Phys.org October 22, 2024 The photovoltaic effect can occur without metal/semiconductor or semiconductor/semiconductor interfaces in materials with spontaneous electric polarization due to a lack of spatial inversion symmetry known as bulk photovoltaic (BPV) effect which facilitates photoelectric conversion. Researchers in Japan reported an experimental demonstration of the BPV effect in α-In2Se3 films along the out-of-plane direction by using graphite films as transparent electrodes. A short-circuit current was detected under white light irradiation, and the sign was inverted upon inverting the direction of electric polarization, thus suggesting its origin to be the shift current, distinct from the effect occurring at the […]
Tag Archives: Solar energy
Solar-powered desalination system requires no extra batteries
MIT News October 8, 2024 In the developing world, where there are unreliable energy sources of water, they rely increasingly on saline groundwater. Traditional renewable desalination technologies require sizable energy storage for sufficient water production, leading to increased cost, maintenance and complexity. An international team of researchers (USA – MIT, UK, Germany) demonstrated a simple control strategy using photovoltaic electrodialysis (PV-ED) to enable direct-drive optimally controlled desalination at high production rates. This control scheme was implemented on a fully autonomous, community-scale PV-ED prototype system and operated for 6 months in New Mexico on real brackish groundwater. The prototype fully harnessed 94% […]
Restoring quantum dot solar cells as if ‘flattening crumpled paper’
Nanowerk October 4, 2024 All-inorganic CsPbI3 perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) hold significant potential for next-generation photovoltaics due to their unique optoelectronic properties. Initially used long-chain ligands in PQDs synthesis stabilized the black phase but hindered charge transport when employed to solar cells, necessitating their replacement with shorter ones leading to the formation of surface defects and loss of tensile strain, resulting in the transition to the undesired orthorhombic phase and compromising PQD solar cell performance. To address these issues researchers at the Republic of Korea developed an efficient ligand-exchange process utilizing a multifaceted anchoring ligand, 2-thiophenemethylammonium iodide (ThMAI). The larger […]
Stacking molecules like plates improves organic solar device performance
Phys.org August 6, 2024 To further improve the efficiency of optoelectronic devices to convert sun light into electricity, researchers in Japan investigated the relationship between aggregation and Exciton binding energy (Eb) and tetraphenylethylene (TPE). Although theoretical calculations and physical measurements in solution showed no apparent differences between DBC-RD and TPE-RD, the pristine films incorporating these molecules showed significantly different levels of electron affinity, ionization potential, and optical gap. Also, DBC-RD had a smaller Eb value compared with that of TPE-RD. However, these molecules showed similar Eb values under dispersed conditions, suggesting that the decreased Eb of DBC-RD in pristine film […]
China Will Have 1 Trillion Watts of Solar by the end of 2025
Next Big Future July 3, 2024 The National Energy Administration (NEA) reports China added 217GW of solar power and 76GW of wind power in 2023 – to reach a total capacity of 1,050GW. They need 15 Tesla Megapack factories (150,000 per year) worth of fixed storage every year for the additional wind and solar. This will increase as China accelerates solar and wind installation to meet AI data center demand. By May 2024, China had installed 690GW of solar capacity and 460GW of wind, which made up 38% of its power generation capacity. China is averaging about 1 MWh/year (2.8kWh/day) […]
Researchers determine structure of new metal tellurate material with potential uses in solar energy and more
Phys.org April 3, 2024 An international team of researchers (Austria, Sweden, Canada, Finland) grew crystals of CoTeO4 crystals by the application of chemical vapor transport reactions in closed silica ampoules, starting from polycrystalline material in a temperature gradient with TeCl4 as transport agent. Crystal structure analysis of CoTeO4 showed noticeable improvement over the statistical significance and accuracy of the previously reported structural model. CoTeO4 did not undergo a structural phase transition upon heating, but decomposed stepwise (Co2Te3O8 as intermediate phase) to Co3TeO6 as the only crystalline phase stable above 770 °C. Temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility and dielectric measurements suggested antiferromagnetic ordering […]
Breakthrough synthesis method improves solar cell stability
Science Daily October 26, 2023 2D multilayered halide perovskites have emerged as a platform for understanding organic–inorganic interactions, tuning quantum confinement effects and realizing efficient and durable optoelectronic devices. However, reproducibly synthesizing 2D perovskite crystals with a perovskite-layer thickness using existing crystal growth methods is challenging. An international team of researchers (Rice University, Houston, Northwestern University, University of Pennsylvania, France) demonstrated a kinetically controlled space confinement for the growth of phase-pure Ruddlesden–Popper and Dion–Jacobson 2D perovskites. Phase-pure growth was achieved by progressively increasing the temperature for a fixed time or the crystallization time at a fixed temperature, which allowed for […]
Turning bacteria into solar factories with semiconductor nanoclusters
Nanowerk July 28, 2023 Semiconductor-based biointerfaces are typically established either on the surface of the plasma membrane or within the cytoplasm. In Gram-negative bacteria, the periplasmic space, characterized by its confinement and the presence of numerous enzymes and peptidoglycans, offers additional opportunities for biomineralization, allowing for nongenetic modulation interfaces. A team of researchers in the US (University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, National Renewal Energy Laboratory) demonstrated semiconductor nanocluster precipitation containing single- and multiple-metal elements within the periplasm. The periplasmic semiconductors were metastable and displayed defect-dominant fluorescent properties. The defect-rich (i.e., the low-grade) semiconductor nanoclusters produced in situ could still […]
Caltech Demonstrates Space Based Solar
Next Big Future June 6, 2023 Researchers at Caltech launched Space Solar Power Project (SSPD) launched into orbit a prototype to beam power to Earth and that transmitted power from orbit to another receiver in orbit. They confirmed that MAPLE (Microwave Array for Power-transfer Low-orbit Experiment) can transmit power successfully to receivers in space. They programed the array to direct its energy toward Earth. It could survive the trip to space and operate there. Microwave Array for Power-transfer Low-orbit Experiment (MAPLE) and one of the three key experiments within SSPD-1 includes a small window through which the array can beam […]
Newly developed hydrogel nanocomposite for the mass production of hydrogen
Phys.org April 27, 2023 Despite recent progress in designing highly active photocatalysts, inefficient solar energy and mass transfer, the instability of catalysts and reverse reactions impede their practical large-scale applications. Storing solar energy in chemical bonds aided by heterogeneous photocatalysis is desirable for sustainable energy conversion. Researchers in South Korea designed a floatable photocatalytic platform constructed from porous elastomer–hydrogel nanocomposites. The nanocomposites at the air–water interface featured efficient light delivery, facile supply of water and instantaneous gas separation. Consequently, a high hydrogen evolution rate of 163 mmol h–1 m–2 was achieved using Pt/TiO2 cryoaerogel, even without forced convection. When fabricated in an area […]