Tag Archives: solar cells

Researchers Find Simple, Cheap Way to Increase Solar Cell Efficiency

By Guest PostJanuary 3, 2014Sciencechinese academy, donor:acceptor morphology, electron acceptor, electron donor, electronic structure, energy particles, energy source, fabrication costs, harald ade, highest, homo, jianhui hou, light, lijun huo, lowest, lumo, maojie zhang, molecular structure, north Carolina, occupied molecular orbit, pbt op, polymer, researcher, sciences, solar cells, state university, unoccupied molecular orbit, xray analysis

Researchers from North Carolina State University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have found an easy way to modify the molecular structure of a polymer commonly used in solar cells. Their modification can increase solar cell efficiency by more than 30 percent.

Polymer-based solar cells have two domains, consisting of an electron acceptor and an electron donor material. Excitons are the energy particles created by solar cells when light is absorbed. In order to be harnessed effectively as an energy source, excitons must be able to travel quickly to the interface of the donor and acceptor domains and retain as much of the light’s energy as possible. (more…)

Using IBM’s Crowdsourced Supercomputer, Harvard Rates Solar Energy Potential of 2.3 Million New Compounds

By Guest PostJune 24, 2013Technologyaids, alan aspuru guzik, america, basic materials data, Berkeley, boinc, bright idea, cancer, carbon compounds, cepdb database, clean energy project, crowdsourced supercomputer, cyrus wadia, diseases, harvard, harvard rates, ibm, linux computer, mac, malaria, mgi, new york university, organic, organic semiconductors, plastic bags, rare earth elements, solar cells, solar energy materials, solar energy potential, sunlight into electricity, university of california, viktors berstis, White House, windows, world community grid

White House Applauds Citizen Science, Big Data Initiative

CAMBRIDGE, MA – 24 Jun 2013: The search for more versatile and less expensive materials for solar energy received a boost today as Harvard launched a free database that catalogues the suitability of 2.3 million organic, carbon compounds for converting sunlight into electricity.

Harvard’s Clean Energy project — which screened the molecules using World Community Grid, an IBM-managed virtual supercomputer that harnesses the surplus computer power donated by volunteers — is believed to be the most extensive investigation of quantum chemicals ever performed. (more…)

The fluorescent future of solar cells

By Guest PostMay 13, 2013Scienceabsorb light, andre d taylor, cell layer, electrical power, fluorescent future, fluorescent organic dye, fret, higher efficiency photovoltaics, jing shun huang, matthew y sfeir, mechanical flexibility, nilay hazari, polymer solar cells, power conversion efficiency, scientists at yale, solar cells, tenghooi goh, xiaokai li

For some solar cells, the future may be fluorescent.

Scientists at Yale have improved the ability of a promising type of solar cell to absorb light and convert it into electrical power by adding a fluorescent organic dye to the cell layer. This squaraine dye boosts light absorption and recycles electrons, improving the conversion of light into energy. The results suggest a new route for the development of lower-cost, higher-efficiency photovoltaics, the scientists said.

“People can apply our approach in designing advanced solar cells with higher efficiencies,” said André D. Taylor, the assistant professor of chemical and environmental engineering at Yale who led the research, published May 5 online in the journal Nature Photonics. (more…)

Bio for nano

By Guest PostMarch 26, 2013Scienceautomotive engineers, bio for nano, bio inspired ideas, biomolecules, darrin pochan, dirt simple, electronic devices, fabrication, functionality, inorganic nanoparticles, integration of theory, jeffrey saven, kristi kiick, non biological materials, peptides, photovoltaics, polypeptides, protein molecules, proteins, prototypes, solar cells, synthesize, thousands of molecules, university of pennsylvania

Engineers work to create new biomaterials with energy technology applications

When automotive engineers want to create a new car, they don’t build thousands of prototypes. Instead, they create computer models and run simulations for performance, efficiency and desirability before a model is selected for fabrication.

University of Delaware materials science professors Darrin Pochan and Kristi Kiick are taking a similar approach to building new nanomaterials from biomolecules — namely peptides and proteins — that could increase the efficiency of photovoltaics, also known as solar cells, and other electronic devices. (more…)

Energy-momentum Spectroscopy: New Technique Could Improve Optical Devices

By Guest PostMarch 10, 2013Scienceangle, electronic excitations, energy momentum spectroscopy, grapheme, interference, jon schuller, keliang he, kymissis group, layered nanomaterials, leds, light absorbing devices, light emitting, molybdenum disulfide, mos2, new technique, optical devices, organic semiconductor, orientation of light, polarization, ptcda, rainbow colors, rashid zia, sinan karaveli, solar cells, source, theanne schiros, thin films, two dimensional material

Understanding the source and orientation of light in light-emitting thin films — now possible with energy-momentum spectroscopy — could lead to better LEDs, solar cells, and other devices that use layered nanomaterials.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A multi-university research team has used a new spectroscopic method to gain a key insight into how light is emitted from layered nanomaterials and other thin films.

The technique, called energy-momentum spectroscopy, enables researchers to look at the light emerging from a thin film and determine whether it is coming from emitters oriented along the plane of the film or from emitters oriented perpendicular to the film. Knowing the orientations of emitters could help engineers make better use of thin-film materials in optical devices like LEDs or solar cells. (more…)

Researchers Create Semiconductor ‘Nano-Shish-Kebabs’ With Potential for 3-D Technologies

By Guest PostMarch 1, 2013Science3 d devices, 3 d structure, chun li, crystalline layers, crystalline structure, crystals, electric charges, germanium sulfide, ges, ges nanowire, heterostructure, large surface area, linyou cao, miaofang chi, molybdenum sulfide, mos2, nano shish kebab, nanoscale structure, next generation sensors, next generation supercapacitors, north Carolina, one dimensional nanowire, photodetectors, photonic properties, researcher, semiconductor, solar cells, state university, three dimensional technologies, two dimensional nanosheets, weak oxidation, yifei yu

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a new type of nanoscale structure that resembles a “nano-shish-kebab,” consisting of multiple two-dimensional nanosheets that appear to be impaled upon a one-dimensional nanowire. However, the nanowire and nanosheets are actually a single, three-dimensional structure consisting of a seamless series of germanium sulfide (GeS) crystals. The structure holds promise for use in the creation of new, three-dimensional (3-D) technologies.

The researchers believe this is the first engineered nanomaterial to combine one-dimensional and two-dimensional structures in which all of the components have a shared crystalline structure. (more…)

Chemists Advance Clear Conductive Films

By Guest PostAugust 8, 2012Sciencebisacetylacetonatedichloride, brown university, chemist, conductive films, conductivity, conductivity performance, cross section, david paine, electron microscopy, guanglai li, indium acetylacetonate, indium tin oxide, ito, ito crystals, jonghun lee, melissa petruska, nanocrystal solution, polyimide, shouheng sun, solar cells, spinning, sunghwan lee

Thin, conductive films are useful in displays and solar cells. A new solution-based chemistry developed at Brown University for making indium tin oxide films could allow engineers to employ a much simpler and cheaper manufacturing process.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — In a touch-screen display or a solar panel, any conductive overlay had better be clear. Engineers employ transparent thin films of indium tin oxide (ITO) for the job, but a high-tech material’s properties are only half its resume. They must also be as cheap and easy to manufacture as possible. In a new study, researchers from Brown University and ATMI Inc. report the best-ever transparency and conductivity performance for an ITO made using a chemical solution, which is potentially the facile, low-cost method manufacturers want.

“Our technology is already at the performance level for application in resistive touch screens,” said Jonghun Lee, a Brown chemistry graduate student and lead author of the paper posted online Aug. 1 by the Journal of the American Chemical Society. (more…)

Photovoltaics from Any Semiconductor

By Guest PostJuly 29, 2012Sciencealex zettl, berkeley lab, cadmium telluride, coins, copper oxide, crystals of silicon, electric field, electrical current, feng wang, metal oxides, non-toxic, onur ergen, p n junctions, phosphides, photovoltaics, renewable energy, semiconductor, sfpv, solar cells, solar energy, steven byrnes, sulfides, will gannett, william regan

Berkeley Lab Technology Could Open Door to More Widespread Solar Energy Devices

A technology that would enable low-cost, high efficiency solar cells to be made from virtually any semiconductor material has been developed by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley. This technology opens the door to the use of plentiful, relatively inexpensive semiconductors, such as the promising metal oxides, sulfides and phosphides, that have been considered unsuitable for solar cells because it is so difficult to tailor their properties by chemical means.

“It’s time we put bad materials to good use,” says physicist Alex Zettl, who led this research along with colleague Feng Wang. “Our technology allows us to sidestep the difficulty in chemically tailoring many earth abundant, non-toxic semiconductors and instead tailor these materials simply by applying an electric field.” (more…)