Solar - Travors

Towards more environment friendly, non-toxic, and flexible thin-film solar cells

May 13, 2022 by Tony Grantly

Journal Reference: Jakapan Chantana, Yu Kawano, Takahito Nishimura, Abdurashid Mavlonov, Takayuki Negami, Takashi Minemoto. Formation of Native In x (O,S) y Buffer through Surface Oxidation of Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se) 2 Absorber for Significantly Enhanced Conversion Eff. Solar RRL, 2022; 2200250 DOI: 10.1002/solr.202200250 For instance, copper indium gallium selenide (CIGSe) is a thin-film solar cell that offers several … Read more

Physicists develop ideal testing conditions of solar cells for space applications

May 8, 2022 by Tony Grantly

Journal Reference: Ahmad R. Kirmani, Brandon K. Durant, Jonathan Grandidier, Nancy M. Haegel, Michael D. Kelzenberg, Yao M. Lao, Michael D. McGehee, Lyndsey McMillon-Brown, David P. Ostrowski, Timothy J. Peshek, Bibhudutta Rout, Ian R. Sellers, Mark Steger, Don Walker, David M. Wilt, Kaitlyn T. VanSant, Joseph M. Luther. Countdown to perovskite space launch: Guidelines to … Read more

Solar nanowire-nanotube filter offers easy access to clean drinking water

April 12, 2022 by Tony Grantly

Journal Reference: E. Horváth, J. Gabathuler, G. Bourdiec, E. Vidal-Revel, M. Benthem Muñiz, M. Gaal, D. Grandjean, F. Breider, L. Rossi, A. Sienkiewicz, L. Forró. Solar water purification with photocatalytic nanocomposite filter based on TiO2 nanowires and carbon nanotubes. npj Clean Water, 2022; 5 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41545-022-00157-2 It has become imperative then that we develop … Read more

Solar cell keeps working long after sun sets

April 6, 2022 by Tony Grantly

Journal Reference: Sid Assawaworrarit, Zunaid Omair, Shanhui Fan. Nighttime electric power generation at a density of 50 mW/m2 via radiative cooling of a photovoltaic cell. Applied Physics Letters, 2022; 120 (14): 143901 DOI: 10.1063/5.0085205 In Applied Physics Letters, by AIP Publishing, researchers from Stanford University constructed a photovoltaic cell that harvests energy from the environment during … Read more

Solar hydrogen: Better photoelectrodes through flash heating

April 5, 2022 by Tony Grantly

Journal Reference: Ronen Gottesman, Isabella Peracchi, Jason L. Gerke, Rowshanak Irani, Fatwa F. Abdi, Roel van de Krol. Shining a Hot Light on Emerging Photoabsorber Materials: The Power of Rapid Radiative Heating in Developing Oxide Thin-Film Photoelectrodes. ACS Energy Letters, 2022; 7 (1): 514 DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.1c02220 Metal-oxide thin film photoelectrodes are particularly promising for these … Read more

When worlds collide: Studying impact craters to uncover the secrets of the solar system

March 30, 2022 by Tony Grantly

Journal Reference: J.R. Elliott, H.J. Melosh, B.C. Johnson. The role of target strength on the ejection of martian meteorites. Icarus, 2022; 375: 114869 DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114869 Brandon Johnson studies the latter, using information about impacts to understand the history and the composition of planets, moons, asteroids and meteorites throughout the solar system. “Impact cratering is the … Read more

Wind, solar could replace coal power in Texas

March 21, 2022 by Tony Grantly

Journal Reference: Richard Morse, Sarah Salvatore, Joanna H. Slusarewicz, Daniel S. Cohan. Can wind and solar replace coal in Texas? Renewables: Wind, Water, and Solar, 2022; 9 (1) DOI: 10.1186/s40807-022-00069-2 The new work led by environmental engineer Daniel Cohan and senior computer science major Richard Morse of Rice’s George R. Brown School of Engineering uses … Read more

Meteorites that helped form Earth may have formed in the outer solar system

March 16, 2022 by Tony Grantly

Journal Reference: H. Kurokawa, T. Shibuya, Y. Sekine, B. L. Ehlmann, F. Usui, S. Kikuchi, M. Yoda. Distant Formation and Differentiation of Outer Main Belt Asteroids and Carbonaceous Chondrite Parent Bodies. AGU Advances, 2022; 3 (1) DOI: 10.1029/2021AV000568 As the Sun grew dense enough to initiate nuclear fusion reactions and become a star, it scavenged … Read more

Materials scientists finding solutions to biggest hurdle for solar cell technology

March 15, 2022 by Tony Grantly

Journal Reference: Shaun Tan, Tianyi Huang, Ilhan Yavuz, Rui Wang, Tae Woong Yoon, Mingjie Xu, Qiyu Xing, Keonwoo Park, Do-Kyoung Lee, Chung-Hao Chen, Ran Zheng, Taegeun Yoon, Yepin Zhao, Hao-Cheng Wang, Dong Meng, Jingjing Xue, Young Jae Song, Xiaoqing Pan, Nam-Gyu Park, Jin-Wook Lee, Yang Yang. Stability-limiting heterointerfaces of perovskite photovoltaics. Nature, 2022; DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04604-5 … Read more

How to clean solar panels without water

March 12, 2022 by Tony Grantly

Journal Reference: Sreedath Panat, Kripa K. Varanasi. Electrostatic dust removal using adsorbed moisture–assisted charge induction for sustainable operation of solar panels. Science Advances, 2022; 8 (10) DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abm0078 But cleaning solar panels currently is estimated to use about 10 billion gallons of water per year — enough to supply drinking water for up to 2 … Read more