Pink film 'antenna' can double solar cell efficiency
Megan Treacy for TreeHugger: When we think of antennas we mainly think of the type that transmit and receive radio waves, letting us listen to radio stations in our car or watch TV in our homes, but in this case the researchers are using the term to describe a new thin film material that captures more of the light spectrum, converting it into wavelengths of light that solar cells can convert into electricity.
Many scientists are working on building better solar cells, but researchers at the University of Connecticut wanted to figure out how to boost the efficiency of the technology we already have. Thus, the antenna.
As Phys.org reports, Challa V. Kumar, Ph.D and his team "built an antenna that collects those unused blue photons and converts them to lower energy photons that the silicon can then turn into current."
"Many groups around the world are working hard to make this kind of antenna, and ours is the first of its kind in the whole world," Kumar said. Cont'd...
JA Solar Released New Double-glass Modules
As the installation of solar electricity generation grows at an unprecedented pace world-widely and the performance of PV products gets improved steadily, the demand for PV modules of high quality and reliability that can operate in the harsh environment without rapid degradation has greatly increased.
LG And Borrego Solar Collaboration Expands To Bring More High-Efficiency Modules To U.S. Commercial Customers
Expanded Commercial Integrator Agreement Covers 135 Megawatts of Advanced LG Panels, Including New Mono X NeON 2, Through 2016
26,000 aleo solar modules for SUNfarming solar park in Mecklenburg
The module manufacturer from Prenzlau in Brandenburg covers the entire range of photovoltaic projects with its portfolio
Solar PV Modules Market Trends, Industry Share 2014: Acute Market Reports
Recent Market Research Report of the Title "Global Solar PV Modules Market Size and Segment Forecasts To 2014" Has Been Added to Acute Market Reports Database
TÜV Rheinland Issues First Qualification Plus Certificate to Prism Solar Technologies
Modules Pass New More Stringent Testing
SunPower Corporation Launches X-Series Solar Panels for Japan's Rooftop Market
X-Series Solar Panels Deliver World-Record Efficiency and Unsurpassed Performance, Reliability and Aesthetics; Product on Display at PV Japan This Week
Solar Frontier Surpasses 3 GW of Global CIS Module Shipments
Equivalent to 650,000 energy-independent Japanese households
The US panel price rising improves average panel price in July.
Affected by the final results of the US DOC AD & CVD review, Chinese module makers are forced to rise up their module selling prices in the US, which results in also pulling up the average selling price of other manufacturers, including Korean, European, and even American companies. Hence, the average multi-crystalline module price is moderately moving up this week
Intersolar - WINAICO's 300 W monocrystalline PERC module passes IEC certification tests by TÜV Rheinland
WINAICO's 300 W 60-cell monocrystalline PERC module passes IEC certification tests conducted by TÜV Rheinland, and is ready for shipping to all major markets worldwide
Intersolar - Canadian Solar to Attend 2015 Intersolar North America Conference & Expo in San Francisco
2015 Intersolar-North America conference and expo July 14-16 at Moscone Convention Center
JA Solar Achieves New Class A Fire Rating Test in Accordance With UL1703 for Type-1 Modules
JA Solar the first company mass producing PV modules in China to pass the test.
New method can make cheaper solar energy storage
Storing solar energy as hydrogen is a promising way for developing comprehensive renewable energy systems. To accomplish this, traditional solar panels can be used to generate an electrical current that splits water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen, the latter being considered a form of solar fuel. However, the cost of producing efficient solar panels makes water-splitting technologies too expensive to commercialize. EPFL scientists have now developed a simple, unconventional method to fabricate high-quality, efficient solar panels for direct solar hydrogen production with low cost.
The work is published in Nature Communications.
Many different materials have been considered for use in direct solar-to-hydrogen conversion technologies but "2-D materials" have recently been identified as promising candidates. In general these materials—which famously include graphene—have extraordinary electronic properties. However, harvesting usable amounts of solar energy requires large areas of solar panels, and it is notoriously difficult and expensive to fabricate thin films of 2-D materials at such a scale and maintain good performance.
Kevin Sivula and colleagues at EPFL addressed this problem with an innovative and cheap method that uses the boundary between two non-mixing liquids. The researchers focused on one of the best 2-D materials for solar water splitting, called "tungsten diselenide". Past studies have shown that this material has a great efficiency for converting solar energy directly into hydrogen fuel while also being highly stable. Cont'd...
PVinsights : Poly-silicon price is improved in China in July, but still weak outside China.
The average poly-silicon price has risen up owing to Chinese poly-silicon makers. Because of the expiration of the trade handbooks of their Chinese customers, a number of non-Chinese poly-silicon makers are seeing their sales to China being challenged by Chinese suppliers who now benefit from more price competitiveness. Chinese poly-silicon makers now have the leverage to pull up their selling price quotations within China, while non-Chinese suppliers have to adjust to the levy of import duties and AD & CVD charges on their products
Emirates Insolaire Installs World's First Coloured Solar Panels in Switzerland
The building, boasting of its unique blue façade - thanks to the Emirates Insolaire glass panels.
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