Solar energy conversion into electricity by photovoltaic modules is now a mature technology. We discuss the need for materials and device developments using conventional silicon and other materials, pointing to the need to use scalable materials and to reduce the energy payback time. Storage of solar energy can be achieved using the energy of light to produce a fuel. We discuss how this can be ...

Photochemical splitting of water into H2 and O2 using solar energy is a process of great economic and environmental interest. Since the discovery of the first water splitting system based on TiO2 and Pt in 1972 by Fujishima and Honda, over 130 inorganic materials have been discovered as catalysts for this reaction. This review discusses the known inorganic catalysts with a focus on structure–ac...

Solar power represents a vast resource which could, in principle, meet the world's needs for clean power generation. Recent growth in the use of photovoltaic (PV) technology has demonstrated the potential of solar power to deliver on a large scale. Whilst the dominant PV technology is based on crystalline silicon, a wide variety of alternative PV materials and device concepts have been explored...

— CSP technologies are well developed and offer many advantages compared to other renewable energy options. They can also be very effective in many locations with high solar radiation around the world. However today they are less competitive than other technologies. Understanding the limitations, and identifying opportunities for improvements, requires a detailed analysis of the energy conversi...

today, using new and renewable energy sources to replace fossil fuels is greatly expanded. the solar cells are devices that convert solar energy to electrical energy. solar cells based on organic materials, especially proteins, are one of these solar cells. for example, bacteriorhodopsin (br) which is one of the membrane proteins in halobacterium salinarum could be used in solar cells and parti...

The opportunities for photovoltaic (PV) solar energy conversion are reviewed in the context of projected world energy demands for the twenty-first century. Conventional single-crystal silicon solar cells are facing increasingly strong competition from thin-film solar cells based primarily on polycrystalline absorber materials, such as cadmium telluride (CdTe) and copper indium gallium diselenid...

Photocatalytic water splitting is a new technology for the conversion and utilization of solar energy and has a potential prospect. One important aspect of enhancing the photocatalytic efficiency is how to improve the electron-hole separation. Up to now, there is still no ideal strategy to improve the electron-hole separation. In this article, for metal-free organic photocatalysts, we propose a...

pastures play an important role in protecting environment and ecosystems. unfortunately more than 40 percent of pasturess in the world have been destroyed and 20 percent of destroyed pastures are located in developing countries. application of solar energy could significantly contribute to preserving the pastures. the main purpose of this study was to examine the role of solar energy in protect...

The dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) have been regarded as one of the most promising new generation solar cells. Tremendous research efforts have been invested to improve the efficiency of solar energy conversion which is generally determined by the light harvesting efficiency, electron injection efficiency and undesirable electron lifetime. In this review, various characteristics of dyesensit...