perovskite
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Stanford toughens up cheap solar cells by mimicking insect eyes
While silicon solar panels are already providing electricity for a lot of homes and buildings, it doesn't mean researchers have stopped looking for better and cheaper alternatives. Case in point, a team of Stanford scientists working to make a cheaper photovoltaic mineral called perovskite a viable option for people who want to shift to solar. Perovskites are as efficient as silicon solar cells when it comes to converting sunlight into energy, but they're fragile and can deteriorate easily when exposed to the elements. The team had to find a way to make them more durable -- and they've found inspiration in the compound eyes of insects.
ICYMI: Printing in 4D, solar panel breakthrough and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-509705{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-509705, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-509705{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-509705").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Scientists at Harvard have figured out how to print incredibly small, shape-shifting creations out of hydrogel that can then morph from 3D to 4D depending on water or heat is applied to them. Scientists figured out how to grow a material that could make solar panels cheaper. And a new jacket on Indiegogo captures heat from UV light then stores it in a steel mesh center to warm you up. If you need to catch up on big stories from the week, we recommend starting with Google's donations. And as always, please share any interesting science or tech videos, anytime! Just tweet us with the #ICYMI hashtag to @mskerryd.
Spray-painted solar cells promise cheap power on seemingly any surface
Scientists have dreamed of painting solar cells to generate energy on just about any surface, but efficiency has been a problem; researchers were happy to get one percent just a couple of years ago. At last, though, it looks like viable paint-on power is close at hand. A team at the University of Sheffield has developed spray-on cells that should be both cheap and capable. The trick is to coat an object in perovskite, a calcium titanium oxide mineral -- it's inexpensive like organic solar cells, but absorbs light nearly as well as silicon.
