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Category: solar power – Page 84

Solar power anywhere: Lightweight organic cells aim beyond rooftops

Ricoh, European startups race to bring flexible power source to market this year.

TOKYO — A thin, flexible alternative to silicon-based solar cells is set to be produced in greater volumes, opening up more uses for renewable energy such as powering indoor smart devices.

Organic solar cells are made by printing photovoltaic material on plastic sheets and other bendable substrates. They are expected to cost half as much to make as silicon-based solar cells and are 100 times lighter, manufacturers say.

Unlike silicon cells, the conversion efficiency of organic solar cells does not drop when used indoors. Companies are zeroing in on that advantage to develop power sources for smart speakers, remote controls and sensors.

Sponge-like solar cells could be basis for better pacemakers

Holes help make sponges and English muffins useful (and, in the case of the latter, delicious). Without holes, they wouldn’t be flexible enough to bend into small crevices, or to sop up the perfect amount of jam and butter.

In a new study, University of Chicago scientists find that holes can also improve technology, including . Published in Nature Materials, the paper describes an entirely new way to make a solar cell: by etching holes in the top layer to make it porous. The innovation could form the basis for a less-invasive pacemaker, or similar medical devices. It could be paired with a small light source to reduce the size of the bulky batteries that are currently implanted along with today’s pacemakers.

“We hope this opens many possibilities for further improvements in this field,” said Aleksander Prominski, the first author on the paper.

Solar energy can be cleanly converted into storable hydrogen fuel

Greenhouse gas emissions need to be significantly reduced to avoid potentially catastrophic effects of climate change, with access to clean and affordable energy needed to eliminate our reliance on fossil fuels. Many researchers and companies are working to address this issue and replace fossil fuels through the use of hydrogen, a storable fuel.

When used in a fuel cell, hydrogen does not emit any greenhouse gasses at the point of use and can help decarbonize sectors such as shipping and transportation, where it can be used as a fuel, as well as in manufacturing industries. However, most hydrogen produced today is almost entirely supplied from natural gas and coal, producing greenhouse gases. And therefore, green hydrogen production is urgently needed.

New research led by the University of Strathclyde suggests that solar energy can be accessed and converted into hydrogen – a clean and renewable fuel.

Lightyear 0 production solar car could run for months without charging

Dutch company Lightyear has unveiled what it claims is the world’s first production-ready solar car. The Lightyear 0 is a family sedan with 5 sq m (53.8 sq ft) of solar panels built in, capable of generating up to 70 km (44 miles) of charge-free driving a day.

Having scaled its workforce up to 500 people and hooked up deals with more than 100 suppliers, Lightyear is deadly serious about this venture and ready to start manufacturing. Its first car is this four-door fastback electric sedan, with enough onboard battery to deliver a very solid 560 km (348 miles) of freeway driving at 110 km/h (68 mph), even without the sun shining.

That’s a pretty impressive number; in WLTP testing, the Lightyear 0 delivers 625 km (388 miles) of range, or nearly 4 percent more than Tesla’s Model 3 Long Range AWD. Lightyear says it’s developed the most efficient electric drivetrain ever, and that these range figures come from a battery pack holding just 60 kWh. For comparison, the Model 3 Long Range AWD is reported to run an 82-kWh pack.

Breakthrough artificial photosynthesis comes closer

Imagine we could do what green plants can do: photosynthesis. Then we could satisfy our enormous energy needs with deep-green hydrogen and climate-neutral biodiesel. Scientists have been working on this for decades. Chemist Chengyu Liu will receive his doctorate on 8 June for yet another step that brings artificial photosynthesis closer. He expects it to be commonplace in fifty years.

In fact, we can already achieve photosynthesis as can. Solar converts CO2 and water into oxygen and chemical compounds that we can use as fuel. Hydrogen for example, but also carbon compounds like those found in petrol. But the costs are higher than the value of the fuel it yields. If that changes, and we can scale up this artificial photosynthesis gigantically, then all our energy problems will be solved. Then CO2 emissions from will become negative.

New Quantum Well Solar Cell Just Set a World Record For Efficiency

“there’s a new record to report: a new solar cell has hit 39.5 percent efficiency ”.

Scientists keep on pushing the efficiency of solar panels higher and higher, and there’s a new record to report: a new solar cell has hit 39.5 percent efficiency under the standard 1-sun global illumination conditions.

That 1-sun marker is simply a standardized way of measuring a fixed amount of sunlight, and almost 40 percent of that radiation can now be converted into electricity. The previous record for this type of solar panel material was 39.2 percent efficiency.

There are more types of solar cells around than you might have realized. The type used here, triple-junction III-V tandem solar cells, are often deployed in satellites and space vehicles, though they have plenty of potential here on solid ground as well.

World-first quantum dot LED lights made from discarded rice husks

From TVs, to solar cells, to cutting-edge cancer treatments, quantum dots are beginning to exhibit their unique potential in many fields, but manufacturing them at scale would raise some issues concerning the environment. Scientists at Japan’s Hiroshima University have demonstrated a greener path forward in this area, by using discarded rice husks to produce the world’s first silicon quantum dot LED light.

“Since typical quantum dots often involve toxic material, such as cadmium, lead, or other heavy metals, environmental concerns have been frequently deliberated when using nanomaterials,” said Ken-ichi Saitow, lead study author and a professor of chemistry at Hiroshima University. “Our proposed process and fabrication method for quantum dots minimizes these concerns.”

The type of quantum dots pursued by Saitow and his team are silicon quantum dots, which eschew heavy metals and offer some other benefits, too. Their stability and higher operating temperatures makes them one of the leading candidates for use in quantum computing, while their non-toxic nature also makes them suitable for use in medical applications.

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