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Categories: Energy: Alternative Fuels, Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms

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Researchers have discovered an important in-situ protonation process that the photodynamics and separation of charge carriers in a photocatalyst, leading to efficient hydrogen generation from water using visible solar light. The process is enabled in an interstitial phosphorus doped carbon nitride structure, with only earth-abundant non-metallic elements, for its cost-effectiveness and high potential for practical applications.

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Though plants can serve as a source of food, oxygen and décor, they're not often considered to be a good source of electricity. But by collecting electrons naturally transported within plant cells, scientists can generate electricity as part of a 'green,' biological solar cell. Now, researchers have used a succulent plant to create a living 'bio-solar cell' that runs on photosynthesis.

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Engineers have used sound waves to boost production of green hydrogen by 14 times, through electrolysis to split water.

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MIT researchers developed a scalable fabrication technique to produce ultrathin, flexible, durable, lightweight solar cells that can be stuck to any surface. Glued to high-strength fabric, the solar cells are only one-hundredth the weight of conventional cells while producing about 18 times more power-per-kilogram.

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Clean, sustainable energy solutions are essential to meet the ever-increasing energy demands of the human population. High efficiency solar cells are promising candidates to reduce carbon emissions and achieve carbon neutrality. In this regard, solution-processed copper indium gallium sulfur diselenide solar cells (CIGSSe) solar cells have generated significant interest owing to their excellent photovoltaic properties, such as high absorption of visible light, stability, and tunable bandgap. However, large scale, practical applications are limited by a two-fold challenge.

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Researchers have demonstrated a new way to create stable perovskite solar cells, with fewer defects and the potential to finally rival silicon's durability.

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A new study finds that the health benefits associated with wind power could more than quadruple if operators turned down output from the most polluting fossil-fuel-based power plants when energy from wind is available. However, compared to wealthier communities, disadvantaged communities would reap a smaller share of these benefits.

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Tin sulfide (SnS) solar cells have shown immense promise in the rush to develop more environmentally friendly thin-film solar cells. Yet for years SnS solar cells have struggled to achieve a high conversion efficiency. To overcome this, a SnS interface exhibiting large band bending was necessary, something a research group has recently achieved.

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Too much sun and too much heat can reduce the efficiency of photovoltaics. A solar farm with optimally spaced panels facing the correct direction could cool itself through convection using the surrounding wind. Researchers explored how to exploit the geometry of solar farms to enhance natural cooling mechanisms.

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An interdisciplinary team of researchers has developed a potential breakthrough in green aviation: a recipe for a net-zero fuel for planes that will pull carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the air.

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A 'simple' tweak to perovskite solar cells during the fabrication stage could help to unlock the untold potential of the renewable energy source, according to new research.

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A new method for describing energy loss in organic solar cells has paved the way for building better and more efficient devices.

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The development of offshore wind energy is expanding globally, with the potential to be an important source of clean renewable energy. Yet offshore wind farms pose significant risks to seabirds and other marine wildlife. A new study outlines a framework for addressing the impacts of offshore wind farms on marine bird populations and highlights conservation strategies that could potentially more than offset those impacts.

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Catalysts are of utmost relevance for the production of chemicals and energy storage with hydrogen. Researchers have now discovered that the formation of bubbles in the pores of a catalyst can be essential for its activity. Their findings help to optimize catalyst materials for reactions in which gases are formed from liquids -- and which play a central role in a future green hydrogen economy.

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A team of scientists has developed a new characterization tool that allowed the scientists to gain unique insight into a possible alternative material for solar cells.

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Every green leaf is able to convert solar energy into chemical energy, storing it in chemical compounds. However, an important sub-process of photosynthesis can already be technically imitated -- solar hydrogen production: Sunlight generates a current in a so-called photoelectrode that can be used to split water molecules. This produces hydrogen, a versatile fuel that stores solar energy in chemical form and can release it when needed.

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Space missions already use electric propulsion devices, where electromagnetic fields are utilized to generate the thrust of spacecraft. One such electrodeless device, which harnesses radio frequency (rf) to generate plasma and a magnetic nozzle (MN) to channel and accelerate plasma, has shown immense promise in pushing the boundaries of space travel. But scientists have so far failed to achieve efficient conversion of the rf power to thrust energy. Now, a researcher has achieved a stunning 30% conversion efficiency.

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As low Earth orbit becomes more cluttered, it becomes increasingly necessary to use middle Earth orbits, and radiation-tolerant cell designs will be needed. Making photovoltaics thinner should increase their longevity because the charge carriers have less far to go during their shortened lifetimes. Scientists propose a radiation-tolerant photovoltaic cell design that features an ultrathin layer of light-absorbing material. Compared to thicker cells, nearly 3.5 times less cover glass is needed for the ultra-thin cells to deliver the same amount of power after 20 years of operation.

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An increase in the efficiency of solar panels may be on the horizon, as new research reduces their current limitations.

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Engineering researchers have developed a new self-healing composite that allows structures to repair themselves in place, without having to be removed from service. This latest technology resolves two longstanding challenges for self-healing materials, and can significantly extend the lifespan of structural components such as wind-turbine blades and aircraft wings.