Concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) use materials like glass and plastic to concentrate solar radiation onto a small, high efficiency photovoltaic cell to be converted into electricity. As this growing market becomes more standardized and commercialized, the industry is still split about whether...
German company Heliatek GmbH recently announced that its tandem solar cell technology has been verified to be the highest efficiency ever (9.8%) for an organic solar cell. The record-breaking cells were fabricated on glass substrates produced in its laboratory environment, and the breakthrough was...
It's no stretch to say energy harvesting (EH) technologies, which convert small amounts of energy from their nearby surroundings or environment into electricity, are "renewable." Piezoelectric, thermoelectric, photovoltaic (PV), and electromagnetic technologies are examples that can be used to help...
Konarka and Webasto recently announced a collaboration to further develop Power Plastic organic solar cells for integration into automotive roofs. Webasto is a German automotive roofing system manufacturer and integrator. Konarka's photovoltaics manufacturing approach uses roll-to-roll printing on...
Large plastics manufacturers use many different types of energy in every aspect of business, from building or plant management to plastics production, product development and even shipping. It's unlikely every activity is as efficient as it can be, leaving many opportunities assess and improve...
As new and upcoming international standards look at the charging electronics, connector types, and communications on the insides of electric vehicle charging stations, charger manufacturers are turning towards plastics as they take different approaches to developing covers for the outside.
Earlier this year PlasticsToday brought you news from TULiPPS Solar (Eindhoven, The Netherlands) about the company's success developing new flame retardant thermoplastic automotive-grade composite materials for use with solar panels.
Genie Lens Technologies LLC's solar division, SolOptics, has found a cost effective way to raise efficiencies in thin film and silicon solar panels. By patterning "total internal reflection" structures in plastic films affixed to the glass used in solar panels, (or into the glass directly) optical...
The United States Department of Energy released its first Quadrennial Technology Review Report in which Energy Secretary Steven Chu presented the priorities, goals, and rationale for the upcoming $3 billion 2011 energy technology R&D budget.
By 2015, full scale recycling of photovoltaic (PV) modules that were installed in the 1980's and 1990's will begin. The solar industry is proactively developing economically feasible options for recycling or reusing the materials in the modules that will have served more than 25 years of generating...
