Cheaper materials could be key to low-cost solar cells

(PhysOrg.com) -- Unconventional solar cell materials that are as abundant but much less costly than silicon and other semiconductors in use today could substantially reduce the cost of solar photovoltaics, according to a ...

New solar-cell design based on dots and wires

Using exotic particles called quantum dots as the basis for a photovoltaic cell is not a new idea, but attempts to make such devices have not yet achieved sufficiently high efficiency in converting sunlight to power. A new ...

How to produce flexible CIGS solar cells with record efficiency

High-performance flexible and lightweight solar cells, say, on plastic foils, have excellent potential to lower the manufacturing costs through roll-to-roll processing and the so called "balance-of-system" cost, thus enabling ...

Flexible silicon solar-cell fabrics may soon become possible

For the first time, a silicon-based optical fiber with solar-cell capabilities has been developed that has been shown to be scalable to many meters in length. The research opens the door to the possibility of weaving together ...

Ubiquitous Energy sets focus on solar cell technology

(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 ...

Turning plants into power houses

(PhysOrg.com) -- "I have a slide that has a photo of a cornfield and a big photovoltaic array," says Robert Blankenship, a scientist who studies photosynthesis at Washington University in St. Louis. "When I give talks I often ...

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