Solar energy news and discussion

weatheriscool
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New KAUST tandem solar cell breaks efficiency world record
By Michael Irving
April 18, 2023
https://newatlas.com/energy/kaust-tande ... ld-record/
The dynamic duo of silicon and perovskite continue their rampage through the solar cell industry. Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have developed a new silicon/perovskite tandem solar cell with a record-breaking efficiency.

Most commercial solar cells have traditionally been made with silicon as the active ingredient, and this has gotten the tech into widespread use. But unfortunately, these solar cells are starting to bump up against the physical limits of silicon’s efficiency, so there isn’t much more room left for improvement without radically changing the recipe.

Enter perovskite. This crystalline material has quickly shot up the ranks from under 4% efficiency in 2009 to over 25% by 2021 to rival silicon, and it’s not done yet. When the two materials are forced to work together, they achieve even better results, with efficiencies recently reaching well over 30%.
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Snapshots from a Clean Energy Future
by Michael Mechanic
May-June Issue, 2023

Introduction:
(Mother Jones) Like the planes in the image above (see image in article linked below), microgrids are poised to take off. If you’ve never heard of them, you will soon. “A microgrid,” as journalist Lois Parshley explains in her accompanying story for our Electrify Everything package, “is basically a relatively small, local system that can generate, store, and/or distribute electricity, and can function off of the main grid if need be. They can be public or private, and consist of anything from a couple of neighbors sharing a solar panel to a bitcoin mine powered by its own wind farm.”

The viability of clean energy microgrids has long been thwarted by regulations and monopolistic utilities acting in their self-interest. But in recent years, plummeting costs and the easing of restrictions by some states have enabled the installation of hundreds of new microgrids—projects that offer energy resilience to small communities and make the main power grid less prone to costly failures. Behold snapshots of four projects in various stages of completion:

Be Less Evil

City leaders in San Jose, California, recently greenlit an ambitious proposal by Google to create an 80-acre downtown development with more than 7 million square feet of office space for 25,000 employees and a half-million more for stores, restaurants, arts venues, and nonprofits. There are also 4,000 new housing units—one-quarter set aside for low-income households. The project, which will pull nearly all of its power from a large microgrid of distributed photovoltaics and battery storage, is designed to discourage driving and “also prioritizes vibrant and healthy places to improve the collective social, physical, and mental wellbeing.”

One Nation Under the Sun

Last year, the Department of Energy granted the Navajo Nation $1.1 million for water pumps, high-speed internet, and a microgrid—solar farm, battery storage, and a propane generator for emergencies—to power 24 homes in the nation’s Kayenta Chapter. It’s just one of several renewables projects underway in Navajo territory, where nearly one-third of households lack electricity, and the landscape and Southwestern climate, as then tribal president Jonathan Nez pointed out, make it “a prime location to provide that type of energy.”

Read more here: https://www.motherjones.com/environmen ... -energy/
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
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Outstanding performance of organic solar cell using tin oxide
https://techxplore.com/news/2023-04-out ... oxide.html
by University of Groningen
Organic solar cells have a photoactive layer that is made from polymers and small molecules. The cells are very thin, can be flexible, and are easy to make. However, the efficiency of these cells is still much below that of conventional silicon-based ones.

Applied physicists from the University of Groningen have now fabricated an organic solar cell with an efficiency of over 17%, which is in the top range for this type of material. It has the advantage of using an unusual device structure that is produced using a scalable technique. The design involves a conductive layer of tin oxide that is grown by atomic layer deposition. The scientists also have several ideas to further improve the efficiency and stability of the cell. The results are described in the journal Advanced Materials on March 31.

In organic solar cells, polymers and small molecules convert light into charges that are collected at the electrodes. These cells are made as thin films of different layers—each with its own properties—that are stacked onto a substrate. Most important is the photoactive layer, which converts light into charges and separates the electrons from the holes, and the transport and blocking layer, which selectively directs the electrons towards the electrode.
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How shading crops with solar panels can improve farming, lower food costs and reduce emissions

Published: April 26, 2023 10.16pm BST

If you have lived in a home with a trampoline in the backyard, you may have observed the unreasonably tall grass growing under it. This is because many crops, including these grasses, actually grow better when protected from the sun, to an extent.

And while the grass under your trampoline grows by itself, researchers in the field of solar photovoltaic technology — made up of solar cells that convert sunlight directly into electricity — have been working on shading large crop lands with solar panels — on purpose.

This practice of growing crops in the protected shadows of solar panels is called agrivoltaic farming. And it is happening right here in Canada.

Such agrivoltaic farming can help meet Canada’s food and energy needs and reduce its fossil fuel reliance and greenhouse gas emissions in the future.

Our recently published paper found that Canada has an enormous agrivoltaic potential as it is a global agricultural powerhouse — with Canadian-produced food export goals set at $75 billion by 2025.

https://theconversation.com/how-shading ... ons-202094


Image
Credit: Alexis Pascaris, AgriSolar
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weatheriscool wrote: Wed Apr 19, 2023 4:47 am New KAUST tandem solar cell breaks efficiency world record
By Michael Irving
April 18, 2023
https://newatlas.com/energy/kaust-tande ... ld-record/
The dynamic duo of silicon and perovskite continue their rampage through the solar cell industry. Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have developed a new silicon/perovskite tandem solar cell with a record-breaking efficiency. This is amazing research that will soon change the efficiency of solar cell technology. I think that many dreamers who in their childhood read Ray Bradbury's various writings such as Fahrenheit 451 https://edubirdie.com/examples/fahrenheit-451/ chose the path of studying physics and decided to become scientists. When university science labs do research like this that changes our world, and not just do ordinary paperwork, it should inspire the younger generations of future scientists.

Most commercial solar cells have traditionally been made with silicon as the active ingredient, and this has gotten the tech into widespread use. But unfortunately, these solar cells are starting to bump up against the physical limits of silicon’s efficiency, so there isn’t much more room left for improvement without radically changing the recipe.

Enter perovskite. This crystalline material has quickly shot up the ranks from under 4% efficiency in 2009 to over 25% by 2021 to rival silicon, and it’s not done yet. When the two materials are forced to work together, they achieve even better results, with efficiencies recently reaching well over 30%.
Similar studies are carried out in the laboratory of my university. I believe that solar panels will soon be much more efficient.
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wjfox wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 7:33 am
Perfect example of exponential growth. Almost no one was predicting this was possible few years ago.

Now, think of this applying to other sectors such as longevity, battery technology, space colonization, fusion power, artificial intelligence, etc. Five years from now is going to be a very different world.
To know is essentially the same as not knowing. The only thing that occurs is the rearrangement of atoms in your brain.
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Silicon heterojunction solar cells with up to 26.81% efficiency
https://techxplore.com/news/2023-05-sil ... iency.html
by Delft University of Technology
Solar energy is the cheapest and most accessible form of energy. Now, it promises to be more efficient than ever. Scientists from a Chinese solar technology company have developed a new type of solar cell that could be a game-changer in the world's transition towards renewable energy.

Advanced modeling, performed by researchers at TU Delft, played a pivotal role in the deep understanding and engineering of the innovation. The new solar cell is made of the same material as 95% of all current solar cells but performs much better at 26.81% efficiency. The innovation further cements the crucial role of solar cells in the energy transition. The research results were published May 4 in Nature Energy.

The report on this breakthrough is the result of a unique international collaboration between LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd,—one of the global leading producers of solar cells of the highest quality—together with Sun Yat-Sen University (SYSU) and Delft University of Technology (TU Delft). The team optimized the design of the solar cell by using a much improved "nanocrystalline-silicon hole contact layer." Such a new layer has been known as a theoretical possibility for quite some time, but it was never successfully put into practice.

The new layer can transfer electricity with far less resistance and results in a higher power conversion efficiency than any other type of solar cell made from crystalline silicon. Researchers at LONGi developed this new technology on standard, industry-grade silicon wafers, making the technology almost immediately applicable in the production of solar panels.
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