Sep

30

Solar Powered Hydrogen Production Clears 12% Efficiency

September 30, 2014 | Leave a Comment

Scientists at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) have developed a new and efficient way of producing hydrogen fuel from sunlight and water. Connecting together solar cells made with a mineral called perovskite and the team’s low cost electrodes achieves a 12.3 percent conversion efficiency from solar energy to hydrogen. The profusion of tiny bubbles […]

Jun

27

Progress for Photovoltaic Solar Power

June 27, 2013 | Leave a Comment

The two-junction solar cell has reached a new milestone with a new world record of 31.1% conversion efficiency at the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL).   The previous record of 30.8% efficiency was held by Alta Devices. The new record may not last long.  NREL Principal Scientist Sarah Kurtz, who leads the F-PACE project […]

Apr

22

Blowing Beyond the Solar Cell Limit

April 22, 2013 | 3 Comments

The Shockley-Queisser efficiency limit asserts that the ultimate solar cell conversion efficiency can never exceed 34% for a single optimized semiconductor junction.  Researchers at MIT have shown they have a way to blow past that limit.  That will raise a cheer to an industry in real need of a major boost. Decades of research on […]

css.php