Solar cell
hideA solar cell or photovoltaic cell is a device that converts light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect. Sometimes the term solar cell is reserved for devices intended specifically to capture energy from sunlight, while the term photovoltaic cell is used when the light source is unspecified. Assemblies of cells are used to make solar panels, solar modules, or photovoltaic arrays. Photovoltaics is the field of technology and research related to the application of solar cells in producing electricity for practical use. The energy generated this way is an example of solar energy (also called solar power).
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News tagged with solar cells
3-D system based on optical fiber could provide new options for photovoltaics
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Nov 02, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (9) |
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Converting sunlight to electricity might no longer mean large panels of photovoltaic cells atop flat surfaces like roofs.
Porphyrin Dimers Increase Efficiency of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
Oct 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Porphyrins are most commonly thought of as the pigment in red blood cells, but now scientists have found that porphyrins can also be used to increase the efficiency of an inexpensive type ...
Xerox Develops Silver Ink for Cheap Printable Electronics
Oct 27, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (11) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Xerox has developed an ink which can be used to print circuits onto plastics, films, and textiles. Although circuits printed on flexible materials aren't new, Xerox's method may be cheap and ...
Toyota to release solar charger for electric vehicles
Oct 27, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (25) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Toyota is developing a solar charging station for electric cars and plug-in hybrids, making a green technology even greener. It has also designed a battery charger for mounting inside an electric ...
Sharp Develops Solar Cell with World's Highest Conversion Efficiency of 35.8%
Oct 22, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (26) |
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Sharp Corporation has achieved the world's highest solar cell conversion efficiency (for non-concentrator solar cells) of 35.8% using a triple-junction compound solar cell.
INL, ISU team on nanoparticle production breakthrough
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Oct 19, 2009 |
5 / 5 (14) |
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Every hour, the sun floods Earth with more energy than the entire world consumes in a year. Yet solar power accounts for less than 0.002 percent of all electricity generated in the United States, primarily ...
Carbon nanotubes may cheaply harvest sunlight
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Oct 19, 2009 |
3.4 / 5 (9) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new alternative energy technology relies on the element most associated with climate change: carbon.
Major advance in organic solar cells
Oct 19, 2009 |
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Professor Guillermo Bazan and a team of postgraduate researchers at UC Santa Barbara's Center for Polymers and Organic Solids (CPOS) today announced a major advance in the synthesis of organic polymers for plastic solar cells. ...
More efficient solar power with space technology
Oct 16, 2009 |
2 / 5 (2) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new system from an Italian company uses weather satellite data to estimate the potential of solar cell power plants and monitor their performance. The approach helps to give a faster return ...
Silicon brittle? Not this kind!
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Oct 14, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (3) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Silicon, the most important semiconductor material of all, is usually considered to be as brittle and breakable as window glass. On the nanometer scale, however, the substance exhibits very ...
Toward better solar cells: Chemists gain control of light-harvesting paths
Oct 08, 2009 |
3 / 5 (2) |
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University of Florida chemists have pioneered a method to tease out promising molecular structures for capturing energy, a step that could speed the development of more efficient, cheaper solar cells.
Silver Nanoparticles Give Polymer Solar Cells A Boost
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Oct 05, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (13) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Small bits of metal may play a new role in solar power. Researchers at Ohio State University are experimenting with polymer semiconductors that absorb the sun’s energy and generate electricity. The goal: ...
Solar Cell Researcher Explores Nanotech Ideas
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Oct 05, 2009 |
5 / 5 (5) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A UT Dallas researcher envisions a time soon when plastic sheets of solar cells are inexpensively stamped out in factories and then affixed to cell phones, laptops and other power-hungry mobile ...
Engineers produce 'how-to' guide for controlling the structure of nanoparticles
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Sep 24, 2009 |
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Tiny objects known as nanoparticles are often heralded as holding great potential for future applications in electronics, medicine and other areas. The properties of nanoparticles depend on their size and structure. Now researchers ...
IMEC unveils promising mechanically-stacked GaAs/Ge multijunction solar cell
Sep 22, 2009 |
3 / 5 (2) |
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At the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference (Hamburg, Germany), IMEC presents a mechanically-stacked GaAs/Ge multijunction solar cell. This is the first promising demonstrator of IMEC’s novel technology ...
