World's first center for solar batteries

Direct electrochemical storage of energy from sunlight

29-Nov-2024 - The world's first center for solar batteries and optoionic technologies is being established in Bavaria. The Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Max Planck Society (MPG) have set the course for this with the support of the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs. With the SolBat Center, a ...

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. ...

Solar cells for the Internet of Things

Seed capital and (more) customers for Empa spin-off

25-Sep-2024 - Perovskia Solar has won more than ten leading companies from the Internet of Things (IoT) industry as customers and received over two million Swiss francs in seed capital. The multi-award-winning Empa spin-off prints customized solar cells for almost any electronic device. These can be produced ...

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 ...

More Electricity from the Sun

Surface modification for more effective textured perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells

02-Aug-2024 - A coating of solar cells with special organic molecules could pave the way for a new generation of solar panels. As a research team reports in the journal Angewandte Chemie, this coating can increase the efficiency of monolithic tandem cells made of silicon and perovskite while lowering their ...

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 ...

Solar Technology: Innovative Light-Harvesting System Works Very Efficiently

Four Dyes in an Ingenious Arrangement

28-Jun-2024 - Würzburg researchers from the Bavarian initiative Solar Technologies Go Hybrid are reporting progress on the road to more efficient utilisation of solar energy: they have developed an innovative light-harvesting system. In order to convert sunlight into electricity or other forms of energy as ...

Taiwanese start-up causes a sensation: sports shoes made from recycled solar modules?

TSGC pioneers comprehensive recycling of solar modules with unrivaled recovery rate

18-Jun-2024 - TSGC, a technology company from Taiwan, is making waves in Southern California by revolutionizing the solar module recycling industry. Unlike competitors that merely reduce waste from end-of-life solar modules, TSGC specializes in complete recycling and reuse of materials to achieve zero waste ...

Light, flexible, efficient: Perovskite-based tandem solar cells

From the lab to the roof

07-May-2024 - All-perovskite tandem solar cells could soon pick up where silicon solar cells reach their limits. These highly efficient, lightweight and flexible cells have already proven themselves in the laboratory – now, Empa researchers are working on scaling them up and making them ready for the real ...

Highest power efficiency achieved in flexible solar cells using new fabrication technique

02-Apr-2024 - Flexible solar cells have many potential applications in aerospace and flexible electronics, but low energy conversion efficiency has limited their practical use. A new manufacturing method has increased the power efficiency of flexible solar cells made from perovskite, a class of compounds with ...