News tagged with energy conversion

Related topics: solar cells

Turning heat to electricity... efficiently

(PhysOrg.com) -- In everything from computer processor chips to car engines to electric powerplants, the need to get rid of excess heat creates a major source of inefficiency. But new research points the way ...

Physics / General Physics

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (67) | comments 9

New solar energy conversion process could revamp solar power production

Stanford engineers have figured out how to simultaneously use the light and heat of the sun to generate electricity in a way that could make solar power production more than twice as efficient as existing ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Aug 02, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (64) | comments 38 | with audio podcast

Novel negative-index metamaterial that responds to visible light designed

A group of scientists led by researchers from the California Institute of Technology has engineered a type of artificial optical material—a metamaterial—with a particular three-dimensional structure such that ...

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Apr 22, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (43) | comments 10 | with audio podcast

Sanyo announces world's most efficient solar module

(PhysOrg.com) -- Sanyo has announced its development of the world's most energy efficient solar module, the HIT-N230. The module was unveiled at a press conference run by Sanyo Electric's Solar Division.

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Jun 16, 2010 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (35) | comments 27 | with audio podcast report

Removing Hot Air from Nuclear Power Plants; Scientists Convert Nuclear Energy to Power without Steam

(PhysOrg.com) -- For years, researchers have been in search of an economically feasible method of converting nuclear energy directly into electricity. Now, University of Missouri researchers are developing an energy conversion ...

Technology / Engineering

created Apr 13, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (29) | comments 25

Innovation puts next-generation solar cells on the horizon

In a world first, a Monash University-led international research team has developed an innovative way to boost the output of the next generation of solar cells.

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (30) | comments 12

New way to extract light from semiconductors could lead to ultra-high efficiency LEDs

(PhysOrg.com) -- By fabricating ridges coated with silicon dioxide (SiO2) on the surface of a semiconductor, scientists from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in ...

Physics / Condensed Matter

created May 14, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (25) | comments 8 | with audio podcast report

Silicon nanohole solar cells aim to make photovoltaics cost-competitive

(PhysOrg.com) -- Due to the increasing demand for renewable energy sources, photovoltaic solar cells have advanced significantly over the past decade. Since 2002, photovoltaic production worldwide has been ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created May 07, 2010 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (26) | comments 13 | with audio podcast feature

Discovery of a 'dark state' could increase maximum theoretical efficiency of solar cells from 31 to 44 percent

The efficiency of conventional solar cells could be significantly increased, according to new research on the mechanisms of solar energy conversion led by chemist Xiaoyang Zhu at The University of Texas at Austin.

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Dec 15, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (23) | comments 12 | with audio podcast

Breakthrough in converting heat waste to electricity

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Northwestern University have placed nanocrystals of rock salt into lead telluride, creating a material that can harness electricity from heat-generating items such as vehicle exhaust systems, ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Jan 18, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (23) | comments 18 | with audio podcast

Discovery paves way for development of efficient, inexpensive plastic solar cells

Physicists at Rutgers University have discovered new properties in a material that could result in efficient and inexpensive plastic solar cells for pollution-free electricity production.

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Oct 10, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (20) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

Researchers discover source for generating 'green' electricity

University of Minnesota engineering researchers in the College of Science and Engineering have recently discovered a new alloy material that converts heat directly into electricity. This revolutionary energy conversion method ...

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Jun 22, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (19) | comments 21 | with audio podcast

New PV cell generates electricity from IR and UV light

(PhysOrg.com) -- A prototype of a new type of photovoltaic (PV) cell that generates electricity from visible, infrared and ultraviolet light has been demonstrated by a group of Japanese scientists. It could ...

Technology / Semiconductors

created Mar 24, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (16) | comments 3 | with audio podcast report

Shining a light on the elusive 'blackbody' of energy research

A designer metamaterial has shown it can engineer emitted "blackbody" radiation with an efficiency beyond the natural limits imposed by the material's temperature, a team of researchers led by Boston College ...

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Jul 22, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (16) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

Scientists Advance Quantum Computing & Energy Conversion Tech

(PhysOrg.com) -- Using a unique hybrid nanostructure, University of Maryland researchers have shown a new type of light-matter interaction and also demonstrated the first full quantum control of qubit spin ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Jun 30, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (13) | comments 0 | with audio podcast