Cheap and quick to produce, these digitally manufactured plasma sensors could help scientists predict the weather or study climate change. MIT scientists have created the first completely digitally manufactured plasma sensors for orbiting spacecraft. These plasma sensors, also known as retarding potential analyzers (RPAs), are used by satellites to determine the chemical composition and ion energy distribution of the atmosphere. The 3D-printed and laser-cut hardware performed as well as state-of-the-art semiconductor plasma sensors that are manufactured in a cleanroom, which…
Solar thermal power plants – whether parabolic trough or solar tower – are mostly constructed in desert areas with plenty of sun. In such places, soiling from sand and dust causes high uncertainties in the yield forecast and increased operating costs. In the “AVUSpro” project, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, PSE Instruments GmbH, TSK Flagsol Engineering GmbH and Dornier Suntrace GmbH have developed a fully automatic device to measure soiling. The four partners have successfully tested the…
Expected to replace lithium-based energy storage systems that have a high risk of explosions with aqueous zinc batteries. Successful growth and optimization of zinc metal anodes through low-cos and ecofriendly electroplate processes. Most energy storage systems (ESSs) have recently adopted lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), with the highest technology maturity among secondary batteries. However, these are argued to be unsuitable for ESSs, which store substantial amounts of electricity, owing to fire risks. The instability of the international supply of raw materials to…
Leipzig researchers show in new study: Vertical PV power plants on agricultural land offer enormous potential for Germany’s energy transition. Solar energy is not subject to supply shortages, is cheap and CO₂-neutral. To achieve maximum energy yield, PV power plants are usually installed facing south with an angle of inclination of 20 to 35 degrees. As a result, a lot of electricity is generated in summer as well as at midday. In the future, renewable energies are to completely replace…
Optimized light paths, high-throughput laser scribing and the use of established coating processes paves the way to commercial viability – publication in nature energy. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a prototype for fully scalable all-perovskite tandem solar modules. These modules have an efficiency of up to 19.1 percent with an aperture area of 12.25 square centimeters. This result, the first of its kind reported worldwide, was made possible by improving efficiency with optimized light paths,…
EPFL and CSEM smash through the 30% efficiency barrier for perovskite-on-silicon-tandem solar cells—setting two certified world records. Increasing the power conversion efficiency of solar cells is important for two reasons. In the long run, it is the most effective way to reduce the levelized cost of electricity. In the short term, it is the best way to promote photovoltaics for applications where space is limited e.g., roofs, facades, vehicles, or even drones. However, all solar cells are fundamentally limited by…
Printing a new chapter in solar energy. A simple and versatile nanoparticle ink could help next-generation perovskite solar cells to be printed at scale and become the dominant force in commercial photovoltaics. Made from tin oxide, the ink is created with just one key step at relatively low temperature using microwave technology, and without any need for further purification. It’s then used in solar cells to help selectively transport electrons, a crucial step in generating electricity. Prototype devices built with…
Researchers at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at Chemnitz University of Technology have succeeded for the first time in 3D printing and subsequent sintering of housings for power electronic components. Researchers at the Professorship of Electrical Energy Conversion Systems and Drives at Chemnitz University of Technology have succeeded for the first time in 3D printing housings for power electronic components that are used, for example, to control electrical machines. During the printing process, silicon carbide chips are…
Alternative ship propulsion systems. Shipping is one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gases, and this is leading shipbuilders and operators on a search for environmentally friendly alternative propulsion systems. Researchers at Fraunhofer have joined forces with partners to develop the HyMethShip concept, in which hydrogen is obtained from methanol. This technology does not require large hydrogen tanks to be carried on board, making it much safer. In the future, it may also prove to be an attractive solution for…
Paving way for wider application of green energy. Researchers at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have developed a new hydrogen fuel cell which is not only the world’s most durable1 to date, but is also more cost-effective, paving way for a wider application of green energy in the pursuit of a carbon neutral world. Hydrogen fuel cell is a promising clean energy option as it generates power by converting hydrogen and oxygen into electricity, with zero emission…
– new possibilities in product labeling. Researchers from INNOVENT e.V. and Ferdinand-Braun-Institut gGmbH have developed a measurement technique that allows to detect nanoscale fluorescent thin films for the first time without using expensive laboratory equipment. The addressed fields of appli-cation of fluorescent thin films and the associated analysis technology are in areas such as security, logistics and merchandise management. The Jena-based industrial research institution INNOVENT e.V. has incorporated fluorescent nanoparticles into thin-film technologies. These particles can now be detected thanks…
Researchers at KIT develop perovskite/CIS tandem solar cells with an efficiency of nearly 25 percent; combination of materials enables mobile applications. Stacking solar cells increases their efficiency. Working with partners in the EU-funded PERCISTAND project, researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have produced perovskite/CIS tandem solar cells with an efficiency of nearly 25percent– the highest value achieved thus far with this technology. Moreover, this combination of materials is light and versatile, making it possible to envision the use…
An original approach to mass-producing low-cost solar cell foundation blocks could lead to the wide adoption of solar panels made from perovskite ink – a “miracle material” – according to research from the University of Surrey. In the paper published in Scientific Reports, Dr Ehsan Rezaee, a post-doctoral fellow of the Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) at the University of Surrey, explains his research: “The objective is simply to produce solar cell building blocks out of perovskite ink. Whilst perovskite ink…
Scientists from the Institute of Industrial Science at The University of Tokyo fabricated three-dimensional vertically formed field-effect transistors to produce high-density data storage devices by ferroelectric gate insulator and atomic-layer-deposited oxide semiconductor channel. Furthermore, by using antiferroelectric instead of ferroelectric, they found that only a tiny net charge was required to erase data, which leads to more efficient write operations. This work may allow for new even smaller and more eco-friendly data-storage memory. While consumer flash drives already boast huge…
The Fraunhofer IPMS-developed EMSA5-FS processor core for functional safety based on the open-source RISC-V instruction set architecture is supported by another important debug tool. With the integration into the toolsets of the leading manufacturer of microprocessor development tools Lauterbach, nu-merous debug functions are now available for the 32-bit RISC-V core. The EMSA5-FS is the first fault-tolerant embedded RISC-V processor core according to functional safety and was awarded the Product of the Year 2022 in the automotive sector by the trade…
… improves prediction accuracy of battery capacity. Recently, electric vehicles (EVs) are seen everywhere, from passenger cars, buses, to taxis. EVs have the advantage of being eco-friendly and having low maintenance costs; but their owners must remain wary of fatal accidents in case the battery runs out or reaches the end of its life. Therefore, precise capacity and lifespan predictions for the lithium-ion batteries – commonly used in EVs – are vital. A POSTECH research team led by Professor Seungchul…
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