Imec (Leuven, Belgium), a leading research hub in nanoelectronics, energy and digital technology, within the partnership of EnergyVille, recently announced a record result for its 4-terminal perovskite/silicon tandem photovoltaic cell. With a power conversion efficiency of 27.1 percent, the new imec tandem cell beats the most efficient standalone silicon solar cell. Further careful engineering of the Perovskite material will bring efficiencies over 30% in reach.
The UK-based Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) has recently welcomed confirmation of a £107M government funding package to help develop technologies for next generation manufacturing. The commitment, announced during a cabinet visit to the North-East, covers a five-year period and will allow CPI to continue its extensive track-record of helping industry bridge the gap between innovation and commercialisation to bring new products and processes to market.
A lightweight, compact and efficient supercapacitor printed on a flexible plastic sheet has been developed by researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). Supercapacitors are devices that could one day replace batteries used in electric cars, cell phones or laptops, because they charge very quickly, and work at almost 100% efficiency. But they are usually bulky and can only store limited amounts of energy. Reducing their size without losing efficiency has proved challenging. Fabricating them using existing methods is also costly and complicated.
