photovoltaic panels tagged posts

Hybrid energy system: One roof for electricity, heating and cooling

Hybrid Energy System: One Roof for Electricity, Heating and Cooling
Prototype of the hybrid sun–universe energy harvester for the simultaneous generation of electricity, heating, and cooling. Credit: Gan Huang, KIT

Photovoltaic panels generate electricity, solar thermal collectors provide heat, while cooling is usually supplied by air conditioning systems that themselves consume electricity. As a result, buildings require different technologies competing for the limited space available on roofs and facades.

A solution developed by a team led by Dr. Gan Huang at KIT’s Institute of Microstructure Technology, by contrast, simultaneously provides cooling, electricity and heating from a single surface. This hybrid PDRC-solar system combines photovoltaic and solar thermal technologies with passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC)...

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Charting a Path to Cheaper Flexible Solar Cells

A researcher at Georgia Tech holds a perovskite-based solar cell, which is flexible and lighter than silicon-based versions.
Credit: Rob Felt, Georgia Tech

Researchers have reported new findings about perovskite solar cells that could lead the way to devices that perform better. There’s a lot to like about perovskite-based solar cells. They are simple and cheap to produce, offer flexibility that could unlock a wide new range of installation methods and places, and in recent years have reached energy efficiencies approaching those of traditional silicon-based cells.

But figuring out how to produce perovskite-based energy devices that last longer than a couple of months has been a challenge...

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