How to make a "perfect" solar absorber

The key to creating a material that would be ideal for converting solar energy to heat is tuning the material's spectrum of absorption just right: It should absorb virtually all wavelengths of light that reach Earth's surface ...

Polymer solar cells employing Forster resonance energy transfer

Two crucial tasks exist for realizing high-efficiency polymer solar cells: increasing the range of the spectral absorption of light and efficiently harvesting photo-generated excitons. In this work, Förster resonance energy ...

Plastic solar cells' new design promises bright future

Energy consumption is growing rapidly in the 21st century, with rising energy costs and sustainability issues greatly impacting the quality of human life. Harvesting energy directly from sunlight to generate electricity using ...

Scientists break record for thinnest light-absorber

Stanford University scientists have created the thinnest, most efficient absorber of visible light on record. The nanosize structure, thousands of times thinner than an ordinary sheet of paper, could lower the cost and improve ...

The natural '“coat'” for a stronger outfit

Coated fabrics have been used in many applications such as agriculture, geotextiles, building and construction, medical, filtration and protective clothing. Coating of fabrics involves applying viscous liquid on the surface ...

The fluorescent future of solar cells

(Phys.org) —For some solar cells, the future may be fluorescent. Scientists at Yale have improved the ability of a promising type of solar cell to absorb light and convert it into electrical power by adding a fluorescent ...

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