News tagged with photovoltaic cells

Quantum dots with built-in charge boost solar cell efficiency by 50%

(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 ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created May 13, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (21) | comments 13 | with audio podcast feature

Cheap, abundant cathode material found for producing hydrogen fuel (w/ video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- By replacing catalysts made of expensive noble metals like platinum with cheaper, earth-abundant materials, researchers have taken a step toward enabling the large-scale production of hydrogen ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created May 10, 2011 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (22) | comments 60 | with audio podcast feature

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

Tandem polymer solar cells that set record for energy-conversion

(PhysOrg.com) -- In the effort to convert sunlight into electricity, photovoltaic solar cells that use conductive organic polymers for light absorption and conversion have shown great potential. Organic polymers ...

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Feb 13, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (12) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

Innovative 3-D designs can more than double solar power generated from a given area

(PhysOrg.com) -- Intensive research around the world has focused on improving the performance of solar photovoltaic cells and bringing down their cost. But very little attention has been paid to the best ways ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Mar 26, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (13) | comments 22 | with audio podcast

In solar cells, tweaking the tiniest of parts yields big jump in efficiency

(PhysOrg.com) -- By tweaking the smallest of parts, a trio of University at Buffalo engineers is hoping to dramatically increase the amount of sunlight that solar cells convert into electricity.

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Jan 20, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (11) | comments 27 | with audio podcast

Down to the wire: Inexpensive technique for making high quality nanowire solar cells developed

(PhysOrg.com) -- Solar or photovoltaic cells represent one of the best possible technologies for providing an absolutely clean and virtually inexhaustible source of energy to power our civilization. However, ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Aug 31, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (9) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

An electronic bucket brigade could boost solar cell voltages

If solar cells could generate higher voltages when sunlight falls on them, they'd produce more electrical power more efficiently. For over half a century scientists have known that ferroelectrics, materials ...

Physics / General Physics

created Sep 15, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

Colored solar cells could make display screens more efficient

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new kind of screen pixel doubles as a solar cell and could boost the energy efficiency of cell phones and e-readers. The technology could also potentially be used in larger displays to make ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Oct 07, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

New record voltage for organic solar cells opens the tech to consumer electronics

Molecular Solar Ltd, a spinout company from the University of Warwick, has achieved a significant breakthrough in the performance of solar photovoltaic (PV) cells. They have achieved and demonstrated a record ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Oct 17, 2011 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (12) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

Turning windows into powerplants

If a new development from labs at MIT pans out as expected, someday the entire surface area of a building’s windows could be used to generate electricity — without interfering with the ability to ...

Physics / General Physics

created Apr 15, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (25) | comments 14 | with audio podcast

Thermally stable solar cell materials

(Phys.org) -- European researchers have developed a simple thermodynamic method to predict whether a substance can resist the high temperatures normally involved in the production of thin films for photovoltaic devices. The ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created May 04, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Energy harvesters transform waste into electricity

Billions of dollars lost each year as waste heat from industrial processes can be converted into electricity with a technology being developed at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created May 16, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 22 | with audio podcast

Phone losing charge? Novel technology allows LCDs to recycle energy

(PhysOrg.com) -- We've all worried about the charge on our smartphone or laptop running down when we have no access to an electrical outlet. But new technology developed by researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Aug 10, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (10) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Researchers develop a way to funnel solar energy

(PhysOrg.com) -- Using carbon nanotubes (hollow tubes of carbon atoms), MIT chemical engineers have found a way to concentrate solar energy 100 times more than a regular photovoltaic cell. Such nanotubes could ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Sep 12, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (32) | comments 15 | with audio podcast

Photovoltaic cell

A photovoltaic cell is a type of Photoelectric cell that uses the photovoltaic effect to generate electrical energy using the potential difference that arises between materials when the surface of the cell is exposed to electromagnetic radiation.

A photovoltaic cell is commonly used for detecting radiation (for example infrared detectors) or measurement of light intensity (for example in measuiring optical density) and chemical processes (for example Spectrophotometry) and for conversion of light to energy in solar cells.

For more information about Photovoltaic cell, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Related topics: solar cells