The multi-layered coating is not only thinner than the silicon cells typically used in solar panels, but rivals their efficiency, too.
Category: solar power – Page 11
“Establishing that there is a big reservoir of liquid water provides some window into what the climate was like or could be like,” said Dr. Michael Manga.
While Mars is incapable of having liquid water on its surface, what about underground, and how much could there be? This is what a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated how liquid water might be present beneath the Martian surface. This study holds the potential to help researchers not only better understand the current conditions on the Red Planet, but also if these same conditions could have led to life existing on the surface in the past.
For the study, the researchers analyzed seismic data obtained by NASA’s now-retired InSight lander, which landed on Mars in 2018 and sent back valuable data regarding the interior of Mars until the mission ended in 2022. This was after mission planners determined the amount of dust that had collected on the lander’s solar panels did not allow for sufficient solar energy to keep it functioning. However, despite being expired for two years, scientists continued to pour over vast amounts of data regarding the interior of Mars.
Now, after combining this seismic data with models used on Earth to map underground oil fields and aquifers, the researchers determined that igneous rocks (cooled magma) are drenched in liquid water between 11.5 and 20 kilometers (7.15 and 12.4 miles) beneath the Martian surface. Additionally, they ascertained the volume of this liquid water could cover the entire surface of Mars up to approximately one-mile deep. The presence of liquid water beneath the surface could help scientists better understand the water cycle on Mars, but accessing this water for future astronauts or colonists is out of the question given its depth.
Australian scientists have joined an elite club of just eight around the world, making a perovskite solar cell that can hit 30 per cent efficiency.
Led by storied University of Sydney professor Anita Ho-Baillie, the Sydney team’s work was weighed and measured by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
“It shows that we are capable of producing high performance cells. The next step we will achieve is higher performance, either by double junction or triple junction,” Ho-Baillie says.
Oxford scientists make new solar cell technology discovery which you could soon wear, stick on your mobile or coat your car with.
Solar opponents will have to figure out a new line of attack when perovskite solar cells suddenly plaster the world.
A new ultra-thin material created by scientists at Oxford University could revolutionize solar collection technology.
Phosphorus is an exciting element: It is essential for the survival of organisms and promises numerous electronic applications. With this in mind, researchers at the University of Basel have synthesized two-dimensional layers containing rings of five phosphorus atoms (phosphorus pentamers (cyclo-P5)) on a silver surface.
For the first time, they have been able to investigate their electronic properties using combined atomic force and scanning tunneling spectroscopy. They found that the atomic phosphorus pentamer layer retains its semiconductor properties and forms a special electronic interface where the layer joins the silver surface (p-type semiconductor-metal Schottky junction).
This shows that phosphorus pentamers on the silver surface fulfill a basic requirement for applications in field-effect transistors, diodes or solar cells, as recently reported by the research team in the scientific journal Nature Communications (“Probing charge redistribution at the interface of self-assembled cyclo-P5 pentamers on Ag(111)”).
In solar cells and light-emitting diodes, maintaining the excited state kinetics of molecules against annihilation is a race against time. These systems need to strike a careful balance between different processes that lead to loss of energy and those that lead to the desired outcome.
Space-based solar power, an innovative concept that involves capturing solar energy in space and transmitting it to Earth, offers limitless opportunities in system design, manufacturing and deployment. This technology has the potential to revolutionize the energy industry, addressing global clean energy demands while minimizing environmental impact.
The availability of space resources, such as asteroid mining and lunar regolith utilization, presents opportunities for companies that invest in technologies and techniques to extract and process these resources, including precious metals, water and rare minerals.
The importance of continued investment in space exploration cannot be overstated. As space technology advances, businesses must consider potential applications in their industries. Collaboration between space agencies and private companies is key to driving innovation and economic growth, offering countless opportunities for the future.
Schöfbänker made use of a telescope having a 14-inch mirror and assorted gear capable of following satellites that keeps them automatically in the center of a field of view, finessing the equipment with a bit of input and corrections, he told Space.com.
“I make these images by taking a video during the flyover and then stacking (averaging out) and sharpening the best frames,” Schöfbänker said.
The two solar panels that can be seen at the end aren’t visible on any of the computer renderings available online, Schöfbänker advised. “I am not really sure if they are solar panels or some other features like an antenna or something of that nature.”