Solar cells from algae

Fossil diatoms could be used to produce silicon in the future

07-Oct-2024 - The HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hildesheim/Holzminden/Göttingen is researching the suitability of fossil algae as a raw material for solar cells in cooperation with the University of Oran in Algeria. These algae are found in so-called diatomaceous earth, also known as diatomite. ...

Breaking open the AI black box, team finds key chemistry for solar energy and beyond

Screening process for new chemical candidates becomes dramatically simpler than blindly searching around chemical space

10-Sep-2024 - Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool for researchers, but with a significant limitation: The inability to explain how it came to its decisions, a problem known as the “AI black box.” By combining AI with automated chemical synthesis and experimental validation, an interdisciplinary team of ...

Small steps for electrons – big steps for the solar cells of the future?

Novel measurement method helps to improve perovskite solar cells in a targeted manner

19-Jul-2024 - Physicists at the University of Regensburg and the University of Oxford are using an ultrafast microscope to reveal how electrons move in a new type of solar cell material. The results provide insights into how the material can be used even more efficiently for photovoltaics. In the search for ...

New solar cell developed

Decisive breakthrough for rapid energy transfer

23-Feb-2024 - Physicists at Paderborn University have used complex computer simulations to develop a new design for significantly more efficient solar cells than previously available. A thin layer of organic material, known as tetracene, is responsible for the increase in efficiency. The results have now been ...

How cleaning agents can damage photovoltaic modules

21-Sep-2023 - In order for the sunlight to be optimally utilized by photovoltaic modules, they must be cleaned regularly. Chemical cleaning additives are intended to enhance the cleaning effect. However, these can bring with them a high potential for damage. The Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP ...

When heat turns into electricity at 1000 °C

New perspectives for producing electricity from industrial waste heat

13-Sep-2023 - Together with the Technical University of Hamburg and Aalborg University, researchers from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon have developed a new selective emitter based on iridium for thermophotovoltaics. Iridium was thus used for the first time as a material for an emitter, and in the experiments, ...

HZB and University of Jena found Helmholtz Institute for Polymers in Energy Applications

Developing internationally competitive energy materials

22-Jun-2023 - Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (Helmholtz Centre for Materials and Energy, HZB) are jointly founding the "Helmholtz Institute for Polymers in Energy Applications" (HIPOLE) on 1 July 2023. The aim of HIPOLE is to develop sustainable polymer materials for energy ...

Breakthrough in Understanding Charge Transport in Organic Solar Cells

Researchers reveal electronic defect landscape in organic solar cells and describe their density of states using a power law for the first time

14-Jun-2023 - Researchers from the Professorship of Optics and Photonics of Condensed Matter (headed by Prof. Dr. Carsten Deibel) of Chemnitz University of Technology and other partner institutions are currently intensively working together on solar cells made of novel organic semiconductors, which can be ...

Exciton fission – one photon in, two electrons out

Exciton fission could be extremely useful for high-efficiency photovoltaics

24-Apr-2023 - Photovoltaics, the conversion of light to electricity, is a key technology for sustainable energy. Since the days of Max Planck and Albert Einstein, we know that light as well as electricity are quantized, meaning they come in tiny packets called photons and electrons. In a solar cell, the energy ...

Research reveals thermal instability of solar cells but offers a bright path forward

15-Feb-2023 - A new type of solar technology has seemed promising in recent years. Halide perovskite solar cells are both high performing and low cost for producing electrical energy – two necessary ingredients for any successful solar technology of the future. But new solar cell materials should also match ...