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Category: sustainability

Glowing Blue Spider Among the Dozens of New Species Discovered in One Area on Research Expedition

A recent expedition to Central Africa has uncovered dozens of new species.

In February, a team of 16 specialists from Africa and around the world visited the Lisima plateau in eastern Angola and conducted a biodiversity survey, through which they discovered dozens of species unknown to science, according to The Wilderness Project, which led the survey.

The organization dedicated to studying and protecting Africa’s freshwater wilderness announced the findings from the remote scientific expedition in the area — seen as one of Africa’s last great biodiversity blank spots — in a news release obtained by PEOPLE on Wednesday, June 3.

Highly Efficient Perovskite/CIGS Tandem Enabled by Modification of Band Profile of CIGS Bottom Cell

This study examined the potential of narrow-bandgap (Perovskite-based tandem solar cells are a promising photovoltaic (PV) technology to exceed the Shockley–Queisser limit of single-junction solar cells. Perovskite/Si tandem solar cells have been intensively studied, demonstrating a record power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 34.6% [1]. In contrast, the certified record PCE of perovskite/Cu(In, Ga)Se2 (CIGS) tandem solar cells remains 24.6% with a reported efficiency of 24.9% [1, 2]. Theoretical calculations for double-junction tandem solar cells using a detailed balance model indicate that the bandgap (Eg) combinations of 1.12 eV (for a bottom cell) and 1.70 eV (for a top cell) or 0.90 to 1.04 eV (for a bottom cell) and 1.58 to 1.67 eV (for a top cell) can yield a maximum theoretical tandem efficiency [3, 4]. Wide-bandgap perovskite (with Eg equal to or greater than 1.7 eV) has been actively studied for tandem application with Si (Eg = 1.12 eV), the most successful solar cell technology to date as a bottom cell. However, previous studies have shown that wide-bandgap perovskite suffers from substantial open-circuit voltage (VOC) loss due to halide segregation [5], and the maximum PCEs of single-junction perovskite cells have been produced by perovskite with Eg between 1.52 and 1.63 eV [6– 8]. The bandgap of CIGS can be tuned between 1.01 and 1.68 eV by adjusting the Ga/(Ga+In) (GGI) ratio and through tuning of bandgap grading profile [9]. Employing a narrow-bandgap CIGS close to 1.00 eV as a bottom cell is advantageous to use the most efficient, conventional bandgap perovskite as the top cell. Therefore, unlike Si, the bandgap tunability of CIGS offers an opportunity for perovskite/CIGS to attain a greater ultimate performance than perovskite/Si tandem solar cells. Han et al. [10] introduced a thick indium-doped tin oxide (ITO) recombination layer to bury the intrinsic surface roughness of CIGS, followed by chemical mechanical polishing to prepare a smooth surface for the subsequent solution process of perovskite, attaining a certified PCE of 22.4%. Albrecht and coworkers have improved the PCE of perovskite/CIGS tandem solar cells by modifying the hole transport layer (HTL). In their earlier work, a NiOx/PTAA bilayer was utilized to form a uniform HTL on CIGS bottom cells. Recently, a self-assembled monolayer such as 2PACz and Me-4PACz was used, which can enhance the device performance of single-junction perovskite solar cell and its perovskite/CIGS tandem counterpart, achieving a certified PCE of 24.2% [2, 11 – 13].

Most recent studies on perovskite/CIGS tandem solar cells have focused on optimizing the perovskite top cell. In contrast, all CIGS bottom cells include an absorber with a double-graded (DG) bandgap profile optimized around the bandgap of ~1.1 eV. The DG bandgap profile has been adapted primarily for CIGS absorbers prepared by thermal evaporation, which has resulted in high-performing CIGS solar cells with PCEs up to 23.4% [14], and it has proven to be an effective strategy for enhancing performance, optimized for “single-junction” CIGS; however, it has not been determined whether DG would be the ideal configuration for tandem applications. Kim et al. [15] used single-graded (SG) CIGS with a bandgap close to 1.0 eV, where the band grading is only formed on the backside of the absorber. They employed dual alkali post-deposition treatment (PDT) with KF and CsF, demonstrating a CIGS solar cell with a PCE of 20.

New solar desalination breakthrough makes fresh water without toxic brine

Scientists have developed a solar desalination system that turns seawater into drinking water without creating environmentally damaging brine. Special laser-textured metal panels use sunlight to evaporate water while automatically moving salt deposits away from the working surface, preventing clogging. The process was successfully tested with water from three oceans and can recover nearly all salts as solids. Those leftover materials could even become a source of valuable lithium for batteries.

Sorting out a dielectric mismatch boosts perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells’ efficiency and durability

Solar cells, devices that can convert sunlight into electricity, are now widely used in many countries and are contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions on Earth. While most of the solar cells on the market today are based on silicon, energy engineers have been exploring the potential of other photovoltaic materials, including a class of materials known as perovskites.

Perovskites are materials with a characteristic crystal structure; the same structure of the mineral calcium titanium oxide CaTiO3. A promising solar cell design introduced over the past decades entails the stacking of silicon and perovskite layers to produce so-called tandem cells, a type of photovoltaics that can capture a broader range of the solar spectrum than single-layer solar cells.

Perovskite/silicon solar cells have been found to exhibit remarkable power conversion efficiencies, which essentially means that they convert a higher percentage of sunlight into electricity. Nevertheless, under some conditions (e.g., when they are situated in partly shaded areas) their performance tends to rapidly degrade over time.

100kW fully superconducting aviation motor developed for electrical aircraft

Researchers at a Scottish university have demonstrated a 100kW fully superconducting aviation motor that could help pave the way for an electric aircraft.

The prototype system, created by the Applied Superconductivity Laboratory (ASL) at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, represents one of the first attempts in the world to develop a fully superconducting axial-flux motor for aviation.

The motor uses high temperature superconducting (HTS) technology to carry very large electrical currents with almost no resistance when cooled to cryogenic temperatures: 20 Kelvin (K) or −253 °C.

Solar-powered desalination system turns ocean water into drinking water, without waste

The United Nations estimates that 2.2 billion people lack safely managed drinking water, and communities from California to the Middle East rely on desalination plants to convert ocean water to fresh water. Common desalination techniques such as reverse osmosis and thermal distillation are energy-intensive, require pre- and post-water treatment, and leave behind a concentrated saltwater byproduct called brine that wreaks havoc on sea life when it’s deposited back into the ocean by raising the salt level and lowering oxygen in the water.

‘Shoot for the moon?’ Aim a bit lower, researchers say

How ambitious should you be? Folk wisdom offers conflicting advice: “Shoot for the moon,” but also, “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” A new study by researchers at the University of Wyoming, Stanford University and the University of Colorado-Boulder used a mathematical model to show that ambition lies in the middle—above average but finite.

“Conventional wisdom tells people not to settle, but also not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” says lead author Kath Landgren, a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability. “We wanted to see whether the math actually supports that intuition. It does, with some interesting twists.”

Quantum computing could transform energy grid optimization and security

Modern power systems are rapidly evolving into highly digitized smart grids, increasing their complexity at an unprecedented pace. Renewables, batteries, electric vehicles, power electronics, sensors and real-time control systems are all expanding rapidly, and this is making electricity grids significantly harder to simulate, optimize, secure and operate.

This is driven by the increasing energy demands of a tech-driven modern world. Think of a suburban street in 2005—every house pulled electricity from the grid, and power flowed in one direction from big power stations.

This same street in 2026 might have houses with rooftop solar exporting power back into the grid; electric vehicles (EVs) that need to charge overnight; home batteries storing solar energy and feeding it back into the grid when prices spike; electric busses, electric irrigation pumps, automated machinery and smart appliances that turn on and off based on grid signals.

Quantum vibronics research points to future energy and computing technologies

Scientists at the University of California, Riverside are making breakthroughs in understanding how quantum wave functions move across ultra-thin materials—research that could eventually improve solar energy technologies and help lay the groundwork for new forms of quantum computing.

The researchers are part of UCR’s Center for Quantum Vibronics in Energy and Time (QuVET), which was established two years ago and focuses on “vibronics,” the interaction between vibrations and electronic quantum states. The center examines both biological molecules and synthetic layered materials, where the same fundamental quantum processes emerge across vastly different systems.

Its research brings together physicists, chemists, engineers, and biochemists from multiple institutions to better understand how vibrations shape quantum behavior.

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