Solar Cells

Sharp to Sign Agreement for production of Thin-Film Solar Cells

harminka — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:45:32 -0600

Sharp to Sign Joint Venture Agreement for Photovoltaic Power Generation Business and MOU for Production of Thin-Film Solar Cells with Italian Power Company, Enel

Boosting the power of solar cells

harminka — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 07:41:26 -0600

New ways of squeezing out greater efficiency from solar photovoltaic cells are emerging from computer simulations and lab tests conducted by a team of physicists and engineers at MIT.

A Non-polluting European Parliament by 2020 with Solar Power

medbook — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:23:02 -0600

Parliamentary work by 2020 would reduce by 30% its emissions of carbon footprint.

Tiny solar cells built to power microscopic machines

harminka — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:52:37 -0600

Some of the tiniest solar cells ever built have been successfully tested as a power source for even tinier microscopic machines. An article in the inaugural issue of the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy (JRSE), published by the American Institute of Physics (AIP), describes an inch-long array of 20 of these cells -- each one about a quarter the size of a lowercase "o" in a standard 12-point font.

Record high performance with new solar cells

harminka — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:22:29 -0600

Researchers in China and Switzerland are reporting the highest efficiency ever for a promising new genre of solar cells, which many scientists think offer the best hope for making the sun a mainstay source of energy in the future.

New efficiency benchmark for dye-sensitized solar cells

harminka — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 06:14:18 -0500

In a paper published online June 29 in the journal Nature Materials, EPFL professor Michael Graetzel, Shaik Zakeeruddin and colleagues from the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have achieved a record light conversion efficiency of 8.2% in solvent-free dye-sensitized solar cells.

Perfecting a solar cell by adding imperfections

harminka — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:50:15 -0500

Nanotechnology is paving the way toward improved solar cells. New research shows that a film of carbon nanotubes may be able to replace two of the layers normally used in a solar cell, with improved performance at a lower cost. Researchers have found a surprising way to give the nanotubes the properties they need: add defects.

Researchers demonstrate avalanche effect in solar cells

harminka — Tue, 27 May 2008 08:49:18 -0500

Researchers at TU Delft and the FOM Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter have found irrefutable proof that the so-called avalanche effect by electrons occurs in specific, very small semiconducting crystals. This physical effect could pave the way for cheap, high-output solar cells. The findings are to be published in scientific journal Nano Letters this week.

Substantial improvement in essential cheap solar cell process

harminka — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 08:12:17 -0500

A cheap alternative to silicon solar cells can be found in dye-sensitised solar cells. This type of cell imitates the natural conversion of sunlight into energy by, for instance, plants and light-sensitive bacteria.

Toward next generation of high-efficiency plastic solar cells

harminka — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 08:26:05 -0500

Researchers in the United States and Austria report an advance toward the next generation of plastic solar cells, which are widely heralded as a low cost, environmentally-friendly alternative to inorganic solar cells for meeting rising energy demands. Their study is scheduled for the March 19 issue of ACS’ Journal of the American Chemical Society, a weekly publication.

Easing concerns about pollution from manufacture of solar cells

harminka — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 13:38:34 -0600

In a finding that could help ease concerns about the potential environmental impact of manufacturing solar cells, scientists report that the manufacture of solar cells produces far fewer air pollutants than conventional fossil fuel technologies.

Special coating greatly improves solar cell performance

harminka — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 07:55:57 -0600

The energy from sunlight falling on only 9 percent of California’s Mojave Desert could power all of the United States’ electricity needs if the energy could be efficiently harvested, according to some estimates.