Adelaide, Australia (SPX) Mar 21, 2023 The renewable energy sector is facing a quandary: how Australia will dispose of 80 million solar panels in an environmentally friendly way when they reach the end of their life. Paradoxically, one of the reasons people are installing solar photovoltaic (PV) panels in huge numbers is to help the environment, but the industry is now grappling with the anticipated waste generated by 100,000 t ..read more

Kumamoto, Japan (SPX) Mar 21, 2023 Two-dimensional monolayer nanosheets made from layered perovskite have many desirable properties. However, it has been difficult to create them with tunable bandgaps in the visible region without adding oxygen defects. Recently, researchers from Japan were able to successfully develop chemically stable nanosheets from perovskite oxynitrides which had controllable bandgaps. These nanosheets have ..read more

Hefei, China (SPX) Mar 21, 2023 A research team led by Prof. XU Jixian from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) designed and fashioned a novel porous insulator contact (PIC) for perovskite solar cells. The PIC ameliorated the non-radiative charge recombination effect and the corresponding solar cell achieved an efficiency of up to 25.5%. The result was published in ..read more

Groningen, Netherlands (SPX) Mar 17, 2023 In organic solar cells, carbon-based polymers convert light into charges that are passed to an acceptor. This type of material has great potential, but to unlock this, a better understanding is needed of the way in which charges are produced and transported along the polymers. Scientists from the University of Groningen have now calculated how this happens by combining molecular dynamics simulat ..read more

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Mar 17, 2023 Solar cells made from metal halide perovskites achieve high efficiencies and their production from liquid inks requires only a small amount of energy. A team led by Prof. Dr. Eva Unger at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin is investigating the production process. At the X-ray source BESSY II, the group has analyzed the optimal composition of precursor inks for the production of high-quality FAPbI3 perovsk ..read more

Mainz, Germany (SPX) Mar 17, 2023 Whether in an e-car, cell phone, or cordless screwdriver, many devices used on a daily basis now use rechargeable batteries. However, the trend also has its downsides. For example, certain cell phones were banned from being carried on airplanes, or e-cars caught fire. Modern commercial lithium ion batteries are sensitive to mechanical stress. So-called "solid-state batteries" could provid ..read more

Brussels (AFP) March 16, 2023 The EU on Thursday announced plans to push the bloc's businesses to produce more clean technology in Europe to challenge state-backed competition from the United States and China. Brussels told European industries producing green technologies, such as solar and wind energy, that obtaining permits and manufacturing will be made easier under plans accused by some as protectionism. The Euro ..read more

Geneva (AFP) March 16, 2023 The green technology industry could be worth several trillion dollars by 2030 but developing countries will miss out on the boom unless they jump in now, the UN said Thursday. From a roughly equal position three years ago, green technology exports from the most advanced countries are already racing ahead of developing nations, warned the United Nations' trade and development agency, UNCTAD ..read more

Swansea, China (SPX) Mar 16, 2023 Swansea University has established a low-cost and scalable carbon ink formulation capable of unlocking, for the first time, the potential for perovskite solar cells to be manufactured at scale. Using slot die coating in a roll-to-roll (R2R) process, academics from the SPECIFIC Innovation and Knowledge Centre at Swansea University have established a way to create "fully printable" perovskite phot ..read more

Brussels (AFP) March 16, 2023 The EU will reveal hotly debated proposals on Thursday to boost spending on clean tech, possibly overcoming internal divisions to include nuclear energy in the mix, to confront growing industrial competition from the United States and China. Brussels wants to protect European businesses by prioritising green technologies, including solar and wind, for more financing and greater regulatory fr ..read more