http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. A Toledo, Ohio, physicist has implemented a new mathematical approach that accelerates some complex computer calculations used to simulate the formation of micro-thin materials. http://phys.org/news224860215.html Physics Tue, 17 May 2011 14:10:28 EST news224860215 (PhysOrg.com) -- For the past few years, researchers have been using quantum dots to increase the light absorption and overall efficiency of solar cells. Now, researchers have taken a step further, demonstrating that quantum dots with a built-in electric charge can increase the efficiency of InAs/GaAs quantum dot solar cells by 50% or more. http://phys.org/news224489989.html Nanotechnology Fri, 13 May 2011 07:50:01 EST news224489989 (PhysOrg.com) -- "I have a slide that has a photo of a cornfield and a big photovoltaic array," says Robert Blankenship, a scientist who studies photosynthesis at Washington University in St. Louis. "When I give talks I often ask the audience which one is more efficient. Invariably the audience votes overwhelmingly in favor of photosynthesis. " http://phys.org/news224427078.html Biology Thu, 12 May 2011 14:00:10 EST news224427078 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley have demonstrated a way to fabricate efficient solar cells from low-cost and flexible materials. The new design grows optically active semiconductors in arrays of nanoscale pillars, each a single crystal, with dimensions measured in billionths of a meter. http://phys.org/news166375114.html Nanotechnology Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:50:04 EST news166375114 (PhysOrg.com) -- Ohio State University researchers have developed a new method for making extremely pure, very small metal-oxide nanoparticles. http://phys.org/news166271644.html Nanotechnology Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:34:43 EST news166271644 (PhysOrg.com) -- A century after German physicist Gustav Mie derived the math to explain why the colors in some stained glass windows look especially resplendent in the sunlight, a team of Stanford engineers has built upon his work to potentially improve a means of harvesting energy from the sun. http://phys.org/news166207278.html Nanotechnology Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:42:06 EST news166207278 Though the solar industry today predominately produces solar panels made from crystalline silicon, they remain relatively expensive to make. New players in the solar industry have instead been looking at panels that can harvest energy with CIGS (copper-indium-gallium-selenide) or CIGS-related materials. CIGS panels have a high efficiency potential, may be cheaper to produce and would use less raw materials than silicon solar panels. But unfortunately, manufacturing of CIGS panels on a commercial scale has thus far proven to be difficult. http://phys.org/news166192650.html Nanotechnology Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:38:04 EST news166192650 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new generation of 'nano-structured' millimetre-sized solar cells that could convert the sun's energy to electricity more than twice as efficiently as current technology, is the subject of an Imperial College London exhibit called 'A Quantum of Sol' at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition 2009, which opens to the public today. http://phys.org/news165586933.html Nanotechnology Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:23:36 EST news165586933 Round-the-world balloooning pioneer Bertrand Piccard unveiled his solar-powered aircraft in Switzerland on Friday, ready for another trend-setting circumnavigation of the globe powered solely by the sun. http://phys.org/news165236897.html Technology Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:09:00 EST news165236897 A project under way at the U.S. Department of Energy's Savannah River National Laboratory will study how special coatings that mimic structures found in nature can increase the usefulness of solar energy as a vital part of the nation's future energy strategy. http://phys.org/news165153193.html Nanotechnology Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:54:04 EST news165153193 New research by a team of University of Toronto scientists could lead to substantial advancements in the performance of a variety of electronic devices including digital cameras. http://phys.org/news164553830.html Technology Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:40:02 EST news164553830 An international group of scientists has developed a polymer-based solar cell with an ability not yet seen in similar cells: almost every single photon it absorbs is converted into a pair of electric-charge carriers, and every one of those pairs is collected at the cell's electrodes. http://phys.org/news164458857.html Physics Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:01:52 EST news164458857 Germany is one of the leading countries when it comes to efforts related to renewable energy sources. Therefore, it is no surprise that the Institute of Condensed Matter and Solid State Optics at Friedrich-Schiller-Universität in Jena, Germany, is a place where scientists are hard at work looking for ways to improve current solar cell technology. http://phys.org/news164035942.html Nanotechnology Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:32:52 EST news164035942 (PhysOrg.com) -- If solar cells were transparent they could be fitted to windows and building facades. Physical modeling helps in the development of suitable materials for transparent electronics and thus in creating the basis for transparent solar cells. http://phys.org/news163180542.html Chemistry Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:56:19 EST news163180542 At "Laser 2009" in Munich, Germany, June 15 to 18, Fraunhofer researchers will be demonstrating how laser technology can contribute to optimizing the manufacturing costs and efficiency of solar cells. http://phys.org/news162814613.html Technology Fri, 29 May 2009 11:19:40 EST news162814613 (PhysOrg.com) -- Substantial advances for applications of nanocrystals in the fields requiring a continuous output of photons and high quantum efficiency may soon be realized due to discovery of non-blinking semiconductor nanocrystals. This discovery recently announced by scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory, University of Rochester, Cornell University and Eastman Kodak Company is an important step to the use of the nanocrystals in various practical devices ranging from low-threshold lasers to the solar cells and biological imaging and tracking. The complete findings of the study are published on line in the May 10, 2009, issue of the journal Nature. http://phys.org/news162753193.html Nanotechnology Thu, 28 May 2009 18:13:54 EST news162753193 Sharp Corporation has developed and will introduce into the global market the new LR0GC02 Solar Module for Mobile Devices that features a thickness of 0.8 mm, the industry's thinnest level. http://phys.org/news162573437.html Technology Tue, 26 May 2009 16:18:08 EST news162573437 Graphene is an atomically thin sheet of carbon that has attracted significant attention due to its potential use in high-performance electronics, sensors and alternative energy devices such as solar cells. While the physics of graphene has been thoroughly explored, chemical functionalization of graphene has proven to be elusive. http://phys.org/news161787252.html Chemistry Sun, 17 May 2009 13:55:13 EST news161787252 Substantial advances for applications of nanocrystals in the fields requiring a continuous output of photons and high quantum efficiency may soon be realized due to discovery of non-blinking semiconductor nanocrystals. This discovery recently announced by scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), University of Rochester, Cornell University and Eastman Kodak Company is an important step to the use of the nanocrystals in various practical devices ranging from low-threshold lasers to the solar cells and biological imaging and tracking. The complete findings of the study are published on line in the May 10, 2009, issue of the journal Nature. http://phys.org/news161536250.html Nanotechnology Thu, 14 May 2009 16:11:23 EST news161536250 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at UCLA have developed a new method for producing a hybrid graphene-carbon nanotube, or G-CNT, for potential use as a transparent conductor in solar cells and consumer electronic devices. These G-CNTs could provide a cheaper and much more flexible alternative to materials currently used in these and similar applications. http://phys.org/news161456665.html Nanotechnology Wed, 13 May 2009 18:05:20 EST news161456665 (PhysOrg.com) -- President Barack Obama has made no secret of his desire to develop a "green economy" that includes renewable energy projects meant to benefit the environment. He has said that part of the economic recovery in the U.S. will come from money for, and jobs created by, renewable energy projects. Around the world, politicians, businesses and scientists are developing the technology that could improve the cost-efficiency of renewable energy. http://phys.org/news161024861.html Technology Fri, 08 May 2009 19:45:07 EST news161024861 (PhysOrg.com) -- A research team from Northeastern University and the National Institute of Standards and Technology has discovered, serendipitously, that a residue of a process used to build arrays of titania nanotubes—a residue that wasn’t even noticed before this — plays an important role in improving the performance of the nanotubes in solar cells that produce hydrogen gas from water. Their results, published online on March 27, 2009 in the Journal of Materials Chemistry, indicate that by controlling the deposition of potassium on the surface of the nanotubes, engineers can achieve significant energy savings in a promising new alternate energy system. http://phys.org/news159638959.html Nanotechnology Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:10:00 EST news159638959 (PhysOrg.com) -- A University of Colorado at Boulder team has developed a new method of shrinking the size of circuitry used in nanotechnology devices like computer chips and solar cells by using two separate colors of light. http://phys.org/news159100452.html Nanotechnology Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:34:39 EST news159100452 (PhysOrg.com) -- In the race to renewable energy, organic solar cells are now really starting to take off. They can be manufactured easily and cheaply, they have low environmental impact, and since they are compatible with flexible substrates, they could be used in many applications such as packaging, clothing, flexible screens, or for recharging cell phones and laptops. http://phys.org/news158422759.html Chemistry Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:19:38 EST news158422759 Engineers at Oregon State University have discovered a way to use an ancient life form to create one of the newest technologies for solar energy, in systems that may be surprisingly simple to build compared to existing silicon-based solar cells. http://phys.org/news158418975.html Nanotechnology Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:16:51 EST news158418975 A method for creating dispersed and chemically modified graphene sheets in a wide variety of organic solvents has been developed by a University of Texas at Austin engineering team led by Professor Rod Ruoff, opening the door to use graphene in a host of important materials and applications such as conductive films, polymer composites, ultracapacitors, batteries, paints, inks and plastic electronics. http://phys.org/news157717683.html Nanotechnology Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:28:34 EST news157717683 Japanese consumer electronics giants Toshiba and Sharp are in talks on a possible tie-up in the solar power generation field, the companies said Friday. http://phys.org/news157356003.html Technology Fri, 27 Mar 2009 07:00:55 EST news157356003 Imagine flexible lighting devices manufactured by using printing techniques. Imagine solar power sources equally as reliable and as portable as any conventional power source. http://phys.org/news156175781.html Nanotechnology Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:10:11 EST news156175781 (PhysOrg.com) -- The transition to environmentally benign energy sources is one of the most significant challenges of the 21st century. Solar power, which uses sunlight to generate electricity, is one promising source. It has many benefits: sunlight is free; operating solar cells emits no greenhouse gasses; and solar power can be generated almost anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, today's solar energy technologies are inefficient, and thus significantly more expensive than traditional power sources. But hope is on the horizon. Recent results from the joint SLAC-Stanford PULSE Institute for Ultrafast Energy Science may help increase efficiency more than previously thought possible. http://phys.org/news156016623.html Nanotechnology Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:58:06 EST news156016623 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have already known that carbon nanotube thin films have mechanical and conductive advantages that could make them useful as electrodes in solar cells, solid state lighting, and electronic displays. However, studies so far have focused on how well nanotube films transmit light in the visible range, but have not explored the films’ infrared properties. http://phys.org/news155993510.html Nanotechnology Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:32:47 EST news155993510