Thin-Film CIGS Solar Cell Sets New Efficiency

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Excerpt: Researchers from the Germany Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW) have broken a new efficiency record for thin-film copper indium gallium diselenide solar cells.The researchers produced a 20.3 percent efficient cell, only a fraction less than the best multi-crystalline cells o …

PV Vision Sensor Identifies Smallest Solar Cell Inconsistencies

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Excerpt: SensoPart Industriesensorik GmbH (Wieden, Germany) expanded its program of vision sensors by adding a solution for photovoltaics: The new vision solar sensor FA 46 is the only sensor in its price category available on the market that measures each individual cell and is consequently able to ident …

Fused Quartz, A Critical Component Of The Solar Power Industry

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Excerpt: As the photovoltaic industry advances, the use of fused quartz becomes more vital, in creating thin films and silicon chips as well as manufacturing and laboratory ware.Much of the success of sustainable energy sources depends on the achievement of improved efficiencies, and photovoltaics are …

19% Efficient Screen-Printed 6″ Solar Cell

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Excerpt:Sunways AG has developed its high-efficiency silicon solar cell with screen-printing metallisation and an efficiency of more than 19% further from the 5" format to the 6" standard format.In March this year a monocrystalline solar cell with screen-printing metallisation and more than …

New Solar Cell Generates Electricity Via Sun’s Light & Heat

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Excerpt: A team of scientists has invented a new type of solar cell that converts both the sun's heat and light into electricity, potentially giving a boost to the efficiency of solar energy harvesting devices. The cell combines a photovoltaic process that turns light into electricity with another that c …

Researchers Create Organic Photovoltaic Panels From Graphene

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Excerpt: Despite the fact that graphene has been known to exist for decades, only recently have researchers begun to study graphene in earnest. The reason for the relatively late start into research using grapheme is that the material was difficult to make in quantities needed for research.Once that h …

SunPower Achieves Unprecedented 24.2% Solar Cell Efficiency

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Excerpt: SunPower Corp. has produced a full-scale solar cell with a sunlight to electricity conversion efficiency of 24.2 percent at its manufacturing plant in the Philippines. This is a new world record for large area silicon wafers, and has been confirmed by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Re …

SuperXcaps brings more power and flexibility

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Excerpt: Energy harvesting collects light energy using solar or photovoltaic cells, piezoelectrics generate it from pressure, kinetic energy from movement and inductive energy from rotation or motion. These generate enough low levels of current to power wireless sensors. However, capturing and storing suffic …

Purple Bacteria’s Cellular Arrangement Could Be Adopted for Use In Solar Panels

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Excerpt:Purple bacteria were among the first life forms on Earth. They are single celled microscopic organisms that play a vital role in sustaining the tree of life. This tiny organism lives in aquatic environments like the bottom of lakes and the colorful corals under the sea, using sunlight as the …

Multiphysics Modeling Analyzes Materials to Revolutionize Solar Energy

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Excerpt: Solar collector designs based on polymers replace metal with plastics and offer potential of far lower costs. To analyze these designs, researchers must model factors like heat transfer, structural deformation, and stress.About half of fossil fuels are used in heating, so there is a huge potenti …