Solar Energy News

January 19, 2025

Top Headlines

Floating Solar Panels Could Support US Energy Goals

Jan. 14, 2025 — Federal reservoirs could help meet the country's solar energy needs, according to a new study. Geospatial scientists and senior legal and regulatory analyst quantified exactly how much energy could be generated from floating solar panel projects ...

Light, Flexible and Radiation-Resistant: Organic Solar Cells for Space

Jan. 10, 2025 — Radiation testing suggests that solar cells made from carbon-based, or organic, materials could outperform conventional silicon and gallium arsenide for generating electricity in the final frontier, a study ...

Solar-Powered Charging: Self-Charging Supercapacitors Developed

Dec. 30, 2024 — A research team achieves 63% energy storage efficiency and 5.17% overall efficiency by combining a supercapacitor with a solar ...

Step Forward in Generating Solar-Powered Hydrogen

Dec. 17, 2024 — Another advance has been made by experts in nano-scale chemistry to propel further development of sustainable and efficient generation of hydrogen from water using solar power. Experts have now identified a novel solar cell process to potentially ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:37pm EST

Training Solar Panels to Dance With the Wind

Dec. 17, 2024 — Researchers propose a unique numerical decision-making framework for solar panel protection against extreme weather conditions. The framework combines advanced wind simulations with machine learning ...

It's Worth Mixing It Up: What Combination of Policies Will Lead to a Clean Energy Future?

Dec. 16, 2024 — How can we ensure that as many households as possible adopt not only solar panels, but also their own battery to store solar energy, a heat pump, and ...

Study Urges Canada to Build Solar Power Mega-Projects

Dec. 11, 2024 — Canada should focus on building mass utility-scale solar mega-projects to kickstart its green energy transition, according to a new report. The recommendation comes from a new article which looks at ...

Speaking Crystal: AI Learns Language of Atom Arrangements in Solids

Dec. 6, 2024 — A new artificial intelligence model can predict how atoms arrange themselves in crystal ...

So You Want to Build a Solar or Wind Farm? Here's How to Decide Where

Dec. 6, 2024 — A new study shows the benefits of coordinating the siting of solar farms, wind farms, and storage systems, taking into account local and temporal variations in wind, sunlight, and energy demand. This ...

How Non-Toxic and Efficient Solar Cells Can Be Produced

Dec. 4, 2024 — Large-scale production of organic solar cells with high efficiency and minimal environmental impact. In the study, the researchers studied molecule shape and interaction in organic solar ...

Record Efficiency: Tandem Solar Cells Made from Perovskite and Organic Material

Dec. 3, 2024 — Trying to improve the efficiency of solar cells to become independent from fossil energy sources is a major goal of solar cell research. Physicists ...

Predicting the Weather: New Meteorology Estimation Method Aids Building Efficiency

Nov. 26, 2024 — Researchers propose a new method to generate meteorological data that takes into account the interdependence of meteorological factors, such as ...

Impact of Climate Change on Water Resources Will Increase Price Tag to Decarbonize the Grid

Nov. 25, 2024 — A new study warns that current plans to achieve zero emissions on the grid by 2050 vastly underestimate the required investments in generation and ...

Tapping Excess Heat from a Camp Stove for Charging Power

Nov. 20, 2024 — New research may make it possible to keep electronic devices powered with another piece of equipment you're likely to bring with you while exploring the great outdoors: camping stoves. The work ...

Quantum-Inspired Design Boosts Efficiency of Heat-to-Electricity Conversion

Nov. 21, 2024 — Researchers have found a new way to improve a key element of thermophotovoltaic systems, which convert heat into electricity via light. Engineers designed a thermal emitter that can deliver high ...

Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells Doubled With Protective Coating

Nov. 21, 2024 — Scientists have developed a new protective coating that significantly extends the life of perovskite solar cells, making them more practical for applications outside the ...

Perovskite Research Boosts Solar Cell Efficiency and Product Life

Nov. 19, 2024 — An international team has identified a strategy to improve both the performance and stability for solar cells made out of the 'miracle material' perovskite by mitigating a previously hidden ...

New Solar Composition Ratios That Could Reconcile Longstanding Questions

Nov. 12, 2024 — A team combined compositional data of primitive bodies like Kuiper Belt objects, asteroids and comets with new solar data sets to develop a revised solar composition that potentially reconciles ...

Power Grids Supplied Largely by Renewable Sources Experience Lower Intensity Blackouts

Nov. 6, 2024 — New research into the vulnerability of power grids served by weather-dependent renewable energy sources (WD-RESs) such as solar and wind paints a hopeful picture as various countries around the globe ...

Investigating Performance Limitations in Cost-Effective Materials for Perovskite Solar Cells

Nov. 6, 2024 — Researchers investigated the internal properties of low-cost materials used in perovskite solar cells, which are attracting attention for their high efficiency, using electron spin resonance (ESR) to ...

A Trick of Light: Researchers Turn Silicon Into Direct Bandgap Semiconductor

Oct. 31, 2024 — Researchers have come up with a way to turn silicon into a direct bandgap semiconductor, opening the door to the manufacture of ultrathin silicon solar ...

Solving Interface Mystery in Organic Solar Cells Makes Them More Efficient

Oct. 30, 2024 — Research provides a deeper understanding of precisely what is happening in organic solar cells as light is converted into electricity. Researchers developed a new method which visualizes interfaces ...

Paving the Way for Harvesting and Storing Solar Energy Efficiently

Oct. 29, 2024 — Approximately 50 percent of global final energy consumption is dedicated to heating. Yet, the utilization of solar power in this sector remains relatively low compared to fossil energy sources. An ...

Next-Generation Solar Cells Become More Powerful With Silver (Ag) Doping Technology

Oct. 25, 2024 — Researchers have significantly improved the performance of kesterite (CZTSSe) thin-film solar cells. They developed a new method for doping silver (Ag) in solar cells to suppress defects that hinder ...

The Evolution of Green Energy Technology: Developing Three-Dimensional Smart Energy Devices With Radiant Cooling and Solar Absorption

Oct. 25, 2024 — - DGIST, KAIST, and Korea University collaborated to develop a three-dimensional device with reversible heating/cooling based on the thermal radiation phenomenon -- Research published as a cover ...

New AI Model Could Make Power Grids More Reliable Amid Rising Renewable Energy Use

Oct. 24, 2024 — Researchers use AI to manage the growing complexity of modern power ...

Researchers Unlock the 'Silicate Magic' for Safer, Cheaper, and More Efficient Batteries

Oct. 17, 2024 — A research team is exploring new battery technologies for grid energy storage. The team's recent results suggest that iron, when treated with the electrolyte additive silicate, could create a ...

Let There Be Light: Bright Future for Solar Panels, TV Screens and More

Oct. 14, 2024 — From brighter TV screens to better medical diagnostics and more efficient solar panels, new research has discovered how to make more molecules stick to the surface of tiny nanocrystals, in a ...

Engineering Perovskite Materials at the Atomic Level Paves Way for New Lasers, LEDs

Oct. 11, 2024 — Researchers have developed and demonstrated a technique that allows them to engineer a class of materials called layered hybrid perovskites (LHPs) down to the atomic level, which dictates precisely ...

Solar-Powered Desalination System Requires No Extra Batteries

Oct. 8, 2024 — Engineers built a solar-powered desalination system that produces large quantities of clean water despite variations in sunlight throughout the day. Because it requires no extra batteries, it offers ...

AI Speeds Up the Discovery of Energy and Quantum Materials

Oct. 7, 2024 — Unearthing new LEDs, solar cells, and photodetectors requires extensive knowledge surrounding the optical properties of materials. Calculating these takes time and resources. Yet researchers unveiled ...

Researchers Restore the Performance of Quantum Dot Solar Cells as If 'Flattening Crumpled Paper'

Oct. 7, 2024 — Researchers adopt a new ligand to enhance the efficiency and stability of perovskite quantum dot solar cells. Solar cell efficiency increases to 15.3% by correcting distortions on the surface of ...

Cool Roofs Could Have Saved Lives During London's Hottest Summer, Say Researchers

Oct. 1, 2024 — As many as 249 lives could have been saved in London during the 2018 record-setting hot summer had the city widely adopted cool roofs, estimates a new ...

Molecular Level Changes Translate to Big Efficiency Gains for Organic Solar Cells

Sep. 10, 2024 — Researchers have designed and synthesized a new organic semiconductor for organic solar cells (OSCs). By adding specific side units to their structure, they achieved separation between the frontier ...