Study assesses solar photovoltaic technologies
MIT researchers recommend rapidly scaling up current silicon-based systems while continuing to work on other technologies.
Solar excitement
Modeling electron excitation in organic photovoltaic material could change the future of solar energy.
Probing graphene physics
MIT postdoc Javier Sanchez-Yamagishi charts quantum signatures of electronic transport in graphene.
New kind of “tandem” solar cell developed
Researchers combine two types of photovoltaic material to make a cell that harnesses more sunlight.
Materials Processing Center marks 35 years
Service to faculty, collaboration with industry are hallmarks of campus-based Materials Processing Center at MIT.
Faculty highlight: Vladimir Bulovic
MIT's associate dean for innovation is inventing at the nanoscale.
Tonio Buonassisi seeks to make solar cells competitive
Mechanical engineering professor pursues a vision of a cleaner, more energy-efficient world.
How to make a “perfect” solar absorber
New system aims to harness the full spectrum of available solar radiation.
Strain can alter materials’ properties
New field of "strain engineering" could open up areas of materials research with many potential applications.
How to tap the sun’s energy through heat as well as light
New approach developed at MIT could generate power from sunlight efficiently and on demand.
Making silicon devices responsive to infrared light
Laser doping method could enable new infrared imaging systems.
Enhancing solar cells with heat
Thermophotovoltaic system converts high heat to narrow spectrum tailored to solar cell profile
Solar-cell manufacturing costs: innovation could level the field
Study shows that factors other than wages dominate trends in photovoltaic costs, raising the prospect of competitive manufacturing anywhere.
Solar power heads in a new direction: thinner
Atom-thick photovoltaic sheets could pack hundreds of times more power per weight than conventional solar cells.
Balance is key to making quantum-dot solar cells work
MIT team finds that the ratio of component atoms is vital to performance.