Efficiency

Solar cells still have plenty of room for improvement. Researchers at New York University Tandon have now developed thin film that boosts solar cell efficiency by converting wasted wavelengths of light into ones that can produce energy.

Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have broken the world record for solar cell efficiency. Reaching almost 40 percent, the new device boasts the highest efficiency recorded for any type of solar cell in real-world conditions.

Perovskite solar cells have come a long way in a short time, but there’s still room for improvement. Engineers have now added a layer of quantum dots to the recipe, resulting in a more stable solar cell with near-record efficiency.

When objects are being 3D printed, they often have to include supportive structures that are subsequently discarded. A new print bed, however, is designed to eliminate the need for such structures, thus reducing both waste and printing time.

When you're laser-cutting parts for a build project, you obviously want to be as efficient as possible. A new MIT-created program is designed to help, by optimizing the manner in which parts are cut from sheets of raw material.

A touch of chili peppers can spice up just about any dish – and maybe, it turns out, even solar cells. Researchers have now found that adding a sprinkle of capsaicin to a perovskite precursor can improve the efficiency of solar cells.

Electric vehicles have come a long way in the last decade or so, moving people from A to B with ever-improving efficiency, but none quite match the levels of a student-built railroad car called Eximus IV, which has just set another record in Sweden.

Researchers have developed a photovoltaic device that has an external quantum efficiency of 132 percent. This impossible-sounding feat was achieved using nanostructured black silicon, and could represent a major breakthrough for solar cells.

Perovskite makes for efficient solar cells, but it’s a bit too fragile. Now, a team has found that adding one bulky molecule can stabilize the material, making it stackable in layers and opening up its usefulness in solar cells and other electronics.

Solar cells are constantly improving on the road to maximum efficiency. Now, three records have been broken by two different devices, including one that pushes the highest overall solar conversion efficiency towards the 50-percent mark.

A new student-led research program has been launched at the UK's University of Southampton with the aim of finding ways to improve the efficiency and extend the battery life of unmanned aviation vehicles used to monitor remote locations.

Once a year, the Delsbo Electric contest in Sweden challenges students to create and improve on the world's most energy-efficient vehicles. This year's champ, the Eximus IV, smashed the competition and all previous records with an electric equivalent of 687 MPGe (0.34 l/100km​).