Lifeboat Foundation

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are promising solar technologies. Although low-cost wet processing has shown advantages in small-area PSC fabrication, the preparation of uniform charge transport layers with thickness of several nanometers from solution for meter-sized large area products is still challenging.

Recently, a research group led by Prof. LIU Shengzhong from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has developed a facile surface redox engineering (SRE) strategy for vacuum-deposited NiO x to match the slot-die-coated perovskite, and fabricated high-performance large-area perovskite submodules.

This work was published in Joule (“Surface redox engineering of vacuum-deposited NiO x for top-performance perovskite solar cells and modules”).

A new study finds that decarbonization pathways need to incorporate more efficient electric heating technologies and more renewable energy sources to minimize strain on the U.S. electric grid during increased electricity usage from heating in December and January. Otherwise, harmful fossil fuels will continue to power these seasonal spikes in energy demand.

Buildings’ direct fossil fuel consumption, burned in water heaters, furnaces, and other heating sources, accounts for nearly 10 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Switching to an electric system that powers heating through renewable energy sources, rather than coal, oil, and natural gas—the process known as building electrification or building decarbonization—is a crucial step towards achieving global net-zero climate goals.

However, most building decarbonization models have not accounted for seasonal fluctuations in energy demand for heating or cooling. This makes it difficult to predict what an eventual switch to cleaner, all-electric heating in buildings could mean for the nation’s electrical grid, especially during peaks in energy use.

VinFast is an unknown Vietnamese automaker selling electric vehicles (EVs) in America. Top staffers hail from industry leaders such as BMW.

New structural battery pack design is evaluated by auto manufacturing expert.

Sandy and Cory give an update on the 4,680 Battery Pack from our Austin-Built Tesla Model Y.

Continue reading “4680 Battery Pack: What We Found Under the Foam!” »

Inserting a metal fluoride layer in multilayered perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells can stall charge recombination and enhance performance, KAUST researchers have found.

Tandem solar cells that combine perovskite and silicon-based subcells in one device are expected to better capture and convert sunlight into electricity than their conventional single-junction silicon analogs at a lower cost. However, when sunlight strikes the perovskite subcell, the resulting pairs of electrons and positively charged holes tend to recombine at the interface between perovskite and the electron-transport layer. Also, a mismatch between energy levels at this interface hinders electron separation within the cell. Cumulatively, these problems lower the maximum operating voltage available, or open-circuit voltage, of the tandem cells and limit device performance.

These performance issues can partially be solved by introducing a lithium fluoride layer between the perovskite and electron-transport layer, which usually comprises the electron-acceptor fullerene (C₆₀). However, lithium salts readily liquify and diffuse through surfaces, which makes the devices unstable. “None of the devices have passed the standard test protocols of the International Electrotechnical Commission, prompting us to create an alternative,” says lead author Jiang Liu, a postdoc in Stefaan De Wolf’s group.

Solar energy and onshore wind are crucial to unlocking Africa’s hydrogen potential, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its Africa Energy Outlook 2022. “With further cost declines, Africa has the potential to produce 5 000 megatonnes of hydrogen per year at less than $2 per kilogram,” reads the report. The continent has 60% of the world’s best solar resources, but only 1% of its operational solar generation capacity.

Serbia and Hungary signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on renewable hydrogen. “The signed memorandum is the basis for exchanging documents in this area and discussing potential joint projects,” said the Serbian government.

As more drivers adopt plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles, the demand for lithium-ion batteries will continue to explode over the next decade. But processes for extracting lithium can be time-consuming and chemical-intensive, and traditional sources—including brine and hard rock—could ultimately be depleted.

Scientists and engineers are now looking to unconventional water sources, including oil-and gas-produced water, geothermal brines, and rejected brines from seawater desalination. But how much lithium lies within these sources, and how to best extract it, remains an open question.

Asst. Prof. Chong Liu’s team now has the answer. By analyzing more than 122,000 unconventional water sources, she and her team discovered that there is, in fact, enough lithium within these sources to make it worthwhile to extract.

Circa 2021

With its sleek exterior and spacious interior, the Leo Coupe is more automotive than other electric aircraft. It looks like a car with wings.

Airbus and CFM International’s collaboration gave us the open fan engine that promises to reduce CO₂ emissions.