tag: solar

Power/Performance Bits: Jan. 17
By Jesse Allen - 17 Jan, 2017 - Comments: 0

Creating magnets with electricity Researchers at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Korea Institute of Materials Science, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Max Planck Institute, and the University of New South Wales drew magnetic squares in a nonmagnetic material with an electrified pen and then "read" this magneti... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Jan. 10
By Jesse Allen - 10 Jan, 2017 - Comments: 0

Antiferromagnetic magnetoelectric RAM Researchers at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Swiss Nanoscience Institute, and the University of Basel developed a concept for a new, low power memory chip. In particular, the group focused on finding an alternative to MRAM using magnetoelectric antiferromagnets, which are activated by an electrical voltage rather than by a current. "... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Dec. 20
By Jesse Allen - 20 Dec, 2016 - Comments: 0

Stamping with electronic ink Engineers at MIT fabricated a stamp made from carbon nanotubes that is able to print electronic inks onto rigid and flexible surfaces. The team's stamping process should be able to print transistors small enough to control individual pixels in high-resolution displays and touchscreens, said A. John Hart, associate professor of contemporary technology and mecha... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Dec. 6
By Jesse Allen - 06 Dec, 2016 - Comments: 0

Perovskites for data storage Scientists at EPFL developed a new perovskite material whose magnetic order can be rapidly changed without disrupting it due to heating that could potentially be used to build next-generation hard drives. "We have essentially discovered the first magnetic photoconductor," said Bálint Náfrádi, a postdoc at EPFL. This new crystal structure combines the advant... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Nov. 29
By Jesse Allen - 29 Nov, 2016 - Comments: 0

PV technology comparison Joshua J. Romero at the IEEE Spectrum put together an overview of photovoltaic technologies, including the world records for each type of cell, grouped into five broad categories. There is a brief overview of each cell type and some of its trade-offs. He also looks at how fast each technology has made efficiency gains. The most rapid progress is being seen in high... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Nov. 23
By Jesse Allen - 23 Nov, 2016 - Comments: 0

Increasing lithium battery density Researchers at Columbia University developed a new method to increase the energy density of lithium batteries using a trilayer structure that is stable in ambient air. "When lithium batteries are charged the first time, they lose anywhere from 5-20% energy in that first cycle," said Yuan Yang, assistant professor of materials science and engineering at C... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Nov. 15
By Jesse Allen - 15 Nov, 2016 - Comments: 0

Another record-breaking tandem perovskite solar cell University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientists report a new design for perovskite solar cells that achieves an average steady-state efficiency of 18.4%, with a high of 21.7% and a peak efficiency of 26%. "This has a great potential to be the cheapest photovoltaic on the market, plugging into any... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Nov. 8
By Jesse Allen - 08 Nov, 2016 - Comments: 0

Scrap metal batteries A research team at Vanderbilt University used scraps of steel and brass - two of the most commonly discarded materials - to create a steel-brass battery that can store energy at levels comparable to lead-acid batteries while charging and discharging at rates comparable to ultra-fast charging supercapacitors. The researchers found that when scraps of steel and brass a... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Oct. 25
By Jesse Allen - 25 Oct, 2016 - Comments: 0

Energy-harvesting floor Engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison developed a flooring material which can be used as a triboelectric nanogenerator to convert footsteps into electricity. The method uses wood pulp, a common waste material already often used in flooring. The pulp is partly make of cellulose nanofibers, which when chemically treated produce an electrical charge when th... » read more

System Bits: Oct. 11
By Ed Sperling - 11 Oct, 2016 - Comments: 0

Carbon Is So 2015 Researchers at MIT have created a supercapacitor that relies on a material other than carbon. This new class of materials, called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), are a porous and sponge-like, according to MIT, tthereby providing a much larger surface area than carbon. As with most things electrical, more surface area is essential for superconductors. The problem the re... » read more

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