Thin-film solar cells made of crystalline silicon are inexpensive and achieve efficiencies of around 14 percent. However, they could do even better if their shiny surfaces reflected less light. A team led by Prof. Christiane ...
Nanomaterials
Sep 18, 2018
1
50
A team of engineers at Caltech has discovered how to use computer-chip manufacturing technologies to create the kind of reflective materials that make safety vests, running shoes, and road signs appear shiny in the dark.
Optics & Photonics
Jul 14, 2017
0
121
The manipulation of light has led to many applications that have revolutionized society through communications, medicine and entertainment. Devices consuming the energy of electromagnetic radiation, such as absorbers and ...
General Physics
Jul 20, 2015
0
62
The Hapi region on the neck of Rosetta's comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko reflects red light less effectively than most other regions on the comet. It thus appears slightly blueish. The Hapi region is located between the comet's ...
Space Exploration
Mar 13, 2015
4
53
(Phys.org) —Quasars are active black holes—primarily from the early universe. Using a special method where you observe light that has been bent by gravity on its way through the universe, a group of physics students from ...
Astronomy
Aug 7, 2013
61
0
The use of plasmonic black metals could someday provide a pathway to more efficient photovoltaics (PV) —- the use of solar panels containing photovoltaic solar cells —- to improve solar energy harvesting, according to ...
Optics & Photonics
Jul 30, 2013
1
0
From the vantage point of the International Space Station, astronauts frequently observe atmospheric and surface phenomena in ways that are impossible to view from the ground. Two such phenomena—gravity waves and sunglint—are ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 23, 2013
0
0
(Phys.org)—Can windows, tablets and e readers turn light into power? Can a surface coated with solar cells take sunlight and the glow of bulbs and change them into energy? As reported in Technology Review, expert scientists ...
(Phys.org)—Scientists are doing it all the time, attempting to mimic systems and structures of plants and animals to manufacture something entirely new. A group of South Korean scientists have collaborated to translate ...
Imagine a world where the rooftops and pavements of every urban area are resurfaced to increase the reflection of the Sun's light rays. Well, this is exactly what a group of Canadian researchers have done in an attempt to ...
Environment
Apr 12, 2012
23
0
