Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: solar power – Page 2

Semi-transparent solar cells achieve record efficiency to advance building-integrated photovoltaics

A research team has developed an innovative parameter, FoMLUE, to evaluate the potential of photoactive materials for semi-transparent organic photovoltaics (ST-OPVs), paving the way for their widespread commercial applications.

A paper reporting the research, “Semitransparent organic photovoltaics with wide geographical adaptability as sustainable ,” has been published in Nature Communications.

Transparent solar cells can be integrated into windows, screens and other surfaces, with immense potential for them to revolutionize the renewable energy sector. However, there are challenges to overcome, one of which is balancing transparency with .

Shall we Dance in Free-Space? a Choice of Freedom!

Humanity stands at a crossroads. Our beautiful Earth, cradle of all we know, is straining under the weight of nearly 8.5 billion people. Environmental degradation, social inequity, and resource scarcity deepen by the day. We are reaching the limits of a single-planet civilization. We can face this challenge in two ways. Some will cling to the old patterns—fighting over dwindling resources and defending narrow borders. Others will rise above, expanding into space not to escape Earth, but to renew and sustain it. These pioneers—the Space Settlers —will carry the next chapter of civilization beyond our home planet.

The Humanist Path: Living in Free Space. When people imagine living beyond Earth, they often picture Lunar or Martian colonies. Yet, from a humanist perspective, a better path exists: rotating free space habitats, as envisioned by Gerard K. O’Neill. These are vast, spinning structures orbiting Earth or the Moon, or standing at Lagrange Libration Points, designed to simulate Earth’s gravity and sustain full, flourishing communities. Unlike planetary colonies bound to weak gravity, dust, or darkness, O’Neill habitats offer: 1g simulated gravity to preserve human health; continuous sunlight and abundant solar energy; freedom of movement, as habitats can orbit safely or relocate if needed. More than technical achievements, these habitats embody the Enlightenment spirit—the belief that reason, ethics, and creativity can design environments of dignity, beauty, and freedom.

Freedom and Human Dignity in Space. Freedom is at the heart of humanity’s destiny. Consider a lunar settler who finds his bones too fragile to withstand Earth’s gravity—trapped by biology, after a few years living on the Moon. In contrast, inhabitants of a rotating habitat retain the freedom to return on Earth, at will. Simulated gravity safeguards their health, ensuring that space settlement remains reversible and voluntary. Freedom of movement leads naturally to freedom of culture. In a habitat like “New Gaia”, thousands of people from all nations live together: Russians celebrating Maslenitsa, Indians lighting Diwali lamps, and space-born storytellers sharing ancient myths. New traditions also emerge—festivals, music, and art inspired by life between worlds. These habitats can become beacons of a new Renaissance —a rebirth of cultural and creative freedom beyond the constraints of geography and politics.

Solar energy is now the world’s cheapest source of power, study finds

Solar energy is now so cost-effective that, in the sunniest countries, it costs as little as £0.02 to produce one unit of power, making it cheaper than electricity generated from coal, gas or wind, according to a new study from the University of Surrey.

In a study accepted for publication in Energy and Environment Materials, researchers from Surrey’s Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) argue that solar photovoltaic (PV) technology is now the key driver of the world’s transition to clean, renewable power.

Professor Ravi Silva, co-author of the study and Director of the ATI at the University of Surrey, said, Even here in the U.K., a country that sits 50 degrees north of the equator, solar is the cheapest option for large-scale energy generation.

Radical Plan to Beam ‘Sunlight on Demand’ at Night Sparks Concerns

A proposed constellation of satellites has astronomers very worried. Unlike satellites that reflect sunlight and produce light pollution as an unfortunate byproduct, the ones by US startup Reflect Orbital would produce light pollution by design.

The company promises to produce “sunlight on demand” with mirrors that beam sunlight down to Earth so solar farms can operate after sunset.

It plans to start with an 18-metre test satellite named Earendil-1 which the company has applied to launch in 2026. It would eventually be followed by about 4,000 satellites in orbit by 2030, according to the latest reports.

Cambridge Scientists Unlock Century-Old Quantum Secret That Could Revolutionize Solar Power

Cambridge scientists have uncovered a hidden quantum mechanism in an organic semiconductor that could revolutionize solar energy. In a finding that connects modern research with ideas from a century ago, scientists have identified in an organic semiconductor a behavior that was long believed to o

From engines to nanochips: Physicists redefine how heat really moves

Heat has always been something we thought we understood. From baking bread to running engines, the idea seemed simple: heat spreads out smoothly, like water soaking through a sponge. That simple picture, written down by Joseph Fourier 200 years ago, became the foundation of modern science and engineering.

But zoom into the nanoscale—inside the chips that power your smartphone, AI hardware, or next-generation solar panels—and the story changes. Here, heat doesn’t just “diffuse.” It can ripple like , remember its past, or flow in elegant streams like a fluid in a pipe. For decades, scientists had pieces of this puzzle but no unifying explanation.

Now, researchers at Auburn University and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory have delivered what they call a “unified statistical theory of heat conduction.”

Jeff Bezos envisions space-based data centers in 10 to 20 years

Jeff Bezos envisions gigawatt-scale orbital data centers within 10–20 years, powered by continuous solar energy and space-based cooling, but the concept remains commercially unviable today due to the immense cost and complexity of deploying thousands of tons of hardware, solar panels, and radiators into orbit.

Spinel-type sulfide semiconductors achieve room-temperature light emission across violet to orange spectrum

A spinel-type sulfide semiconductor that can emit light from violet to orange at room temperature has been developed by researchers at Science Tokyo, overcoming the efficiency limitations of current LED and solar cell materials. The material, (Zn, Mg)Sc2S4, can be chemically tuned to switch between n-type and p-type conduction, leading to future pn homojunction devices. This versatile semiconductor offers a practical path toward the development of more efficient LEDs and solar cells.

Ultra-thin sodium films offer low-cost alternative to gold and silver in optical technologies

From solar panels to next-generation medical devices, many emerging technologies rely on materials that can manipulate light with extreme precision. These materials—called plasmonic materials—are typically made from expensive metals like gold or silver. But what if a cheaper, more abundant metal could do the job just as well or better?

That’s the question a team of researchers set out to explore. The challenge? While is abundant and lightweight, it’s also notoriously unstable and difficult to work with in the presence of air or moisture—two unavoidable parts of real-world conditions. Until now, this has kept it off the table for practical optical applications.

Researchers from Yale University, Oakland University, and Cornell University have teamed up to change that. By developing a new technique for structuring sodium into ultra-thin, precisely patterned films, they found a way to stabilize the and make it perform exceptionally well in light-based applications.

Organic semiconductor molecule set to transform solar energy harvesting

In a discovery that bridges a century of physics, scientists have observed a phenomenon, once thought to be the domain of inorganic metal oxides, thriving within a glowing organic semiconductor molecule. This work, led by the University of Cambridge, reveals a powerful new mechanism for harvesting light and turning it into electricity. This could redefine the future of solar energy and electronics, and lead to lighter, cheaper, and simpler solar panels made from a single material.

The research focuses on a spin-radical organic semiconductor molecule called P3TTM. At its center sits a single, unpaired electron, giving it unique magnetic and electronic properties. This work arises from a collaboration between the synthetic chemistry team of Professor Hugo Bronstein in the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry and the semiconductor physics team led by Professor Sir Richard Friend in the Department of Physics. They have developed this class of to give very efficient luminescence, as exploited in organic LEDs.

However, the study, published in Nature Materials, reveals their hidden talent: When brought into close contact, their unpaired electrons interact in a manner strikingly similar to a Mott-Hubbard insulator.

/* */