marking a significant leap toward real-time structural control in photonic technologies.

The research, carried out using the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan and the Advanced Photon Source (APS) in Chicago, utilized ultrabright synchrotron radiation to observe how perovskite layers respond under pressure. The focus was a 2D Dion–Jacobson hybrid lead iodide perovskite with alternating organic and inorganic sheets—structures whose interaction defines how the material absorbs, emits, or modulates light.

Study uncovers technologically appealing trick used by microalgae to manipulate light

Skoltech researchers and their colleagues have uncovered an intricate light manipulation mechanism likely used by microscopic algae to boost photosynthesis.

By studying the interaction of light with the elaborately patterned silicon dioxide shells enclosing the , the team hopes to reveal principles that could eventually be leveraged in light detectors, bio-and chemical sensors, protective coatings against ultraviolet rays, , and other nature-inspired technology, right up to artificial photosynthesis systems using CO2 and water to make fuel.

The study was published in the journal Optica.

Design strategies for reshaping stability and sustainability of perovskite solar cells

A research team from the School of Engineering (SENG) at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has introduced comprehensive bio-inspired multiscale design strategies to address key challenges in the commercialization of perovskite solar cells: long-term operational stability. Drawing inspiration from natural systems, these strategies aim to enhance the efficiency, resilience, and adaptability of solar technologies.

Their paper, titled “Bio-Inspired Multiscale Design for Perovskite Solar Cells,” has been published in Nature Reviews Clean Technology.

The approaches focus on leveraging insights from to create that can better withstand environmental stressors and prolonged use.

From cosmic strings to computer chips: Cooling rate triggers phase transitions in silicon surfaces

Solar cells and computer chips need silicon layers that are as perfect as possible. Every imperfection in the crystalline structure increases the risk of reduced efficiency or defective switching processes.

If you know how arrange themselves to form a on a thin surface, you gain fundamental insights into controlling crystal growth. To this end, an international research team analyzed the behavior of silicon that was flash-frozen. The study is published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

The results show that the speed of cooling has a major impact on the structure of silicon surfaces. The underlying mechanism may also have occurred during phase transitions in the early universe shortly after the Big Bang.

Bifacial thin-film solar cells harness sunlight from both sides for higher output

A research team successfully implemented CuInSe2 thin-film solar cells composed of copper (Cu), indium (In), and selenium (Se) on transparent electrode substrates. Furthermore, the team developed a “bifacial solar cell technology” that receives sunlight from both the front and back sides to generate power. This technology can be fabricated at low temperatures, enabling a simpler production process, and is broadly applicable to building-integrated solar power, agricultural solar power, and high-efficiency tandem solar cells in the future.

Self-powered solar panels remove dust using wind-generated electricity

A collaborative research team has successfully developed a self-powered pollution prevention technology that can remove pollutants from the surface of solar panels without external power. This technology uses a wind-powered rotational triboelectric nanogenerator to generate power and combines said power with electrodynamic screen (EDS) technology to move dust in the desired direction for removal.

The findings are published in the journal Nano Energy. The team was led by Professor Juhyuck Lee from the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology, along with Dr. Wanchul Seung at Global Technology Research, Samsung Electronics.

The dust that gathers on the surface of solar panels causes a significant reduction in power production efficiency. EDS technology, designed to address this problem, uses electric fields to remove dust from the surface, and it is noted for environments that are not easily accessible, such as deserts, mountains, and space, as it does not require cleaning equipment or personnel. Traditional EDS technology, however, requires and, consequently, external power, and it has the disadvantage of additional maintenance costs.

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