Solar power tagged posts

Dendritic Hematite Nanoarray Photoanode Modified with a Conformal Titanium Dioxide Interlayer for Effective Charge Collection. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2017; DOI: 10.1002/anie.201705772

Modification of a hematite photoanode by a conformal titanium dioxide interlayer for effective charge collection. Earth-abundant, cheap metals are promising photocatalytic electrode materials in artificial photosynthesis. The nanostructured electrode benefits from two separate effects. This design combining nanostructure with chemical doping may be exemplary for improved “green” photocatalytic systems.

With the help of a catalyst, sunlight can drive the oxidation of water to oxygen and the release of electrons for current generation, a process also called artificial photosynthesis...

These Solar Glasses with lens-fitted semitransparent organic solar cells supply two sensors and electronics in the temples with electric power. Credit: KIT

Semitransparent organic solar cells in eyeglasses to power microprocessor, example of future solar-powered mobile applications. Organic solar cells are flexible, transparent, and light-weight – and can be manufactured in arbitrary shapes or colors. Thus, they are suitable for a variety of applications that cannot be realized with conventional silicon solar cells. In the Energy Technology journal, researchers from KIT now present sunglasses with colored, semitransparent solar cells applied onto lenses that supply a microprocessor and two displays with electric power...

1. The breakthrough electrode prototype (right) can be combined with a solar cell (left) for on-chip energy harvesting and storage.
2. A western swordfern leaf magnified 400 times, showing the self-repeating fractal pattern of its veins.

Graphene-based electrode prototype, inspired by fern leaves, could be the answer to solar energy storage challenge. Inspired by an American fern, researchers have developed a groundbreaking prototype that could be the answer to the storage challenge still holding solar back as a total energy solution. The new type of electrode created by researchers from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, could boost the capacity of existing integrable storage technologies by 3000%.

But the graphene-based prototype also opens a new path to the development of flexible ...

Masdar Institute postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Jin You Lu, characterizes the nanoporous solar absorber with UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy. Credit: Tahra Al Hammadi, Masdar Institute News

“Our research team has developed a simple and cost-effective fabrication technique to create solar absorbers that can harness a greater share of the solar spectrum, thus increasing their efficiencies, while also maintaining low emission levels,” said Masdar Institute’s Dr. TieJun Zhang, Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Materials Engineering.

Dr. Nicholas X...