Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory are creating double-pane solar windows that generate electricity with greater efficiency and also create shading and insulation. It’s all made possible by a new window architecture which utilizes two different layers of low-cost quantum dots tuned to absorb different parts of the solar spectrum. The approach complements existing photovoltaic technology by adding high-efficiency sunlight collectors to existing solar panels or integrating them as semitransparent windows into a building’s architecture.
Using two types of “designer” quantum dots, researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory are creating double-pane solar windows that generate electricity with greater efficiency and create shading and insulation for good measure.
It’s all made possible by a new window architecture which utilizes two different layers of low-cost quantum dots tuned to absorb different parts of the solar spectrum.
“Because of the strong performance we can achieve with low-cost, solution-processable materials, these quantum-dot-based double-pane windows and even more complex luminescent solar concentrators offer a new way to bring down the cost of solar electricity,” said lead researcher Victor Klimov. “The approach complements existing photovoltaic technology by adding high-efficiency sunlight collectors to existing solar panels or integrating them as semitransparent windows into a building’s architecture.”
The key to this advance is solar-spectrum splitting, which allows one to process higher- and lower-energy solar photons separately. The higher-energy photons can generate a higher photovoltage, which could boost overall solar output. This approach also improves the photocurrent, according to the Los Alamos team, since the dots used in the front layer are virtually reabsorption free.
Scientists from Stanford University, two Department of Energy national laboratories and Samsung have teamed up to study lithium-rich batteries in the hope of creating super-batteries that will help power electric cars for up to 50% farther. Up until now, scientists did not know why these super-batteries lost voltage very quickly. However, new research has found that this decrease in performance is due to changes in the atomic structure of the cathode after continual charging and discharging cycles. Consequently, the team of scientists decided to analyze these changes in so that they could find out why lithium-rich batteries quickly lost voltage. By knowing this, it is hoped that this change in atomic structure can be controlled so that battery performance can be optimized.
Metal and Metal Manufactured Products Market was valued at $710,531 million in 2016, and is projected to reach at $866,605 million by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 2.8% from 2017 to 2023. Metal is an essential and reusable resource with luster, high thermal & electrical conductivity, density, and possesses the ability to be deformed under pressure without splitting. It is broadly classified into two major segments, ferrous metals and nonferrous metals.
General Motors is seeking U.S. government approval for a fully autonomous car — one without a steering wheel, brake pedal or accelerator pedal — to enter the automaker’s first commercial ride-sharing fleet in 2019, executives said.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is joining the quest to develop quantum computers, devices that would exploit quantum mechanics to crack problems that overwhelm conventional computers. The initiative comes as Google and other companies race to build a quantum computer that can demonstrate “quantum supremacy” by beating classical computers on a test problem. But reaching that milestone will not mean practical uses are at hand, and the new $40 million DOE effort is intended to spur the development of useful quantum computing algorithms for its work in chemistry, materials science, nuclear physics, and particle physics.
