ADPV Limited, a Hong Kong-based provider of CIGS photovoltaic solutions, has signed a joint development contract with Solliance, a partnership of R&D organisations from The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany working in thin film photovoltaic solar energy. The contract concerns the development of two-step electroplated CIGS modules.
This atomic force microscopy image of the grainy surface of a perovskite solar cell reveals a new path to much greater efficiency. Individual grains are black, low-performing facets are red, high-performing facets are green (photo: Berkeley Lab)
Scientists from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have discovered a possible secret to dramatically boosting the efficiency of perovskite solar cells hidden in the nanoscale peaks and valleys of the crystalline material. Solar cells made from compounds that have the crystal structure of the mineral perovskite have captured scientists’ imaginations.
Scientists from South Korea have made ultra-thin photovoltaics flexible enough to wrap around the average pencil. The bendy solar cells could power wearable electronics like fitness trackers and smart glasses. Thin materials flex more easily than thick ones – think a piece of paper versus a cardboard shipping box. The reason for the difference: The stress in a material while it is being bent increases farther out from the central plane. Because thick sheets have more material farther out, they are harder to bend.
