Low-cost, widely available materials cool solar panels without using energy to boost electricity output and produce liters of water at the same time.
Creating novel materials by combining layers with unique, beneficial properties seems like a fairly intuitive process—stack up the materials and stack up the benefits. This isn’t always the case, however. Not every material will allow energy to travel through it the same way, making the benefits of one material come at the cost of another.
Using cutting-edge tools, scientists at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) User Facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the Institute of Experimental Physics at the University of Warsaw have created a new layered structure with 2D materials that exhibits a unique transfer of energy and charge. Understanding its material properties may lead to advancements in technologies such as solar cells and other optoelectronic devices. The results were published in the journal Nano Letters.
Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are a class of materials structured like sandwiches with atomically thin layers. The meat of a TMD is a transition metal, which can form chemical bonds with electrons on their outermost orbit or shell, like most elements, as well as the next shell. That metal is sandwiched between two layers of chalcogens, a category of elements that contains oxygen, sulfur, and selenium.
Recycling options and technology are slowly emerging as millions of tons of solar panels reach their end of life, threatening to fill landfills.
This is according to a press release by the institution published on Tuesday.
The PV-leaf
Called PV-leaf, the innovation “uses low-cost materials and could inspire the next generation of renewable energy technologies.”
Chromium compounds could soon replace the rare and expensive metals osmium and ruthenium.
Scientists have found a way to make solar panels and phone screens from readily available chromium. This is according to a report.
The article highlights how a major breakthrough sees material “almost as rare as gold” replaced by everyday components, significantly reducing “the price of manufacturing the technology that relies on it.”
Continue reading “Scientists find way to create solar power from common chromium” »
New research suggests a new solar energy design, inspired by nature, may pave the way for future renewable energy technologies.
Photovoltaic solar energy is obtained by converting sunshine into electricity —and researchers from Imperial have developed a new leaf-like design with increased efficiency.
The new photovoltaic leaf (PV-leaf) technology uses low-cost materials and could inspire the next generation of renewable energy technologies.
A satellite demonstrator showed that energy collected from solar panels in space can be beamed to Earth using diffuse microwaves.
It reduces water wastage and carbon emissions.
“When it comes to photovoltaics, dust is the enemy. This is not a trivial concept, even if it may seem so at first glance; actually, the problem of soiling – the accumulation of dust, dirt or sand on PV panels – can decrease, sometimes significantly, the performance of solar power systems,” stated an Enel Green Power press release published on Friday.
Desert areas
Continue reading “This new robot cleans solar panels without using any water” »
Transparent electronic devices could have numerous valuable real-world applications. Among other things, they could enable the creation of new optical devices, smart gear or wearables, invisible solar panels and integrated communication systems.
Researchers at Xidian University, Southeast University and Wuhan University of Technology recently developed new, highly promising, transparent metadevices based on quasi-one-dimensional surface plasmon polariton (quasi-1D SPP) structures. These devices, introduced in a paper published in Nature Electronics, could be used to develop optically and radiofrequency transparent wireless communication systems and other promising technologies.
“Transparent and invisible electronic device is a fascinating goal that scientists and engineers are enthusiastically pursuing,” Prof. Bian Wu, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told Tech Xplore. “Currently, transparent electronics typically rely on the intrinsic properties of optically conductive materials, which are not radiofrequency transparent and have low operating efficiency. SSPs can be used to concentrate, channel and enhance energy. However, the use of SPPs in the development of optical and radiofrequency transparency remains blank.”
Perovskite-based light emitting diodes (LEDs) could be the key to developing internet bandwidths orders of magnitude faster than what is now available, while also keeping energy consumption and cost down, researchers have claimed. Other potential applications lie in laser technology.
Perovskite is a natural mineral first identified in Russia’s Ural Mountains in 1,839 and composed primarily of calcium, titanium, and oxygen – all in the 10 most common elements in the Earth’s crust. The mineral gave its name to a class of materials based on the same elements but doped with small quantities of others. For almost the first two centuries after their discovery, these perovskites were largely a curiosity of interest only to chemists.
More recently, however, the ability of perovskites to display different electrical properties depending on the atoms with which they are doped has turned them into a wonder material. Perovskites now represent one of the most efficient ways to trap energy from sunlight and are continuing to improve at unprecedented rates. Moreover, perovskites have the potential to be manufactured far more cheaply than traditional silicon-based solar cells, while a layer of perovskite over a silicon base could capture more light than either on their own.
