A schematic shows a perovskite solar cell being irradiated with a damaging (red) and a healing (green) proton beam.
Ahmad Kirmani using Blender
Spacecraft exteriors that automatically heal from radiation damage would change the game − one material shows promise.
Wind turbines are getting bigger and bigger – this one in China began operating in August 2023 and is 275 metres high.
Lin Shanchuan / Alamy
Including a positive way to think about tipping points.
Scientists at Swansea University have pioneered a printable and rollable solar cell.
Swansea University
A new generation of flexible solar cells has been pioneered using a material known as perovskite.
ViktoriyaFivko/Shutterstock
Chemicals found in food and solar cell technology have an interesting history – as my own research shows.
What if it were a lot easier to install solar power?
zstock/Shutterstock.com
Silicon is cheap and a good semiconductor, but it’s bulky and rigid. Using organic polymers as semiconductors could yield solar panels with the physical characteristics of plastics.
A tandem solar cell made from silicon and metal-halide perovskite.
Rongrong Cheacharoen
A hybrid approach to solar – using reliable silicon and new inexpensive material perovskite – shows promise for low-cost, efficient solar cells.
Perovskite, the latest magical substance.
Rob Lavinsky/iRocks.com
Whenever I tell people I work with solar cells I am asked the same two questions: are they ever going to be really cheap? And can you get me some? While the answer to the second question is no, the answer…