Researchers at the University at Buffalo are working on the development of organic photovoltaics that use polymers and small molecules that are carbon-based and can be applied in liquid form over large areas, reducing the cost and possibly becoming as inexpensive as paint. Buffalo, New York – Most Americans want the U.S. to place more [...]

By adding a squaraine dye into polymer solar cells that are based on Forster resonance energy transfer, Yale scientists achieved a 38 percent increase in power conversion efficiency, opening up a new avenue for the development of high-efficiency polymer solar cells. For some solar cells, the future may be fluorescent. Scientists at Yale have improved [...]

A newly published study describes a new approach to converting non-food based biomass into fuels, allowing researchers to generate a range of alkanes from a variety of biomass-derived molecules. Los Alamos, New Mexico — One of the more promising roads to energy independence leads away from crude oil and into the forests and fields. For [...]

In a new study, a team of researchers report the development of a new street lighting design that harnesses high-efficiency LEDs and ensures they shine only where they’re needed, cutting light pollution and glare and saving energy. Washington — Streetlights illuminate the night, shining upon roadways and sidewalks across the world, but these ubiquitous elements [...]

In a newly published study, MIT researchers detail the technique they used to develop a photovoltaic device that generates more than one electron per photon, boosting efficiency. Throughout decades of research on solar cells, one formula has been considered an absolute limit to the efficiency of such devices in converting sunlight into electricity: Called the [...]

Scientists have developed black titanium dioxide nanoparticles that are able to absorb infrared as well as visible and ultraviolet light, improving the efficiency with which black titanium dioxide can use sunlight to split water molecules for the production of hydrogen. A unique atomic-scale engineering technique for turning low-efficiency photocatalytic “white” nanoparticles of titanium dioxide into [...]

Using an ultrahigh-precision visible light microscopy technique called PALM, scientists at the Berkeley Lab have discovered a way to boost the yields of sugars for making biofuels, which should help reduce production costs. Catalysis may initiate almost all modern industrial manufacturing processes, but catalytic activity on solid surfaces is poorly understood. This is especially true [...]

At the 245th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, Dr. Nocera described recent advances in the “artificial leaf,” such as the ability to self-heal and the use of less-expensive materials that are simple and inexpensive to mass produce. New Orleans — Another innovative feature has been added to the world’s first practical [...]

A new study from Stanford researchers suggest that electricity generated by all of the world’s installed solar photovoltaic (PV) panels has caught up to the amount of energy going into the production of those panels, making the global solar photovoltaic industry a net energy producer. The results suggest that the PV industry was a net [...]

A new study details how researchers genetically manipulated secondary cell walls in plants to reduce the production of lignin while increasing the yield of sugars for biofuels. When blessed with a resource in overwhelming abundance it’s generally a good idea to make valuable use of that resource. Lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant organic material [...]

Scientists at the University of Georgia have discovered a way to transform carbon dioxide trapped in the atmosphere into useful industrial products, possibly allowing scientists to make biofuels from CO2 in the atmosphere. Athens, Georgia – Excess carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere created by the widespread burning of fossil fuels is the major driving [...]

Based on the photon-enhanced thermionic emission (PETE) process, a new solar-energy device is about 100 times more efficient than its previous design. Scientists working at the Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences (SIMES) have improved an innovative solar-energy device to be about 100 times more efficient than its previous design in converting the sun’s [...]