Berlin, Germany (SPX) Apr 29, 2026 Researchers at LMU Munich have developed a targeted surface treatment for perovskite solar cell electrodes that improves molecular contact, boosting device efficiency, reproducibility, and long-term stability. The findings, published in Advanced Energy Materials, challenge a widely held assumption about electrode preparation and open new pathways for engineering high-performance photovoltaic con

London, UK (SPX) Apr 29, 2026 Reliable electricity supply is critical in desert environments, where cooling systems must function continuously during heatwaves to protect human health. Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have demonstrated that explicitly accounting for extreme weather events during the design phase of community-scale renewable energy systems can prevent dangerous electri

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 29, 2026 A new study describes a perovskite diode that achieves 26.7% power-conversion efficiency when operated as a solar cell and 31% external quantum efficiency when operated as a light-emitting diode, performance levels that would be considered strong for a device designed to do only one of those things. Metal-halide perovskites are a class of semiconductor materials named for their distinctive

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 23, 2026 A computer vision system developed at Columbia Engineering can determine how much energy a solar panel will generate over a year - and how much more it could generate if repositioned - using nothing more than a single 360-degree photograph taken from the panel's location. Graduate student Jeremy Klotz and professor Shree Nayar, T.C. Chang Professor of Computer Science at Columbia Engineeri

London, United Kingdom (SPX) Apr 23, 2026 A technique that improves the performance and stability of next-generation solar cells - without adding any chemicals or coatings - has been demonstrated by researchers from Korea University and the University of Surrey. The study, published in Nature Energy, details a method that works by placing two types of perovskite film in contact with each other. That contact alone triggers a molecular in

Seoul, South Korea (SPX) Apr 23, 2026 Sungkyunkwan University has published a comprehensive report analyzing technological advances and global research trends in perovskite solar cells, prepared jointly by the research group of Professor Nam-Gyu Park from the Department of Chemical Engineering and the university's Performance Analysis Team, in collaboration with global academic data company Clarivate. The report traces the dev

Tokyo (SPX) May 01, 2026 Researchers at Chiba University have developed the first universal model for energy level alignment at electrode, hole-collecting monolayer, and perovskite interfaces in solar cells, establishing a physically consistent framework that explains and provides guidelines for material performance across diverse combinations. A team led by Professor Hiroyuki Yoshida from the Graduate School of E

Tokyo (SPX) May 01, 2026 Researchers have achieved a power conversion efficiency of 20.21 percent in pseudo-planar heterojunction organic solar cells by introducing a crystalline polymer buffer layer that shields against solvent-induced erosion during fabrication. The study, published in Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, addresses a persistent challenge in layer-by-layer deposition. During application of the top

Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 01, 2026 Rice University chemical engineers have developed a method to make perovskite-based photovoltaics more durable by driving the material directly into its desirable black crystal phase while making it harder to degrade into an inactive yellow phase. Aditya Mohite and collaborators used two key additives in the precursor solution to create perovskite crystalline films that retained 98 percent

London (SPX) May 01, 2026 Researchers have identified previously unknown materials, including a new form of a widely studied clean-energy material, by carefully controlling and tracking how molecular precursors break down during heating. The study, published in Nature Communications, uncovers a series of hidden intermediate stages that appear when molecules are heated to become materials. Capturing these intermedia

Los Angeles, CA (SPX) May 01, 2026 Chemists at the University of Warwick have identified a series of previously unknown materials formed during the heating of molecular precursors, including a new structural form of bismuth vanadate, a well-studied clean-energy compound with potential roles in solar fuel generation and next-generation batteries. The findings, published April 30 in Nature Communications, show that the interm

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Apr 28, 2026 A new study published in the journal Biochar demonstrates that combining biochar with advanced polyzwitterionic hydrogels can sharply improve the performance of solar-driven water evaporation systems, offering a practical pathway toward low-energy desalination and water purification. Freshwater scarcity continues to intensify globally, with the vast majority of Earth's water locked in ocea