Tiny carbon tubes beam out stronger light by stealing a boost from internal vibrations—a discovery that could revolutionize solar power and advanced electronics.
Category: solar power – Page 3
Protective film on perovskite solar cells offers 1,000-hour durability in extreme heat and humidity
A new perovskite solar cell (PSC) demonstrates remarkable resilience even in high heat conditions, thanks to an innovative protective film. The research team suggests that these findings represent a significant step toward commercialization by addressing thermal stability issues.
A research team, led by Professor Dong Suk Kim at the UNIST Graduate School of Carbon Neutrality, in collaboration with Professor Tae Kyung Lee from Gyeongsang National University (GNU), has successfully engineered a heat-resistant PSC capable of withstanding high-temperature encapsulation processes.
This innovative solar cell demonstrated a remarkable initial efficiency of 25.56% and maintained over 85% of its initial efficiency after operating under conditions of 85°C and 85% relative humidity for up to 1,000 hours. The findings are published in the journal Energy & Environmental Science.
Ultrafast spin-exchange in quantum dots enhances solar energy and photochemical efficiency
Quantum dots are microscopic semiconductor crystals developed in the lab that share many properties with atoms, including the ability to absorb or emit light, a technology that Los Alamos researchers have spent nearly three decades evolving. Through carrier multiplication, in which a single absorbed photon generates two electron-hole pairs, called excitons, quantum dots have the unique ability to convert photons more efficiently to energy.
“Our work demonstrates how purely quantum mechanical spin-exchange interactions can be harnessed to enhance the efficiency of photoconversion devices or photochemical reactions,” says Victor Klimov, the team’s principal investigator at the Lab. “This not only deepens our fundamental understanding of quantum mechanical phenomena but also introduces a new paradigm for designing advanced materials for energy applications.”
In this latest research, published in the journal Nature Communications, Los Alamos researchers improved this ability by introducing magnetic manganese impurities into quantum dots. This novel approach to highly efficient carrier multiplication leverages ultrafast spin-exchange interactions mediated by manganese ions to capture the energy of energetic (hot) carriers generated by incident photons and convert it into additional excitons.
Study sheds light on solar farm impacts to property values
As solar energy becomes more affordable and widespread, farmland has emerged as a prime location for large-scale solar development. But with this expansion comes a persistent question: Do nearby property values suffer when solar farms move in?
In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers in Virginia Tech’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences looked at millions of property sales and thousands of commercial solar sites to shed some light on one of the most commonly cited downsides of large-scale solar adoption.
“As the U.S. scales up renewable energy, solar installations are increasingly being sited near homes and on farmland, and this often leads to pushback from residents worried about aesthetics or property value loss,” said Chenyang Hu, a graduate research assistant in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics and the paper’s lead author.
Novel crystal strategy yields brighter, longer-lasting all-inorganic perovskite LEDs
Perovskite has broad application prospects in solar cells, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and detectors due to its high luminescent efficiency and low cost. However, electrons and holes in traditional perovskite materials often struggle to effectively recombine and emit light. As a result, the strongly space-confined method is commonly employed to improve luminescence efficiency. Furthermore, how to enhance the brightness of LEDs and extend their lifespan has become a top research priority in this field.
In a study published in Nature, Prof. Xiao Zhengguo’s team from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has proposed a novel strategy based on weakly space-confined, large-grain crystals of all-inorganic perovskite to prepare perovskite films with larger crystalline grains and higher temperature resistance. Researchers increased the brightness of perovskite LEDs (PeLEDs) to over 1.16 million nits and extended their lifespan to more than 180,000 hours.
Researchers developed the strategy based on the weakly space-confined technique. They first added specific compounds—hypophosphorous acid and ammonium chloride—to the perovskite material. Then, they prepared a new type of perovskite thin film with larger crystalline grains and fewer defects using a high-temperature annealing process.
How bigger molecules can help quantum charge flow last longer
A team at EPFL and the University of Arizona has discovered that making molecules bigger and more flexible can actually extend the life of quantum charge flow, a finding that could help shape the future of quantum technologies and chemical control. Their study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In the emerging field of attochemistry, scientists use laser pulses to trigger and steer electron motion inside molecules. This degree of precision could one day let us design chemicals on demand. Attochemistry could also enable real-time control over how chemical bonds break or form, lead to the creation of highly targeted drugs, develop new materials with tailor-made properties, and improve technologies like solar energy harvesting and quantum computing.
But the big roadblock is decoherence: Electrons lose their quantum “sync” within a few femtoseconds (a millionth of a billionth of a second), especially when the molecule is large and floppy. Researchers have tried different methods to sustain coherence—using heavy atoms, freezing temperatures etc. Because quantum coherence vanishes at macroscopic scales, most approaches to sustaining coherence operate on the same assumption: larger and more flexible molecules were assumed to lose coherence more rapidly. What if that assumption is wrong?
Artificial Photosynthesis: Current Advancements and Future Prospects
Artificial photosynthesis is a technology with immense potential that aims to emulate the natural photosynthetic process. The process of natural photosynthesis involves the conversion of solar energy into chemical energy, which is stored in organic compounds. Catalysis is an essential aspect of artificial photosynthesis, as it facilitates the reactions that convert solar energy into chemical energy. In this review, we aim to provide an extensive overview of recent developments in the field of artificial photosynthesis by catalysis. We will discuss the various catalyst types used in artificial photosynthesis, including homogeneous catalysts, heterogeneous catalysts, and biocatalysts.
Why We’re Trying To Colonize Space
This docu-series covers all three of Earth’s next landing options – Asteroids, the Moon and Mars. The programmes explore the scientific reasons for and against each celestial body’s case to be the next that humans might colonise. They explore the technical and logistical problems and benefits of each – EG temperature at night and day, ability or inability to harness solar power and more.
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