solar cell efficiency Archives – The Green Optimistic

Coffee to Boost Solar Cell Performance

Effie P — Thu, 23 May 2019 19:53:27 +0000

You’re a graduate engineer. You’ve been working on perovskite solar panels. Perovskite describes a class of crystalline compounds which are easy and cheap to make, and as a result they are promising candidate materials to form light-harvesting layers on solar panels. However, if the crystals are exposed to atmospheric humidity and oxygen, they degrade rapidly. […]

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Research Finds New Way to Double Solar Cell Efficiency

Samantha Joe — Mon, 07 Dec 2015 20:11:21 +0000

Researchers from the University of Twente in the Netherlands has shown that it may be possible to double the amount of energy production from a solar cell. These cells are typically flat, but when minuscule silicon pillars are added to the surface, the production of electricity was found to double. This research was published in […]

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Moth Eyes and Lotus Leaves Inspire New Ultra-Efficient Solar Panel Coating

Mila Luleva — Tue, 19 May 2015 18:53:33 +0000

Moths’ eyes and lotus leaves inspire scientists from Oak Ridge National Lab to develop a water repellent solar panel coating that boosts the efficiency by up to six percent. A team from Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL) developed an anti-reflective, water repellent, self-cleaning, highly durable and fog resistant coating for solar panels. The coating comprises of nanoscale […]

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Moth Eyes Inspire Technology to Boost Solar Cell Efficiency

Mila Luleva — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 19:24:51 +0000

Scientists have developed yet another nature-inspired technology, which holds the potential to boost the efficiency of solar cells. The creature, which they mimicked is the moth, or its eyes, to be more precise. Yet again, a successful use of biomimicry finds its way in a prestigious scientific journal, showing how nature can inspire great minds […]

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Semprius’ Four-junction, Four-terminal Solar Cell Achieves Record High Efficiency

Mila Luleva — Sat, 03 May 2014 11:18:19 +0000

In an attempt to develop high efficiency solar cells that can surpass polluting energy generating facilities in terms of amounts of electricity output, a team of engineers from Semprius Inc. and Solar Junction, together with scientists from University of Illinois, came up with a four-junction, four-terminal stacked solar cell, which has a 43.9 percent efficiency with a potential […]

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New Efficiency Record in Solar Cells Obtained With Perfect InGaN Crystal

Mila Luleva — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 13:00:44 +0000

The world of solar is reaching new heights, as scientists and engineers fight to achieve maximum efficiency at minimal cost by inventing new technologies and materials almost every day. The latest breakthrough comes from a research conducted by US scientists, who claim to have established a new and improved way to grow indium gallium nitride […]

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New Organic Solar Cells Restore Their Efficiency By Mimicking Plant Leaves

Mila Luleva — Fri, 16 Aug 2013 18:44:30 +0000

A team of researchers from North Carolina State University developed self-healing solar cells, which reinvigorate themselves as their performance decreases with time in a very effective, cheap and environmentally friendly manner. Each cell is based on organic systems and has a network of channels, which mimic the function of the organic vascular systems of plants. […]

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New 4G Solar Cells Combine Inorganic and Organic Materials to Boost Efficiency

Mila Luleva — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 14:40:34 +0000

A new range of combinations of organic and inorganic materials is found to set the grounds for a hybrid fourth generation more efficient and more cost-effective solar cells. The scientist behind the discovery, professor Ravi Silva of the University of Surrey, claims that the new technology could significantly improve the harvesting and conversion of solar […]

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Atwater’s Light-Splitting Solar Cell Could Be 50% Efficient

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:35:28 +0000

The ability to dissociate light into fundamental colors could make today’s solar panels 50 percent efficient. If you compare this figure to the 20 percent efficiency found in many solar cells on the market, that’s a game-changer. Harry Atwater, a professor of materials science and applied physics at Caltech thinks he has the solution. The […]

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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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Low-Temp Meltable Alloy Increases Solar Cell Efficiency

Mila Luleva — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 20:03:31 +0000

The field of solar power and photovoltaic cells has developed enormously over the past decade, providing opportunities for even greater innovations. One of these is presented in the latest issue of Advanced Materials, a team from the Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research in Bangalore. The researchers proposed using low temperature meltable alloys to […]

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New Multi-junction Solar Cell Breaks Efficiency Records

Mila Luleva — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 15:39:33 +0000

The 50 percent conversion efficiency barrier in multi-junction photovoltaic development has the potential to be broken with the novel triple-junction solar cell proposed by researchers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory-the Electronics Technology and Science Division, in collaboration with the Imperial College London and MicroLink Devices, Inc., Niles, Ill.. According to Robert Walters, Ph.D., NRL […]

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Solar Frontier Establishes New Record in Thin Film Efficiency: 19.7%

Benji Jerew — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 06:47:15 +0000

We’ve been covering a lot of advancements in the area of photovoltaic [PV] solar power, from how long solar panels last, decades that is, to breaking the efficiency barrier, which has stood at 18.6% for the last ten years. Some prototype panels have boasted higher efficiency values, up to 44% in the case of a […]

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Learning From Deep-Sea Bacteria to Increase Solar Panel Efficiency

Benji Jerew — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 20:00:53 +0000

Photovoltaic [PV] solar panels are a really green way to generate electricity. They are simple, have zero emissions, and last for decades. They also take up space, and the more electricity required, the more space they use, and not everyone has a whole lot of space they’d like to give up for solar panel installations. […]

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Record Breaking Solar Cell Efficiency of 44% Achieved at NREL

Mila Luleva — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 17:53:45 +0000

The world record for energy efficiency of photovoltaic cells has been broken again. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), together with their partner Solar Junction, reported the incredible 44% efficiency achieved through improvement of the already existing multi-junction PV cells. The layered semiconductors used in the cells were previously optimized to capture various wavelengths of […]

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Triple-Junction Compound Solar Cell Gives Record Conversion Efficiency

Mila Luleva — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 19:25:24 +0000

A triple-junction compound solar cell, with three stacked photo-absorption layers, has the highest conversion efficiency. This incredible achievement came from a research and development initiative at Sharp Corporation. It is promoted by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) on the theme of “R&D on Innovative Solar Cells. The new world record of […]

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New Anti-Reflection Coating Increases Solar Cells’ Efficiency

Mila Luleva — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 19:59:55 +0000

One of the disadvantages of solar energy generation is that great amount of light is reflected away by the solar cells, which reduces their efficiency. A new anti-reflection coating, however, might be the link that has been missing. Professor E. Fred Schubert, of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Department of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering, and his […]

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Economical Anti-Reflection Coating Increases Solar Cell Efficiency By 3%

Janina Lazo-Cruz — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 13:20:47 +0000

Brisbane Materials of Australia has recently developed a 110-nm thick anti-reflection coating with refractive index of 1.25 that they claim to be the most cost-effective and highest performing coating to date, improving a photovoltaic cell’s efficiency by as much as 3%. Anti-reflection coatings are applied on top of solar cells’ glass cover, which protects them […]

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Improved Solar Cells Provide Astonishing Energy Conversion Efficiency

Mila Luleva — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 14:34:36 +0000

At the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition that took place in Frankfurt between 24th and 28th of September, Professor Christophe Ballif and his team of researchers from the Photovoltaics Laboratory (PVlab)- EPFL’s Institute of Microengineering in Neuchatel, presented a striking innovation. They claimed that as little as $2500 in photovoltaic cells could easily […]

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Solar3D Claims New Solar Cells 200% More Efficient Than Standard Ones

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 10:57:45 +0000

Solar3D, a company saying it will revolutionize solar power, has just published a thorough simulation analysis of its new 3D solar cells. They’re saying their solar cell technology is 200% more efficient in harvesting the energy of sunlight than conventional counterparts. The company’s 3D solar cells are better from the fact that they can harvest […]

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Record-Breaking Efficiency for Polymer Solar Cells Achieved by UC Researchers

Ovidiu Sandru — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 03:03:19 +0000

University of California researchers led by Yang Yang, professor of materials science and engineering, have developed a polymer solar cell that achieves a 10.6 percent efficiency. The discovery comes at less than a year since the same research group reached an 8.6 percent efficiency, in July. So far, polymer solar cells have been traditionally inefficient. Yang’s […]

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Plants vs Solar Cells: Which is The Most Efficient Energy Converter?

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 20 May 2011 18:26:45 +0000

Both solar cells and plants process sunlight one way or the other, but there's a catch: one of them is more efficient. Guided by common sense, we'd say that the plants' billions of years of "experience" in capturing and storing energy will win. Is it so?

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Konarka's Thin Plastic Organic Solar Cell Breaks New Efficiency Record For Its Class

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 09:40:16 +0000

Konarka, one of the early adopters of thin plastic solar cells has recently unveiled news about their latest prototype achieving a light conversion efficiency of 8.3 percent.

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Newer and More Efficient Solar Cells Simulated by Coppin State University Scientists

Mike Sandru — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 19:57:23 +0000

Researchers at Coppin State University have announced their latest breakthrough that consists in simulating the most efficient solar cell in the world. The new type of cell is four percent more efficient than those made by Boeing Company's CA-based Spectrolab, known for simulating solar cells in recent years.

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Sharp Breaks New Record With Its Concentrated Photovoltaic Cells

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:24:22 +0000

Sharp has worked closely with the University of Tokyo, and aims breaking the record again with 45% by 2015 and even to reach 50% by 2025. The company says that at 45% the cost of solar will finally reach that of nuclear and thermal power plants.

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Magic Sticker Makes Solar Cells Up to 12 Percent More Powerful

Ovidiu Sandru — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 05:56:10 +0000

Genie Lens Technologies has developed the easiest solution yet: a sticker that applied to the solar cell, will direct the incoming light onto the light-sensitive surface, greatly reducing reflections and improving the efficiency.

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Innovalight’s New Substance Could Increase Solar Cell Efficiency to 80%

Mike Sandru — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 20:30:31 +0000

A few weeks ago, we wrote that the solar cell company Innovalight has beaten a new record of efficiency in the solar cells field. Now, the same company announced that it developed a new substance (“solar ink”), based on nanotechnology, that could drastically boost the efficiency of solar cells to 80 percent. If this substance […]

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Organic Photovoltaic Solar Cells: A New Graphene-Based, Flexible Kind of Cell

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:31:52 +0000

A team of researchers from the University of Southern California has published a paper in the most recent journal ACS Nano, revealing a new approach to solar cells. Specifically, they combined graphene, one of the most recent and studied materials discovered, and organic (Graetzel) solar cells. Their project has produced organic photovoltaic cells (OPV).

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Specially Shaped Nanopillars Make Solar Cells Absorb 99% of Light and Use 99% Less Silicon

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:32:36 +0000

To increase the light absorption of solar cells, researchers from the University of California, Berkeley have perfected a nanostructure that could make up cheaper and more efficient solar cells and light detectors. Their structures absorb 99 percent of visible light and use 1 percent of the silicon semiconductor needed for flat crystalline silicon solar cells.

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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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Efficiency Record for Silicon Ink Solar Cells Broken by Innovalight

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:32:19 +0000

Innovalight has a proprietary platform, named Cougar, which can adapt existing solar cell manufacturing processes that companies now own, to their cheaper silicon ink solar cells production line. There is only one step that needs to be added to current manufacturing lines, with -they say- huge profits.

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Nano-Abrasive Material Makes Self-Cleaning Solar Cells

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:21:12 +0000

Scientists from GIT (Georgia Institute of Technology) have invented a new solar cell surface treatment that could be applied to existing solar cells technology, and that could boost the light absorption into the cell. It also has self-cleaning capabilities.

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New BiFeO3 Crystal Can Improve Solar Cells Efficiency & Price

Cristi — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 06:14:07 +0000

Physicists at Rutgers University discovered a crystal made of bismuth, iron and oxygen(BiFeO3) which can revolution electronics industry and highly improve solar cell efficiency.

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