New ways of squeezing out greater efficiency from solar photovoltaic cells are emerging from computer simulations and lab tests conducted by a team of physicists and engineers.
Currently solar cells are difficult to handle, expensive to purchase and complicated to install. The hope is that consumers will one day be able to buy solar cells from their local hardware store and simply hang them like posters on a wall. A recent study has shown that the dream is one step closer to reality.
Researchers have shed light on a basic process that could improve future solar cells. They have now directly measured the rate of hole transfer between identical porphyrin compounds in their ground states. These results are key to understanding the fundamental processes underlying charge separation and have applications for improving the efficiency of solar cells.
Scientists from leading European research institutions in the field of solar-to-fuel energy conversion call for unified action and substantial support for novel clean fuel technologies as well as a paradigm change in Europe’s current energy policy. This is crucial if Europe is to maintain its environmental stability and economic development.
Currently a team of MIT researchers are using platinum electrodes and ficus plants to discover the truth of feeble electric currents from trees. They have come up with an answer. They state that the pH difference between the soil and the living tree is the cause of creating electric currents. Now scientists are debating [...]