News tagged with plastic solar

Folding light: Wrinkles and twists boost power from solar panels

Taking their cue from the humble leaf, researchers have used microscopic folds on the surface of photovoltaic material to significantly increase the power output of flexible, low-cost solar cells.

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Apr 27, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (15) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

'Cling-film' solar cells could lead to advance in renewable energy

(PhysOrg.com) -- A scientific advance in renewable energy which promises a revolution in the ease and cost of using solar cells, has been announced today. A new study shows that even when using very simple ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Jul 04, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (10) | comments 11 | with audio podcast

New path to flex and stretch electronics: Researchers develop solution-based fabrication technique

(PhysOrg.com) -- Imprinting electronic circuitry on backplanes that are both flexible and stretchable promises to revolutionize a number of industries and make "smart devices" nearly ubiquitous. Among the ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Dec 13, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | 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

Purple Pokeberries hold secret to affordable solar power worldwide

the weeds that children smash to stain their cheeks purple-red and that Civil War soldiers used to write letters home - could be the key to spreading solar power across the globe, according to researchers at Wake Forest University's ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Apr 29, 2010 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (30) | comments 11 | with audio podcast

Plastic electronics could slash the cost of solar panels

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new technique developed by Princeton University engineers for producing electricity-conducting plastics could dramatically lower the cost of manufacturing solar panels.

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Mar 30, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (29) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

A Straightforward Solution for Increasing Solar Cell Performance

(PhysOrg.com) -- Brookhaven National Laboratory researchers recently demonstrated improved stability and efficiency of a certain type of solar cell by incorporating a commercially available additive into the ...

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Apr 29, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (15) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

Major advance in organic solar cells

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. ...

Chemistry / Polymers

created Oct 19, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (17) | comments 0

Plastics that convert light to electricity could have a big impact

University of Washington researchers have found a way to measure exactly how much electrical current is carried by tiny bubbles and channels that form inside nanoscale solar cells, paving the way for development ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Aug 04, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (13) | comments 5

Philippine solar light bottles offer hope

Filipino entrepreneur Illac Diaz is aiming to help a million poor people in a year, and with the help of some plastic bottles and a clever social media campaign may do even better.

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Nov 30, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 8

Physicists take inspiration from spilled milk

(PhysOrg.com) -- Two Lehigh physicists have developed an imaging technique that makes it possible to directly observe light-emitting excitons as they diffuse in a new material that is being explored for its ...

Physics / General Physics

created Aug 12, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Commercial 'green' solar cells may be possible: researchers

Developing solar energy that is low-cost, lightweight, and energy efficient has proven to be one of the greatest challenges the science world faces today. Although current plastic solar cells are low in cost and easy to produce, ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Nov 22, 2011 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (8) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Striding towards a new dawn for electronics

Conductive polymers are plastic materials with high electrical conductivity that promise to revolutionize a wide range of products including TV displays, solar cells, and biomedical sensors. A team of McGill University researchers ...

Chemistry / Polymers

created Sep 28, 2010 | popularity 4 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Structure of plastic solar cells impedes their efficiency, researchers find

(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of researchers from North Carolina State University and the U.K. has found that the low rate of energy conversion in all-polymer solar-cell technology is caused by the structure of the solar cells ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Oct 05, 2010 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Current loss tracked down by magnetic fingerprint

Conventional solar cells made from crystalline silicon are difficult and energy-intensive to manufacture. Organic solar cells are cheaper, but have always produced less electricity. Why this is so has never been fully explained. ...

Physics / General Physics

created Oct 26, 2010 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast