Quantum Dots Archives – The Green Optimistic

Converting Heat To Electrical Power Efficiently Using Quantum Dots

Mila Luleva — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 22:39:02 +0000

Microcircuits might become much more efficient, with the development of a new type of nanoscale engine, which uses quantum dots to generate electricity. Professor Andrew Jordan, a theoretical physics of the University of Rochester explains that the system is simple and it is based on particular properties of quantum dots, which harvest heat. But simple, […]

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Nanowire-Embedded Quantum Dots Break Solar Cell Efficiency Records

Mila Luleva — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 20:20:15 +0000

An international team of scientists from Sweden, Switzerland, Spain and the US established a process through which quantum dots can self-assemble at optimal locations in nanowires. This discovery might just be the key to improving not only solar cells, but also quantum computing and lighting devices. A press release by NREL from last week, stated […]

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Usable Quantum Dot Solar Cells Finally Produced at NREL

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:33:22 +0000

A new type of solar cell developed by a team of researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, is able to harvest the energy that photovoltaic cells usually lose as heat. Although the efficiency is for now only 5 percent, the process could be improved in the future. The researchers led by […]

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Light Harvesting Nanoantennas Made With Plant DNA and Artificial Molecules

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 05:55:51 +0000

A University of Toronto research team has reported the first time construction of what they call "artificial molecules." These molecules have been inspired by photosynthesis and use nanotechnology to harvest sunlight.

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New Quantum Dot-Enabled Solar Cells Doubling Output Current With Same Lighting Conditions

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 14:05:28 +0000

Cost-efficient and energy-efficient solar cells could be right around the corner. These so-called "third-generation" photovoltaics begin to emerge nowadays and dismiss a theory stated in 1961 by William Shockley and Hans Queisser, who showed that there is a theoretical 31 percent limitation in what regards the maximum efficiency for a single solar cell.

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Quantum Dots Could Double the Efficiency of Solar Cells

Mike Sandru — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 12:47:39 +0000

A team of scientists from the University of Texas at Austin have discovered a way to double the efficiency of solar cells. The process consists in capturing more of the available energy in sunlight (including energy at the high end of the scale), using nanoscale crystals called quantum dots.

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