Photonics
Fluorescent Organic Dye Boosts Light Absorption, Recycles Electrons in Solar Cells
16 May 2013POSTED IN Research
Adding fluorescent organic squaraine dye into polymer solar cells considerably boosts light absorption and recycles electrons, scientists at Yale University have discovered. Consequentially, power conversion efficiency (PCE) increased by 38% in the experiments.
Nanostructure-Coated Black Silicon Solar Cells Via ALD
09 May 2013POSTED IN Research
Aspiring to improve photovoltaic energy conversion efficiency by using latest advances in nanotechnology, researchers at Aalto University, Finland, are combining “black silicon” with the method of atomic layer deposition (ALD). As a result, the nanostructures fabricated by plasma dry etching minimise sunlight reflection. Moreover, a conformal, thin passivating layer, deposited onto the nanostructures through ALD, prevents charge carriers from recombining at the surface.
IBM Develops Economical Sunflower CPV System
29 April 2013POSTED IN Research
IBM’s solar concentrator system — called an economical High Concentration PhotoVoltaic Thermal (HCPVT) system — could revolutionise solar energy. Mounted on innovative concrete solar trackers, the sunflower-inspired parabolic dish uses a multitude of mirror facets to concentrate sunlight onto several microchannel-liquid cooled receivers with photovoltaic converter chips. Scientists are hoping to develop an affordable photovoltaic system that can collect and convert 75–80% of the incoming solar radiation into energy.
Pentacene Coating Could Push Solar Cell Efficiency Beyond Shockley-Queisser Limit
25 April 2013POSTED IN Research
Thanks to a new coating developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), solar cells could produce two electrons for every particle of light harvested at the green and blue wavelengths. The research advance could be the key to solar cell efficiencies beyond the Shockley-Queisser limit, which proposes that the ultimate conversion efficiency can never exceed 34% for a single optimised semiconductor junction.
Trends in Solar PV Coatings
22 April 2013POSTED IN Applications Features
One of the key technological challenges for the solar industry is the need to improve solar cell efficiency. However, any sunlight that is reflected off of a solar module does not reach the solar cells and therefore does not contribute to energy output. Up to 4% of light is reflected on an untreated glass cover - and the bottom line is that this light is lost and cannot be converted into electrical energy.
Daytime Cooling Technology Sends Heat Into Outer Space
15 April 2013POSTED IN Research
A new type of passive solar structure designed by researchers at Stanford University in California (US) combines a thermal emitter and a solar reflector into one device that could cool buildings even in full sunshine. The daylight cooling technology, also applicable to car roofs and other structures, sends heat back into outer space and could hold promises for solutions to offset global warming.
Bottom-Up Growth Key to 4.9% Efficient QD Solar Cells
09 April 2013POSTED IN Research
New research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Massachusetts (US), shows that bottom-up-grown one-dimensional nanostructures can significantly improve the performance of colloidal quantum dot (QD) solar cells. In fact, the MIT team demonstrated a solar power conversion efficiency of 4.9%, which is among the highest reported for zinc-oxide-based quantum dot photovoltaics (QDPV).
Solar3D Files Patent Application for 3D Solar Cell
26 February 2013POSTED IN Applications News
Solar3D, Inc., the developer of a 3-dimensional solar cell technology to maximize the conversion of sunlight into electricity, today announced that the Company has filed a Patent Cooperation Treaty international application for its next generation solar cell design and methods of fabrication in the United States Receiving Office. Pursuant to current regulations, all countries that are currently PCT contracting states were designated in the PCT application.
Layered Oxide Heterostructures for Ultra-Efficient, Ultra-Thin Solar Cells
24 February 2013POSTED IN Research
In their quest for advanced solar cell materials, researchers at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna), Austria, in collaboration with colleagues from Germany and the US, are exploring a new class of materials where single atomic layers are combined to create novel materials with entirely new properties. Computer simulations revealed that layered oxide heterostructures hold great potential for ultra-efficient, ultra-thin solar cells.
If Darwin Had Designed a Solar Cell…
11 February 2013POSTED IN Research
Using a mathematical search algorithm based on natural evolution, researchers at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois (US) have designed a geometrically patterned light-scattering layer that could make organic solar cells more efficient and less expensive by maximizing the time light is trapped in the device.
Coherent Acquires Lumera Laser
21 December 2012POSTED IN Business News
Coherent, Inc. announced that it acquired Lumera Laser GmbH of Kaiserslautern, Germany, a manufacturer ultrafast lasers for micro-electronics, and precision materials processing.
Inspection and Measurement of PV Ingots, Wafers and Cells
13 November 2012POSTED IN Applications Features
It cannot be repeated often enough. Inspection of solar panels during production improves the quality, lifetime and energy conversion efficiency, as well as production cost. When inspection takes place from the earliest moments in production, it helps pick out the downgraded silicon material before it can obtain added value through later stages of manufacturing or cause machine downtime from parts broken due to defects. So, careful testing of wafers and PV cells during the entire production process is very important. Even during the pre-wafer stage, the ingots and bricks should be checked.
Next-Generation Anti-Reflective Coatings
03 November 2012POSTED IN Research
The next generation of antireflection (AR) coatings has arrived and could help bump solar cell efficiency considerably by employing a promising new class of optical nanomaterials that allow for near-arbitrary control of the refractive index, conceivably the most important materials constant in optics and optoelectronics. Could these advanced coatings present a critical forward push for solar photovoltaics toward becoming a mainstream source of worldwide electrical power generation?
Multiple Exciton Generation Boosts Solar Efficiency
30 October 2012POSTED IN Research
Scientists from the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have demonstrated the first high-efficiency quantum dot solar cell (QDSC) with an external quantum efficiency (EQE) exceeding 100% for photons with energies in the solar range. Moreover, these QDSCs, which potentially could be fabricated at very low cost, could reach 44% efficiency through Multiple Exciton Generation (MEG). Current commercial technologies are limited to 31%.
Grant to Fund Solar Energy Research in Israel
26 October 2012POSTED IN Applications News
The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust announced a gift of $15 million over three years to fund joint research in solar energy and biofuels between the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.
Novus Media Today Announces "Novus Light Technologies Today"
09 October 2012POSTED IN Business News
Solar Novus Today's parent company, Novus Media Today, announced the launch of Novus Light Technologies Today, an online business-to-business publication that is focused on light-based technologies and features original reporting from industry experts located around the globe.
Thinner, Cheaper Solar Cells with Sandwiched Nanostructures
04 July 2012POSTED IN Research
Researchers at the North Carolina State University (NCSU) in Raleigh, North Carolina (US) may have found a way to significantly enhance solar absorption using sandwiched nanostructures. The technique would allow manufacturers to produce much thinner, thus, much cheaper, solar cells in less time while maintaining or even improving conversion efficiency.
Exciton Research Rewrites Design Rules for Polymers
25 June 2012POSTED IN Research
Lin X. Chen at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory is taking a fresh approach to improving organic solar cells by investigating the exciton, a “quasi-particle” few other researchers have focused on in the quest to help this promising yet seemingly lab-bound technology break out into the real world.
“Blackest Solar Cell” Absorbs 99.7% Sunlight
09 May 2012POSTED IN Research
Scientists at the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) together with Natcore Technology, Inc. have created the “blackest” solar cell to date, a black silicon solar cell that absorbs 99.7% of the sunlight. The scientists believe black silicon technology will make photovoltaics competitive with fossil fuels without subsidy. Could the combination of lower cost and higher energy output quickly make black silicon the anti-reflection control technology of choice?
Photonics West 2013: Call for Papers
09 May 2012POSTED IN Business News
A call for papers has been issued for SPIE Photonics West 2013, which will take place on 2-7 February 2013 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California (US).
