Solar cell

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A 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

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Water droplets direct self-assembly process in thin-film materials

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 2

You can think of it as origami - very high-tech origami. Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a technique for fabricating three-dimensional, single-crystalline silicon structures from thin films by coupling ...


Porphyrin Dimers Increase Efficiency of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Porphyrin Dimers Increase Efficiency of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Oct 30, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (12) | comments 1

(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 ...


Solar LED lamps

Solar Cells with LEDs Provide Inexpensive Lighting

Technology / Energy

created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (17) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Of the 1.5 billion people in developing countries who do not have electricity, many rely on kerosene lamps for light after the sun goes down. But now, researchers from Denmark have designed ...


Argonne 'homegrown' hybrid solar cell aims for low-cost power

Argonne 'homegrown' hybrid solar cell aims for low-cost power

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (12) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have refined a technique to manufacture solar cells by creating tubes of semiconducting material and then "growing" ...


Measuring Electron Orbitals

Measuring Electron Orbitals

Physics / General Physics

created Nov 16, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (8) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, it has been possible to measure electron density in individual molecular states using what is known as the photoelectric effect. Now published in Science, this method repres ...


3-D system based on optical fiber could provide new options for photovoltaics

3-D system based on optical fiber could provide new options for photovoltaics

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Nov 02, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (10) | comments 0

Converting sunlight to electricity might no longer mean large panels of photovoltaic cells atop flat surfaces like roofs.


Commercialization of new solar technology to boost solar efficiency

Technology / Energy

created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (8) | comments 1

A pioneer in solar power in the 1990s before it became "sexy," University of Houston Professor Alex Freundlich recently entered into a collaborative research agreement with U.K.-based start-up QuantaSol for the development ...


The Future in Two Words: Ionic Liquids

The Future in Two Words: Ionic Liquids

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Nov 13, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (8) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Ionic liquids are molecular solutions that have a wide range of potential applications, including next-generation solar cells, hydrogen fuel cells and lithium batteries.