Solar Power

Briefs: Lighting

Artificial Intelligence Finds and Labels 2D Materials Instantly

The AI system can help shorten the time required for 2D material-based electronics to be ready for consumer devices.

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Shape Memory Alloy Mechanisms for CubeSats

This lightweight and efficient mechanism enables retention, release, and deployment of solar arrays and antennas.

Briefs: Energy

Machine Learning Method for Battery Development

The method slashes battery testing times — a key barrier to longer-lasting, faster-charging batteries for electric vehicles.

Briefs: Energy

Guiding and Harnessing Transition Waves in Multi-Stable Mechanical Structures

The domino effect is used to design deployable systems that expand quickly with a small push and are stable and locked into place after deployment.

Q&A: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Q&A: Simple Solar-Powered Desalination

Lenan Zhang and his team at MIT developed a small, economical, highly efficient device to provide fresh drinking water using only the Sun for its energy input.

Articles: Energy

Products of Tomorrow: April 2020

A wildfire-preventing gel; NASA's 3D tissue models, and more.

Briefs: Energy

Producing Cadmium Telluride Material for Solar Cells

A new method provides a more efficient, safer, and cost-effective way to produce cadmium telluride material for solar cells or other applications.

INSIDER: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Researchers Develop A Roadmap to Use Perovskites for New Solar Cells

Materials called perovskites show strong potential for a new generation of solar cells, but they’ve had trouble gaining traction in a market dominated by...

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Thin Films of Barium Zirconium Sulfide Offer Exceptional Electronic Properties

These thin films hold great promise for solar cells and LEDs.

Briefs: Energy

Design Treatment for Advanced Metals Enables Easier Machining

Applying a surface-active agent makes metal easier to cut and shape into parts and pieces.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Photovoltaic-Powered Sensors

RFID-based devices work in indoor and outdoor lighting conditions and could transmit data for years before they need to be replaced.

Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs

Undercooled Metal Technology for Flexible Electronics

Undercooled metal technology was developed that features liquid metal (in this case, Field's metal, an alloy of bismuth, indium, and tin) trapped below its melting point in polished,...

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Method Produces Three-Dimensional, Curved Electronics

Contact lenses that can monitor the wearer’s health and correct eyesight use embedded electronics. These, and other curved devices such as solar cells and electronics, could be...

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Rose-Inspired Device Collects and Purifies Water

A new device, inspired by a rose, inexpensively collects and purifies water. The device is a new approach to solar steaming for water production — a technique that uses energy from sunlight...

INSIDER: Imaging

Nanowire Arrays Could Improve Solar Cells

Transparent electrodes are a critical component of solar cells and electronic displays. To collect electricity in a solar cell or inject electricity for a display, you need a conductive contact,...

Articles: Energy

Products of Tomorrow: September 2019

Semi-Liquid Metal Anode for Next-Generation Batteries

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University have developed a semi-liquid lithium metal-based anode. Lithium batteries made using this new...

Articles: Energy

Products of Tomorrow: August 2019

This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow. To learn more about each technology, see the contact information provided for that...

Briefs: Aerospace

Double-Sided Si(Ge)/Sapphire/III-Nitride Hybrid Structures

NASA Langley Research Center has developed a double-sided Si(Ge)/ Sapphire/III-Nitride hybrid structure. This technology uses both sides of a sapphire wafer to build device...

Briefs: Nanotechnology

Organic Semiconductor Thin-Film Sensors Detect Disease Markers in Breath

Organic semiconductors (OSCs) have emerged as a new class of electronic materials promising a wide range of applications including organic field-effect transistors...

Briefs: Materials

Tuning Material Color and Thermal Properties Separately

The color of a material can often tell how it handles heat. With clothing, for example, the darker the pigment, the warmer you're likely to feel on a hot day. Likewise, the more...

News: Green Design & Manufacturing

From LASER World of PHOTONICS 2019: Light as the Key to Global Sustainability

The increased use of photonics has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions — by 3-billion tons.

Blog: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

How to Produce More Clean Water? Resemble the Rose.

A new water purifier works better because it takes the shape of the rose.

INSIDER: Energy

Release of Solar Panel Dataset Helps Cities Make Power Grids Safer and More Reliable

Solar power researchers have traditionally only used the power measurements from single residential solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to estimate the...

INSIDER: Power

Winter Could Pose Solar Farm ‘Ramping’ Problem for Power Grid

By adding utility-scale solar farms throughout New York state, summer electricity demand from conventional sources could be reduced by up to 9.6% in some places. But...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Generating Electrical Power from Waste Heat

Directly converting electrical power to heat is easy; however, converting heat into electrical power is not as easy. To address this issue, a tiny silicon-based device was developed that can...