Be it smart watches or fitness trackers – the market for wearables is growing enormously worldwide. Batteries are a strategic component here. VARTA Microbattery, based in Ellwangen, Germany, will showcase its solutions and products at this year’s IOThings from 16 to 17 May in Milan, Italy.
Optomec, a leading global supplier of production-grade additive manufacturing systems for 3D printed electronics and 3D printed metals based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, announced significant improvements in the ability to effectively print and post-process copper and copper/nickel (ie: Constantan) inks on its Aerosol Jet systems. The availability and support of these new, cost effective inks from a number of qualified suppliers will enable new classes of electronic devices helping to expand industrial use of 3D printed electronics for consumer electronics, medical device, Internet of Things and other electronic applications.
Back-side view of the solar cells (here on a larger wafers) with positive and negative contact. Front-side view without any shadowing contact (Photo: CSEM)
A team of EPFL and CSEM researchers in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, presents in Nature Energy a new astonishing method of creating crystalline solar cells with electrical contacts at the rear, suppressing all shadowing at the front. Thanks to the new inexpensive approach, the fabrication process is strongly simplified with efficiencies in the laboratory already surpassing 23%.
